Job Discussion Forums

[dialogger]

I need the collective wisdom of ME vets - please.
I seem to have too many years - 62 and too few qualifications - an undergrad Diploma in Business Administration plus a TESOL Certificate.
I have 13 months TESOL experience in China plus about 5 years other teaching experience.
I am a single male and would like to work in ME.
Any thoughts where I might productively job-hunt?

[veiledsentiments]

If money is not really required, in your situation that would likely leave such places as Morocco, Egypt, or Syria. You should be able to pick up some language school teaching and eventually pick up some private lessons to help pay the bills.

Your age and lack of credentials (both education and experience) puts you out of the running for any of the high pay jobs. The Gulf is too expensive for free-lancing.

You might want to read about on the Egypt section and see what is said about Alexandria as an idea of pay and job opportunities.

VS

[zakiah25]

VS is right, you probably wouldn't get one of the high paying jobs here in the ME. However, as VS also says, if money is no object, I do know of some teachers who are working in Muscat (capital of Oman) who just have TESOL certificates and they found jobs at some local private institutes.
The money is only about 600 Omani rials per month. Accommodation is not provided but you do get an annual air ticket to your home country.
Perhaps you might think about some further studies in TESOL possibly by distance learning online - it's never too late to improve your education!
best of luck

[dialogger]

Thanks for both these responses.
My China experience is that after a few months one gains a reputation - good in my case and that results in better paying opportunities coming to light.
(It's not that THEY are watching you - you understand, it's just that they ARE watching you).
Would that be the case in Muscat for example? ie the lack of whatever would be overlooked.
(I started at the University of Crap here in PRC but now work in a prestigious university.
It's not Beijing Normal but certainly at the top of the second tier).

[veiledsentiments]

While Muscat is certainly a pleasant place to live, it is pretty expensive. Also, private lessons are nowhere near as common as in places like Egypt. I'm not sure how your age would affect getting a work visa at the smaller colleges. I know people working there who are even older, but they have been there for many years.

ARE they watching you? Well, probably everywhere that you are a foreign face, you are being watched. Oman is very laid back though. Not sure if you were referring to your private life or as relates to your work. But, generally speaking, the Middle East requires a bit of discretion in your private life. And as to your job reputation, it can certainly help get more private lessons in a big city like Cairo. And perhaps a contract in a small private college (not somewhere like the American University of Cairo - though you might be able to get something in the adult education department - perhaps even in business? - where the pay is miniscule).

VS

[dialogger]

Thanks vs
Very much referring to business/teaching life.
What I was trying to say was that in the glorious PRC, what one lacks in credentials, one can make up for with good classroom/professional skills.
You don't think it is being noticed, but it is and it can be months later that you get a call.
I have been editing textbooks for a local university press - not the place I work.
They went past their own foreign teacher complement to get me.
It took 5 months from 'would you be interested etc' to actually getting work but it happened.
Local version of 'wasta' is 'guanxi' - ('influence' is the nearest English, but it doesn't do it justice).