Job Discussion Forums

[fredyis42]

[size=18]Hinti Academy.[/size]

If you found a job being advertised and the company is calling itself Hinti Academy and you want to know more, well look no further. I went there and worked for them and I have a lot to tell you. I like you went looking for them on the Internet to see if there was any information about them. I couldn't find anything, only a site promoting Hinti as a school to Saudi people.

I worked for Hinti for three months. I was going to do six months but after working for them for one month I decided I was going to get out after three months.

There are a number of reasons why I would never recommend working for this outfit.

Reason 1. I got paid late and you might too. I was told my salary would be ready by the 31st of June. I had to wait four days for it to be ready. Totally unprofessional and I wondered if there was money in the bank. After that there was always the doubt whether I was going to get paid on time.

Reason 2. The lack of management skills, the lack of planning and the lack of execution regarding the hiring of new teachers before previous teachers had left. This resulted in me carrying the full teaching load for all classes and also required me to take full responsibility of managing, teaching, marking, grading and entering data for all of the English classes that were in progress just before Ramadan and also during Ramadan. All told I taught four classes with no pay rise even though I was given a ten minutes break between each class. It has not been possible to take advantage of this ten minute break due to students asking me questions about English and setting homework for students.

Reason 3. Being told that I would teach a Basic Class from 10:30 pm to 11:30 pm to find I was waiting for students to arrive. During this time I was asked to interview a prospective student, which I did and then to find there were still no new students to teach. I did not start teaching until 11:15 pm. The lack of management and the lack of planning regarding when new students should arrive to begin class and the lack of execution regarding the hiring of new teachers to help me with the teaching load was completely unprofessional.

Reason 4. Being asked to interview a prospective student at 9:25 pm after all classes had finished and having to wait for the student to finish his placement test. I waited until 9:55 pm to interview a student and I did not leave the Hinti Academy building until 10:15 pm. I did not get paid any over time for this inconvenience for finishing late when we were required and told that our work day would finish at 9:30 pm.

Reason 5. Risking my life for the sake of Hinti Academy for the sake of going to Dubai to get another re-entry stamp for my visa. The lack of planning and communication to the driver regarding what time I was to leave my apartment to get to the airport safely was not done effectively; in fact it was not done at all. This caused the driver to arrive late to take me to the airport which made me miss the flight. As a result the driver drove me to Riyadh so I could catch the next plane. On the way there the drivers car span out of control, going 180 degrees one way and then 180 degrees the other way because the rear tire had blown out. Fortunately there were no other cars or trucks on the road at that time. If there had been I would be dead. I told the Director of Operations about the car accident and I did not receive any praise for going out of my way to obtain another re-entry visa for the sake of Hinti Academy. I received no "Thank you" for doing what I did and I received no "Thank you" for putting my life on the line for Hinti Academy. I received no benefit and no thanks from Hinti Academy at all for risking my life. The driver also didn’t receive any benefit and no thanks from Hinti Academy for risking his life for Hinti Academy. All that was said by the Director of Operations for the English Department was, “Blessings from Allah and Thank Allah.”

Reason 6. Working overtime during Ramadan during the day not at Hinti, marking Midterm exams and Unit review quizzes. Also entering all the scores into an Online data base called Learn Boost. I kept a record of all the overtime and submitted it to an Office staff member who made a complete record of all of my overtime and then gave this record to Director of the English Department. I have not received any overtime for all of my hard work during Ramada and I was told I would. I asked the Director of English Department about the record and he told me he did not know where it was.

[lcanupp1964]

Welcome to Saudi Arabia! Sounds like normal day-to-day activities happening at hundreds (if not thousands) of schools in KSA this very minute.

[scot47]

Living and teaching in Unaizah or Buraidah are difficult enough without risking it on an illegal BUSINESS visa !

[fredyis42]

I hope all is well with you, and thank you for your letter to us.
We were glad you joined us at the Academy and that was due to your high qualifications and good spirits when dealing with you colleagues and teammates.

In this reply, we intend not to defend or justify any mistakes you witnessed happened at the Academy, but to clarify some facts that we wish you can find understandable:

1. In truth, we were quite glad that you joined us at the Academy, and wished you could continue working with us.

2. I hope you can appreciate the fact that the Academy is at the beginning stage of operation. Shortcomings when it comes to administrative performance is not intended and can be credited to lack of experience, staff instability, and not having a resident manager local to Unaizah. All this is being studied and we’re working on finding solutions for it. We were hoping that every member joining us at the Academy to understand that we are partners in work and successes, and it is a joint venture where everyone contributes with his knowledge and experience to develop the learning and education process.

