Job Discussion Forums

[nomad soul]

[hash]

[nomad soul]

[spiral78]

[scot47]

Many will assume that you want to come to KSA for religious purposes Saudis do not always approve of those who come for that purpose. They want English teachers - not more theologians.

[nomad soul]

[hash]

[spiral78]

Yeah, it was really unclear that the guy's not a native English speaker, given that his thread is entitled 'jobs for Dutch citizens.' I mean, aren't the Dutch native speakers of English?

Very shady, covert approach

ESL prof may have missed it as well, but that doesn't mean it wasn't glaringly obvious at the start.

[nomad soul]

Agreed, Spiral, since he stated the following in his original post:

[hash]

LOL.....Country of citizenship, like country of birth, has long since ceased to be an indicator of which language you are a native speaker. (I point to myself as an example, but don't ask for details).

I know tons of Chinese citizens who speak flawless native American English and I know even more Saudi citizens (born in the USA) who speak Upper Midwest native American English like a born and bred Chicagoan.

The OP gave no indication whatsoever of which language he is a native speaker. Most likely he's a bilingual Dutch/Malay-Indonesian native speaker but he's never really stated what his true status is in this regard. All we know (now) is that he's not a native speaker of English. As I said, the fact he is a Dutch citizen can mean anything......or it could mean nothing.

[spiral78]

Ah, well, we'll write off the OP as a shady, covert operator, I suppose.
Though I'll point out that as employers often base hiring decisions on citizenship (US/UK, other Anglophone country) that it's a relevant marker in our context here.

[Amsterdam42]

Thanks for all your responses. Although some responses are very negative, I welcome these as issues which I'll try to tackle if I'll get asked about it during an interview: Good to keep in mind.

I'm not going into the discussion about my "nativeness" lol, I made clear I ain't. And my study has almost NOTHING to do with Arabic languages, although I had Arabic lessons for just one semester during my Bachelor's. Islamic Studies in Europe isn't really theological, it's maybe even closer to sociology. In addition I've been taught by Muslim professors mainly and the language of instruction was English because there were a lot of international students. But as I said before I don't want to go into deeper discussion about this, because it doesn't add any value to my question from now on.

One thing is clear to me after your responses, which is that finding an ESL job in Saudi Arabia isn't both impossible and easy. I've done some quick research and saw that there ARE vacancies for non-native speakers as well! All they request is an IELTS or TOEFL score with experiences in teaching adults. I also saw at the websites of some institutions that they blocked visa for people from France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Austria etc., whereas Belgium and The Netherlands aren't blocked at all. Though, as some of you said the salaries aren't high as the salaries of native speakers unfortunately. So I'm definitely going to contact some institutions. What I understood from all your responses is that when applying for a job I have to keep in mind that I should have a good reason in connection to my degrees why I want to teach English. If there are any other advice: PLEASE

As my previous question, I'd also love to hear if you have some names of "moderate" schools or institutions which I should try to contact. If this isn't allowed due to advertising rules of the forum (I'm not sure about this), please PM me.

[veiledsentiments]

Never mind Hash, though he does give you a hint of some of the teachers one encounters in many of the institutions in Saudi.

Look at jobs that require minimal credentials, apply, and see what happens. Since your degrees will be listed in your CV, I would mention in a cover letter that you are Muslim, but your Arabic skills are minimal. (or whatever your level is) Neither of those facts will likely help you get hired, but they will show that there may not be some odd reason for taking Islamic Studies degrees. (CIA in training? LOL)

At your age, I would suggest that you think about teaching in a country like Morocco, as someone else suggested. Saudi students are a handful and classroom experience is important. There are many language schools that that might give you the chance to teach a few classes if you show up in their office. (they rarely hire from overseas except for a few native speakers) It would also help your CV to have some Middle East experience before trying Saudi.

VS

[nomad soul]

[jaffa]

You should adopt the Sudanese approach; show up on time then fall asleep and everyone's happy.