Job Discussion Forums

[DarylM]

I have been approached and interviewed by Chase Recruiters and am tempted by what they say is being offered by EdEx. I'm looking for clear and positive advice. PLEASE don't bother responding with 'everything is terrible' posts, I've heard it all before. I have also worked for peanuts in overstuffed classrooms with disinterested students and poor living accommodation - and that was in England - such is life. What I really want to know (and preferably from another single female) is:

Anyone recruited via Chase or working with EdEx willing to share?
Are the promised working hours (20hrs contact, 40hrs total) realistic?
Class sizes really around 20?
Is the accommodation acceptable?
Wages paid on time?
How is travel - to shops for example - possible if women can't travel alone?
Is it easy to find good & welcoming Arabic places to eat? (sounds like an odd question perhaps but I don't do American/fast food and have yet to find anyone refer to good, local food)
How easy is it to send money back home?
Is internet access easy enough to maintain regular contact back home - internet banking, facebook, skype for example?

I hope someone is able to give me some honest answers and not the usual trolling and opinionated guff that is found on these forums.

[I Rub Ruchi]

The folks here seem to complain about not getting paid on time and cannot open bank accounts since they don't have a proper visa for work. But they do manage to wire money out, but I don't know how.

Many don't last, especially if they are young, have no classroom experience, anger management issues, or expect to be treated well by their employer. I have known only one who has lasted a year at my college.

I do know that they pay for their accommodation and live in various parts of Riyadh. EdEx has contracts with multiple institutions.

How do I know? I am a direct hire at a college, but many of my coworkers are from EdEx and I don't bother to develop friendships with them. They just don't stick around. Of the three agencies we work with, the teachers from EdEx have the highest turnover rate.

[DarylM]

That's curious. You work with these people at the same institution but they are employed indirectly (through EdEx) and so don't stay? Do you do very different work? Have different work conditions? Or does EdEx just attract the 'wrong' people?

I was approached by Chase/EdEx after having all but given up on the Middle East as I don't have an M.A. and my degree is not in English - though I do have a PGCE, and many years teaching (including TESOL) experience at everything from middle school up to university and beyond. Chase seem impressed by my C.V. I wonder if I should ignore the 'must have M.A.' and try direct approaches anyway?

[desert_traveller]

...

[fledex]

[teechagimme]

Anyone recruited via Chase or working with EdEx willing to share?
I work for edex and I am willing.

Are the promised working hours (20hrs contact, 40hrs total) realistic?
yes

Class sizes really around 20?
I have 31 students in my class but some teachers have as few as 15

Is the accommodation acceptable?
I live in a residential hotel. It's not the Ritz by any means but it is acceptable.

Wages paid on time? yes

How is travel - to shops for example - possible if women can't travel alone? It's easy. I live accross the road from a mall with a Carrefour and I walk over there by myself whenever I want.

Is it easy to find good & welcoming Arabic places to eat? (sounds like an odd question perhaps but I don't do American/fast food and have yet to find anyone refer to good, local food)
I usually cook at home so I'm not the best person to ask.

How easy is it to send money back home?
Very easy. You go to a bank an fill out some forms.

Is internet access easy enough to maintain regular contact back home - internet banking, facebook, skype for example?
Internet is slow but functional. I can't video skype, but I can manage skype phone calls.

The hardest thing here is classroom management. These kids don't know how to behave. Admin is supportive but you still have to be very strong to handle it.

[DarylM]

That's really useful Teechagimme, thank you. You make it sound as good any job - I expect to earn my pay.

Your location says S Korea - last port of call? Students in Saudi worse than kids in Korea?

[veiledsentiments]

[nomad soul]

Also, know that you won't have any say as to which university PYP or English language facility EdEx will place you at. And that could be anywhere in Saudi Arabia.

[fledex]

Yes, what teachagimme says is true for a number of women who live and work for Edex in Riyadh (about 10% who might be in that accommodation and university), though I wouldn't agree that the accommodation across from Grenada mall is really acceptable to live in for an entire academic year. However, Nomad Soul makes a valid point, the range of possibilities for all your questions greatly increases when you consider that Edex can, and very likely will, move you at any time with less than 48, or even 24, hours notice to any of the cities where they have a contract in Saudi Arabia. Then class sizes class sizes I have seen have varied from 1 to 120; and accommodation could even be non-existent, as it was for one teacher I knew who was sent to Al Ghasa with less than 48 hours notice. He literally ended up on the street and had to take a train back to Riyadh at his own expense to go to company headquarters to sort it out. They still didn't sort it out, and he ended up leaving for Bahrain one night.

Also, I found students outside of Riyadh to be much more attentive an nicer than the ones I taught in Riyadh. For disciplinary issues, think more along the lines of North American high school kids, rather than Asian high school kids.

[Grendal]

KSU students vary in ignorance level. Some are totally ignorant, some are a little ignorant and then most are not too ignorant at all. Target the ones that say are going to go abroad and do band 5 in the IELTS or higher. The ones that say they are planning to go abroad and study their degree or their master are keener on issues of western culture and will yield to classroom management skills. The IELTS posers on the other hand are tricky. They disrupt the class at times because they know they don't have to take the final exam and just give all the wrong answers just for the @4&$ of it. This works out good when you get a weaker student in class that notices his mistakes and corrects him. aahhhh.

Grendal

[rainbowprof]

[teechagimme]

Yes, Korea was my last port of call. In my experience, the folks at EdEx are very slow to get anything done and it's annoying. However this is true of most things here in Saudi. If I need something as simple as a few copies made before class, I'm going to have to skip lunch or something and don't get anyone here started on how slow the internet is!

My accommodation is certainly not the Ritz-Carlton, but after living in a Korean shoebox, it seems palatial in size. It's also very clean and the staff members are friendly but not overly so. The thing that I dislike most is that the air conditioner is right by my bed and it's really loud. I try to get my place nice and cool before bed and then I shut it off so that I can sleep. This seems minor right now but I if it is much hotter when I get back here in August, I think that I will find another place. My contract allows for a housing and transportation allowance if I no longer wish to live in company housing.

Getting around Riyadh is not difficult. If you don't trust the random taxi drivers on the street, get a recommendation from your hotel or another teacher. The really good ones are fluent in English, know where everything is, and charge a reasonable rate. Some teachers become very good friends with their drivers. One friend of mine knitted a blanket for her driver's new baby and the ladies on my bus plan to take up a little collection for our bus driver to give to him on our last day of school. He is reliable and works very long hours for us so it's the least that we can do.

I think that it's somewhat true about your experiences in Saudi and Korea being whatever you make of them. I am not Miss Happyface all of the time, but I am fairly resilient. Two years and four months in Korea was more than enough but I'm glad I did it. I will probably feel the same way when I leave this place but if I can learn to manage my classroom, I may last a little longer here. For one thing, the food is better.

[rainbowprof]

[veiledsentiments]

I had a noisy AC issue in one flat. My cure was to set it to supercold so that it stayed on high all night... and slept under a big pile of blankets... while pretending that I lived in Alaska.

It worked. It is the on/off of the compressor that would wake me repeatedly all night.

VS