Job Discussion Forums

[travelling teacher]

I've read a good bit about the ELI at KAU on this forum, but relatively little recent on PSU (Prince Sultan University). I know the former is public and in Jeddah which is generally more relaxed and the latter is private and in Riyadh which is generally more conservative. Aside from those issues, and possibly salary/benefits differences, can anyone comment on which place is more enjoyable to work? Are there any notable differences in the students and/or administration at the two schools?

[Need_an_epiphany]

Hi travelling teacher

Did you manage to find out much about PSU (even from other sources)? I'd also be interested for insights.

[veiledsentiments]

Did you do a search here? There has been quite a bit of discussion about PSU in the past. Type 'Prince Sultan University PSU' into the search up top and then tick 'search for all terms.'

VS

[Need_an_epiphany]

Hi

Yes, I've done a search. However, was hoping for something more recent on PSU to gauge if things have changed much...

[veiledsentiments]

It has only been one year since the negative posts and nowhere in the Gulf does a major move to the positive in a year. Just saying...

Since the last thread suggested that the major problems were on the women's side and most of their women teachers appeared not to be native speakers of English, that often explains the lack of posts here.

Hopefully a current teacher will pass through with an update...

VS

[travelling teacher]

I received offers from both schools. The offer from PSU was more attractive in both salary and benefits. My phone interview with PSU was almost an hour long and the interviewer, a Westerner, asked many thorough and thoughtful questions. It seemed like a serious attempt to gauge my teaching experience, my ability to work with challenging students, and my ability to handle interpersonal conflict with colleagues. Although the interviewer said they would probably be offering me a position at the end of the interview, I did not receive an offer for over a week because they were waiting for one of my references to actually reply to their request for a reference.

In other words, they were not just "wowed" by what I said or my resume--they really waited for external verification. One of my references actually shared with me the questions they had asked her. The questions they asked my reference, like my interview questions, were thoughtful and really designed to see not just whether I was a good teacher, but how well I could fit in to that specific teaching environment.

So, my overall impression of them was quite positive. At this time in history, they seem serious, thorough, and really trying to recruit quality people who will fit the environment and its challenges. The department is also small, from what I've heard, maybe 30 teachers.

I was interviewing for a position on the men's campus, so I can't speak to the female experience and if it has changed from before.

In the end, I chose not to accept PSU's offer, but I was quite impressed with the thoughtfulness in the process by which they evaluated me as a potential employee.

[Need_an_epiphany]

Ha VS, I was hoping somebody might prove me wrong!

Thanks for both of your comments. Travelling teacher: thanks for going into so much detail. I am hoping for a female comment...but what you say has been helpful. I'm at the very beginning of my application with PSU, but you seem to have confirmed my first impressions. So far, I've sensed that they are definitely quite efficient and professional - in comparison with some others anyway!

My first choice was really Jeddah, but it seems Riyadh may be calling. And if not KSA, then Oman inshaAllah!

[nomad soul]

I can offer a tad bit more... At last year's TESOL Arabia, I was interviewed by PSU in person for the women's campus. Yes, they were thorough (and frankly, quite dry). My impression was that they wanted robotron teachers who would follow the textbook to a T, as opposed to thinking outside the box. Lo and behold, a few weeks later, I had a second interview via phone, that again, was thorough yet unspectacular. However, I wasn't extended an offer, probably because I'm a bit too creative for them. I most likely would have turned them down anyway because the position wouldn't have been a good fit for my teaching style.

[Need_an_epiphany]

Thanks, that's really helpful actually.

[nomad soul]

[Need_an_epiphany]

[travelling teacher]

I didn't get the sense that they wanted robotron teachers who would follow the textbook to the T. I actually don't recall that many questions about that in the interview or from what my reference shared with me. I also didn't find the interview questions "dry" or "unspectacular".

However, again, I was interviewing for men's campus and may have had a different interviewer than Nomad Soul did. From past postings there does seem to be differences between men's and women's campuses.

[nomad soul]

Travelling Teacher:

I had a face-to-face interview with them in March 2011 at TESOL Arabia; my interviewers were two men and a woman. The interview was unremarkable; they were very flat with their questions and only perked up when I pulled out my own list of questions for them. (That's what probably got me that second interview, which, by the way, was with two women and no men.)

As for my comments about the teaching style and following the textbook to a T, if you go to http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=87831 you'll see a March 10, 2011, post by a female PSU teacher stating the following: "(The head of the department) is responsible for the fact that students aren't put into levels and that everyone had to be on the same page of the textbook on the same day." As I said, robotron teaching.

It's not uncommon for a male PY program to be managed and/or taught differently from the women's program at the same university. Anyway, maybe the women's PYP has changed for the better since last year. Or not.

[Need_an_epiphany]

Thanks guys! The mystery continues...I guess you never truly know until you go there yourself and experience it first hand. What might be robotron teaching for one person may not be for another. The lack of levels doesn't sound great but as you say Nomad Soul it tends to be the way that female and male programmes are run differently. Sad really.

[veiledsentiments]