Job Discussion Forums

sarakrosch · Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 8

Does anyone know of any ESL positions open in Libya?
Let me now: [email protected]

Gnome · Joined: 05 May 2004 Posts: 74

Unless you live in the UK, you will probably not be attractive to the recruiters who hire for Libya. It is cheaper for them to hire someone in the UK, with just one flight to Tripoli to pay for, instead of an extra flight from the US, etc. Even the interview will take place in the UK, at your expense.

The Bell Trust is always looking for people for Libya. I believe they want you in-country for 3 months at a time. Rotation jobs of 28/28 are available, but perhaps a Brit poster can supply some names of recruiters. The fact that you are a woman and many of the jobs are in petroleum industry camps is a problem. But, there are some other companies now working in Libya. Do a search and keep your eyes peeled on this site.

DaadaDG · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 7

Hi, just saw this one at:

http://www.bell-centres.com/jobs/worldwide/libya.html

Good luck!

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

I work in Libya for an oil company;I don't work for Bell.I have not met any female EFL teachers there.My rotation is 65/21 and sometimes 65/28.Libya is a harsh place in which to live.Very little social life,nothing to do for endless days and a standard of living that is 3rd world Africa.If you want any info,pm me.

DaadaDG · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 7

Do they have a policy against hiring women or why do you think there are no women teachers there?

I don't think it's the living conditions. Women can live in harsh, third world conditions too, especially if the money is good.

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

It's a good question as to why there are no women teachers.Libya isn't like the Gulf in the sense that classes can be mixed.Therefore there is no demand for female teachers for that reason.The only expat women I've met in Libya have been nurses.Personally, I've never met a woman who would like to live in a shared ,roach-infested shipping container in a country where most local women rarely leave their homes.Why the interest in Libya?You'll earn a lot more in the Gulf and have a much better time of it.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Before you head off to Libya find out about the fate of the Bulgarian medics currently under sentence of death in that benighted land.

rogan · Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Posts: 416 Location: at home, in France

not a nice place to live
not a nice place to work
not a nice place to be a woman

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

Sirte Oil, Libya recruit through Umm Al Jawaby in London.I'd just like to give you a clear understanding of what you can currently expect when you get to Marsa Al Brega.
As far as the teaching goes,the students are well motivated,open to modern techniques and you'll have course books and tapes etc.Therefore,the time you spend in class is enjoyable...it's the rest of the time that is a problem.
Office hours are enforced (7am-5.30pm,minus 2 hours for lunch).Even When you have no classes you have to sit in your office/portacabin 6 days a week.90% of your time will be spent in solitary confinement, especially in the field.
Discrimination is rife an if you're a good teacher you'll only suffer as more and more work is shafted on you.Before long you'll be teaching loads and watching your Libyan colleagues drinking coffee and taking weekly sickies.You'll be chastized for appearing at work a minute late on a day on which you aren't even teaching.
Outside work there is nothing to do.Brega is,in fact,a labour camp.There are no recreational facilities and very few expats interested in doing anything except drinking homebrew.
The accommodation is either an old, shared prefab or an ancient trailer.Both will be infested with roaches,surrounded by ferral cats and furnished with Libyan castoffs.
The only form of transport is your bus to and from work.Everything else is done by hitchhiking in the desert.
The canteen food is slop and the cats often don't eat what I take home for them.You won't be able to eat healthily.
At all times you will be breathing in H2S/Ammonia/Urea and burning oil fumes.The roofing is often made of degrading,white asbestos.
As soon as they apply for your residency,the rotation goes out of the window and you'll be delayed in country without compensation,(illegal).The current record is 249 days.
The salary is very low when considering the hardship here.One guy spent 62 days living and sleeping in his office on a gasplant in the desert,(illegal) where there were no other Europeans.If you take a job, it could be you.
No communications throughout most of the company,no shops,no creature comforts,no women,no bonus,(illegal)...the list is endless.The salaries they offer need to be doubled if they are ever going to replace the few old timers that are left.The work cycle is also 30 days too long.Libya is about money, nothing else.Make sure it's a wad.A lot of the oldies can barely speak in full sentences anymore.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Years ago when I was considering taking a job in Libya, my Palestinian colleagues advised me against it. "No matter how bad it is in Saudi, Libya is worse," they warned me.

I heeded their advice and am glad of that.

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

If only I'd met your mate before I came here.Yep,the consensus is that Saudi is paradise compared to Libya and that came from and ex JIC teacher.

guangho · Joined: 16 Oct 2004 Posts: 476 Location: in transit

I am slowly coming to the conclusion that there may be some things even I won't do for money. Emphasis on maybe.

SandyMan · Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 56 Location: Nizwa

There was an ad for an EFL job at the Zueitina Oil Company in the Guardian yesterday. Are the conditions similar to the ones you described, biffinbridge? The ad says it is a 42/37 work-leave schedule and the contact company is Jawaby Oil Services in London. Are there any good EFL jobs in Libya?

SandyMan

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

Very few good ones now.Zueitina is just down the road .It's a camp in the middle of nowhere,trailers,no shops,no internet,no social life etc.Apply for Veba. All Libyan companies are just lowering the salaries every time they make an offer.If you leave a Lib company you can't come back for 3 years direct hire.... load of boll#cks really.

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

Got my final payout from Sirte Oil.It was 270 GBP short.
This company is a disgrace and is a symbol of everything that is wrong in a country which now has a bright future.Oh yeah...they paid me 4 months after I left.