Job Discussion Forums

[ebooktrial0001]

Hi Everyone,

IGIT offered me a job ($3000 a month for 3 month probationary period, $3500 a month thereafter).

However, they want to bring

1. Ever heard anything about IGIT? Are they any good?

2. How can I get screwed if I come in on a work visa and need to go from Damman to Bahrain every 30 days?

Thanks

[scot47]

That is a BUSINESS VISA which does not permit employment.

[Jcray21]

It should be 90 days and yes that is a business visa, probably half the teachers or more with my company have those and need to go on "visa runs" every 90 days.

[lcanupp1964]

IGIT provided around 20 teachers for the ELI at KAU about three years ago; they were mostly western instructors from English speaking countries. It was the first (and last) time the ELI tried to use recruiters to help staff the ELI. They were all capable teachers. The problem was that they were all being paid 9,300sr a month and over half of the teachers had master degrees. As part of their package they were also provided with a shabby one-room apartment hotel that was about an hour’s drive from campus. They provided a few vans for transportation. No other support was provided. In addition, because they were on a different contract from the direct hired instructors, they had to “work” 40 hours a week while the direct hires only had to be at the ELI for an average of 20 hours a week. In addition, they only received 30 days off during the summer and thusly were required to teach the first 30 days of summer school without additional pay before being able to fly home. Direct hires get a little over 60 days off (with pay) every summer. If a direct hire signs up to teach summer school for the entire 6-week term, they each get two more full paychecks (14 paychecks in total for a 12 month period). Once the IGIT teachers found all this out, they all quit and no one was around by the summer. A small handful left and were hired by the ELI as direct hires a year later and made around 3,000sr – 5,000sr more each month in salary. I also found out that the ELI was paying IGIT 18,000sr a month for each teacher they provided. I never heard anything very negative about IGIT. I shared an office with two of the IGIT instructors during that year and the worst I never heard was the normal stuff that pimping companies do. I was directly involved with the recruitment unit during that year, so I was able to get a lot of information regarding this failed experiment. The biggest frustration for the IGIT instructors was that the vans were always late and they would sit around for sometimes two hours after they were finished for the day waiting for get a free ride that would have cost around 40sr. Today, the ELI is 100% staffed with direct hires.

[Heaton]

How can you get screwed?
Your employer doesn't have to pay you. On a Business Visa, you are illegal to work and have no recourse.
Also, your employer can botch your visa renewal, so when you try to return from Bahrain, you are barred from re-entry.