Job Discussion Forums

[myothercarisabackpack]

Has anyone heard of "Abu Dhabi National Academy?" I received a job offer and contract from them without even having an interview. The job offer is good, but I can't find anything about the school anywhere on the Internet, besides the institution's website, which is here:

http://abudhabina.com/adna/about-us/our-history/index.html

The odd thing about this is that I was directed to contact a travel agency for help with obtaining my visa. The travel agency information is below:

Global Air Travels LLC 17th Street, Mussafah Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Email: [email protected] Tel: 00971562682004

I know this is probably a scam, but I want to look into it more before rule it out. Thus, any insight on this company or potential related scams in the UAE would be greatly appreciated.

[nomad soul]

You applied for the job but know nothing about it? Generally, a scam/fake job offer requires you to pay up front in order to become employed. Other than not interviewing you, there doesn't seem to be anything off. By the way, there's no harm in requesting an interview.

This school's website seems normal. You might check the profiles of the admin and faculty on LinkedIn.

For more about scams, see the sticky on this forum.

[myothercarisabackpack]

[nomad soul]

Based on what you've provided, there's no way of knowing the full picture of how you came to be in contact with this school. Frankly, if ever you're unsure about the validity of a job offer, your best bet is to contact the employer directly in these situations.

See "Teachers conned by false job adverts" (http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/teachers-conned-by-false-job-adverts).

[veiledsentiments]

This certainly looks fishy. Going to a travel agency for your work visa?? That seems a big red flag to me.

I was looking around their website and it has many things I found odd. Seems to have lots and lots of teachers with an unusual mix of nationalities for the Gulf. It claims to be a school for the many Hispanic residents of Abu Dhabi. I never encountered any when I was there... has there been an influx from South/Central America?

It makes me suspect that they have cloned and tweaked the website of some school chain for Spanish Speakers... but little or no mention of whether they are teaching in Spanish?

Note this in the health/wellness area:

[Geronimo]

What is the contact address for the Abu Dhabi National Academy?
Isn't it on Old Airport Road, myothercarisabackpack ?
http://abudhabina.com/adna/contact-us/index.html

And isn't that the same road that the Panamerican Academy used to be located on?
http://panamericanacademy.org/about-us/our-history/
Maybe I'm mistaken: and yet the two websites look very similar, don't they?

http://yp.theemiratesnetwork.com/reviews/United_Arab_Emirates/Abu_Dhabi/Abu_Dhabi_Police_General_HQ_19868.html

It's a scam.

Geronimo

[veiledsentiments]

Similar as in only the name has changed. Same "Ahmed Khaled" too...

The cloned website looks legitimate enough to fool those without Gulf experience.

VS

[nomad soul]

Plus, an unsolicited job offer is the first red flag, which I suspect is the situation in this case.

Myothercarisabackpack:

You mentioned on another forum that you have a grad degree in writing. You might give New York University-Abu Dhabi a look since they often advertise for their writing program.

[myothercarisabackpack]

Thank you all for your feedback, comments, and helpful suggestions. I ended up getting this bogus job offer because my resume was on Monster Gulf. I'll definitely check out the school in New York, which has a campus in Abu Dhabi. Thank you again everyone for helping me.

[veiledsentiments]

Also look at American University in Sharjah. If you have a good CV for teaching writing, they have a large Composition program. They won't be hiring until next summer, but I would watch their website for openings.

In fact, I would never put up my CV online. Apply directly to the employers. All of the better employers post their openings on their websites and take applications through those website. In education, it seems to be only the bottom feeders and scammers that use these online job sites.

VS

[Gulezar]

[CANDLES]

Adding to this Middle Eastern discussion, there is an agency that deals with KSA and has started dealing with the Far East now, and in their job advert they advertised for teachers to join great colleges and schools in MALAYSIA, but the job is in JAKARTA, INDONESIA???????