3. We were careful to put forth the main policies and procedures that adhere to these process constants. For example: curriculum choice and distribution, admission tests, assessment exams, etc….. And we were welcoming to any suggestions that may improve the procedural operations of the Academy.

4. We at the Academy whether grantors, operators, or work teams emphasize on quality of work, commitment, and discipline as vital values of work. And this should have been reflected by everyone’s performance and on their inter-relationships.

5. When we selected the curriculum and decided on the teaching procedures and conditions, we were hoping that adherence to these values will stem from respect to our society’s values so our charitable investment is equaled to our business investment. Thus, having witnessed some behaviors that don’t constitute this belief does not mean by any measure they represent what the Academy stands for. I hope you can agree that generalization in this case is not correct.

6. Finally, we were hoping you can remain with us at the Academy and continue together as one family. And we’re truly sorry if we caused you discomfort or inconvenience and assure you it was not intended at all. We also welcome your return if you ever decide to do that at your convenience and join us once more in improving the work environment, one that all of us can be proud of.

If by any chance you feel that there’re financial obligations the Academy did not meet with you, then we are quite ready to review this with you and the managerial staff at the Academy.

Once again, we thank you for allowing us the opportunity to know you and wish you and your family the best.

[rollingk]

[fredyis42]

"You have shown us your personalty how many time you krises and you are a lair.
If you had any problem you shoud have said any thing to Hinti owner but because you are a cwerd and you feel that you are very small besied any succful person , so this evil and upnormal attitue and bersonalty.
Do what ever you want because we have self confident which you don't have.
By the way this masseg will be spread to all the native teachers , in KSA and the Embassy to know who is the bad man.
Regards, Ihab"

As you can see this person cannot spell and his grammar is a joke. He thinks he can ruin my name by sending this e-mail to other teachers who work at Hinti. In fact there is only one right now and he is teaching a total of six classes each day. This person Ihab thinks that I am going to worry about having a bad name in the KSA and at the Embassies and that I am the bad man. It is my hope and desire that anyone who reads these postings can see for themselves that I am not the one that is at fault. I am bringing light to darkness and uncovering to the world my experience.

[nomad soul]

The following funky wording from their website should have been enough of a red flag:

Hinti Academy has been seeking to be one of the leading training centers using experts in the training filed in order to select modern advanced programs in the field of: ...Special Programs we hope to know them in the courses.

[fredyis42]

You know you are on to a good thing when they haven't even bothered to check any of the spelling, syntax or grammar with a Native English speaker. This company talks about being Professional all the time. As you can see being Professional is just a word and it sounds good. They have no idea what this word means and it shows on their website. Someone should tell them, but you know what, for anyone in the ESL profession this site is a red flag in and of itself, and it should read STAY AWAY.

[nomad soul]

[fredyis42]

Thanks for your input and advice. I went online to find all about Hinti before I went or made a commitment. They looked good on paper and there was nothing to tell me about what they were really like as they had only been up and running since Feb. of this year. I did do some study and research into the country and culture, but I didn't find anything about the work ethic or how Saudi's treat anyone else. That information was not for sale and I would be glad to shed light on that. I was kind of caught by the big money and I saved some which I am really proud of. In fact I saved more in three months than I could save anywhere else. I have been based in an Asian country for a long period of time. I was not able to find a job, I think more so due to my age than my skills or qualifications. I needed to get some capital together so that is what I did in KSA. I have vowed and declared that I am not going to go anywhere else without my wife. She was the one that was there for me everyday while I was in the KSA and if it had not been for her support and for my determination I would have left sooner.

[fredyis42]

Again I get another e-mail and the content is below. As anyone can see this man Ihab is insane and all he can do is call me a baby. He has no real ability to insult me.

"Hhhhhhhhhhhhh.
You are baby. Hhhhhhhhhhh.
Hhhhhhhhhh"

[nomad soul]

Don't engage him in that nonsense; mark him as spam, hit 'delete' and move on. You have more important things to do with your time, like continue your job hunt.

[veiledsentiments]

I'm curious as to where you did your research on this institution and on teaching in Saudi. If you had come here, most of us would have warned you away from new places, as they are nearly always such a mess. It is impossible to evaluate an employer that has no history. And nearly every thread contains warnings about the pitfalls of the culture... like everywhere, there are good and bad people. The "bad" ones tend to be involved with the low level employers. That is why it is so important to, as Scot47 always says, "know your masters." Because that is what they are in this country.

VS