Job Discussion Forums

bootita · Joined: 04 Mar 2014 Posts: 18

hi all!!!

anyone out there working for PNU??? direct hire or not, I want to hear from you.

how are the students?
do you teach a lot of grammar?
how is the food in the café? (is there a café?)
how do you dress at work (under your abaya)?
what is your commute like?
whats your favorite thing about the place? least fav?
hows your apartment/living quarters?
should I bring ESL based games for the classroom?
whats a typical day like?
what textbooks do you use?
are the students inquisitive? lively?
do you have a social network?

tell me tell me....

thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Have you done a search? I put PNU into the little search button near the FAQ and it gave me 116 threads on the place... the last 8 of them dated this year and a full page of threads from last year.

VS

bootita · Joined: 04 Mar 2014 Posts: 18

Thanks VS!!! and yea I have done that...
Just always looking for the freshest responses...also had some specific questions

Thanks though!!! Smile

zaazia · Joined: 25 Jun 2009 Posts: 15

Hi Bootita

I work at PNU but I'm not direct hire. Here are the answers to your questions.

how are the students? Some students are motivated and are a pleasure to teach. Unfortunately there are quite a lot of students who are unmotivated and lazy. They are the ones that can be disruptive in class.

do you teach a lot of grammar? We do teach some grammar, but there is not such a heavy emphasis on grammar.

how is the food in the café? (is there a café?) PNU is a big university with many buildings/faculties, so there are places to eat in every building. The food is ok. In the student amenities building there a lot of eateries, such as Subway.

how do you dress at work (under your abaya)? At work you take off your abaya, but you can keep the headscarf on if you want. Trousers and short sleeves are not allowed. Sleeves must be elbow length or longer. Most teachers wear blouses, maxi skirts and dresses.

what is your commute like? The commute takes about 30 minutes by bus without traffic. If you are direct hire, you live on campus, so there wouldn't really be a commute.

whats your favorite thing about the place? least fav? My favourite thing about the place is we are allocated a lot of time to prepare for our lessons and related admin. My least favourite thing are the disruptive students.

hows your apartment/living quarters? My accommodation is ok.

should I bring ESL based games for the classroom? Yes, definitely. The girls really like games.

whats a typical day like? It depends on your shift. If you are a morning shift teacher you start teaching at 8am and finish teaching just before 12. You then have afternoon hours in which you have to be in the office. You use this time for lesson preparation, marking etc. If you are an afternoon teacher you have office hours from 8am to 11am in which you have to be in the office. Again you use this time for lesson preparation and marking etc. You start teaching at 12.30 and finish at 4.00. You get two classes of the same level, so you only have to prepare one lesson. You teach the same lesson to the two classes. Lesson plans are provided, so this does minimizes prep time to some extent. I personally do not like them. You don't have to follow them to the letter, but just use them as a guide. As long as you cover what is required it does not really matter how you decide to teach the material.

what textbooks do you use? It depends on the level you teach. Most levels are using Headway Academic Skills.

are the students inquisitive? lively? The students are very inquisitive and yes they are very lively. They will ask you a lot of question, such as your religion, where you come from and if you are married. You do not have to answer highly personal questions. It is up to you whether you answer them or not.
do you have a social network? I'm not sure what you mean by this question.

bootita · Joined: 04 Mar 2014 Posts: 18

ZAAZIA U ARE A DOLL!!!!!! thank you so much for taking the time to kindly answer my questions!!
Also , Im very glad to hear youre happy there.

Best wishes to you and maybe I will meet you one day

LPKSA · Joined: 02 Mar 2014 Posts: 211

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

Bootita:

Considering there are at least two contracting companies staffing teachers at PNU, be aware your experience may be different depending on who you end up working for.

zaazia · Joined: 25 Jun 2009 Posts: 15

You are most welcome, Bootita.

Good luck!

bootita · Joined: 04 Mar 2014 Posts: 18

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

bootita · Joined: 04 Mar 2014 Posts: 18

zaazia · Joined: 25 Jun 2009 Posts: 15

There are no classes at PNU during the summer. I go home for the summer.

I'm not sure how it will be with your employer.

Sydney2002 · Joined: 10 Apr 2012 Posts: 55

Hi Bootita

I'm not at PNU, but am posting on behalf of a friend of mine who is currently there.

Here are the pro's: (in her order)

* Nice expat community
* Nice working hours with plenty of time to prep/mark
* No need for any kind of work on weekends (with maybe a few rare exceptions)
* Transport provided to and from campus
* Nice students- during the FALL semester

Her con's: (in her order)

* shared accommodation- occasionally leading to issues
* disorganized management which affects teacher morale
* unruly students (in the SPRING semester)
* admin. taking students' word over the teachers 90% of the time
* teachers often fired at the drop of hat (they have floaters to replace them)
* seemingly unqualified 'teachers' being recruited and brought over in droves
* forced to work on Christmas Day- any reference or mention of Christmas prohibited in office/class/work space (not sure why this shocked her)

On a personal note- my own caveat against this university would be its low hiring standards. This friend I am posting for does not even hold a B.A. or any kind of relevant teaching qualification. What she does have however is a LOT of experience and a wonderful work ethic. In that respect, I feel that PNU is very lucky to have her.

Hope this is helpful. All the best to you!

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

Sydney2002 · Joined: 10 Apr 2012 Posts: 55

Hi Nomad

That would explain a lot. Yes, she did get that position through a recruiter. More than likely, you are exactly right. In my opinion, the negatives of this place far outweigh any positives. But my friend feels the opposite. To each her own, I suppose…

Where I currently teach, most of my co-workers who have experience in Saudi don't even regard PNU as a real university. They call it 'grade 13'.