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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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 Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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You are stuck in the same conundrum that all of us went through about the time the ink was drying on the MA. All of the good jobs want experience, but how to get it?
The choice is... take crappy low pay jobs at home, but at least you are at home... OR... take a crappy job in the Gulf (Saudi or Oman?) where you may be unable to bring your family at all.
Either way a couple years will give you something to put on the CV to move up the scale and have a position that will support your family.
You need to be realistic. There is no way to avoid the negatives here.
VS |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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| desertstorm wrote: |
| The offers I am getting from Saudi are low (yes I know - i am greener than green!). They make it difficult to support a family. |
How much do you realistically expect to earn each month (exclusive of housing and transportation allowances) in order to support your family? |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:23 am Post subject: |
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It is increasingly difficult to support a family on an EFLer's salary in the Middle East. Dual income couples do okay. DINCOPS can save !
(-Dual Income, No Kids On Principle) |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:38 am Post subject: |
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| scot47 wrote: |
| It is increasingly difficult to support a family on an EFLer's salary in the Middle East. Dual income couples do okay. |
Ditto that. All but one of the five western expat families I knew in KSA had a dual income. Either both husband and wife taught, or the non-teaching spouse (male) worked for a Saudi-based international company. One friend's husband managed his UK business online while she taught at one of the universities. |
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MixtecaMike
Joined: 19 Nov 2003
Posts: 643
Location: Guatebad
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| Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 9:33 am Post subject: |
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I was able to support a family (myself, wife two kids) and save quite a decent amount, the employer provided 3-brm accommodation, schooling for the kids, plus annual airfares. Due to paperwork problems I initially had to pay to bring everyone over, but got it all reimbursed eventually. Although some of the recent hires get (if they are to be believed) a fair bit less than I started on, I think it's still enough to get by on, given that your total expenses per month wouldn't come to more than SR3-4000 for a family of four. (Excluding car payments if you want something new and expensive). Scott and some colleagues tell me you don't need a car, but it's highly recommendable for family folks.
If you are really tight you could get by on much less, but why bother? |
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desertstorm
Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 11:42 am Post subject: |
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Well, I have been offered a contract by IPA. Due to having no experience post MA I have been offered a base salary of 10200 for 18 hours of teaching. It is a direct hire.
I have been promised/guaranteed 25 hours of teaching. The overtime at a rate of $33. So with the overtime it equates to about 13500 approximately.
What do you guys think of this? I have been offered slightly better salary structure from other agencies. But the IPA 'appears' to have better reputation than the others. |
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BajaLaJaula
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 267
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 1:02 pm Post subject: |
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I think you can do better than 3600 USD a month. You would be able to get by on that...but why do to Saudi just to get by. Can't you make about the same money in home country?
Unless you love living in Saudi and plan to make it your final destination, I would not take a job that just lets you get by without any opportunity for savings.
If you are an American, you can get hired on by US military contractor and make from 60K to 86K USD annually. At least with that kind of salary you have the potential to save a little.
If you have kids you will need to factor in the cost of sending them to an international school. Jeddah International school is around 8K USD a year per child.
KSA is no longer the family friendly place that it used to be. Many of the jobs now don't come with any family benefits. Looks like it is becoming a destination for 1. recent grads, 2. single folks, 3. couples without kids, or 4. those that are religiously inclined. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 2:02 pm Post subject: |
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| desertstorm wrote: |
| What do you guys think of this? I have been offered slightly better salary structure from other agencies. But the IPA 'appears' to have better reputation than the others. |
Frankly, as a newbie with a family to support, you may have to overlook an employer's reputation if the pay is decent. In terms of what constitutes a good offer depends on how much you expect to earn and/or save each month, which you haven't yet stated. |
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natsume
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Posts: 409
Location: Chongqing, China
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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| BajaLaJaula wrote: |
I think you can do better than 3600 USD a month. You would be able to get by on that...but why do to Saudi just to get by. Can't you make about the same money in home country?
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Please tell us where, with the OPs quals, this can be done tax free with a housing allowance? |
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desertstorm
Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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I think if I can save half of my income by supporting my family in the UK, then I would have done well. Of course, as I have been rightly told, gaining more experience will increase the wage and hopefully save more.
The other offers are from al khaleej and QEHC. The offer from al khaleej is similar to the IPA one. However, on paper QEHC is markedly better but they are messing about with providing information about where/when the job will be and am still waiting for the final contract to be issued - this is nearly a month after receiving the initial offer! |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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Based on another poster's negative experience with QEHC (http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=111284), it's best to nuke them off your list.
You still haven't indicated a number as to what your salary and benefits expectations are, but you need to be realistic as a newbie with a family to support. In fact, some posters were raving about the wonderful income potential in China, which might be a better place for you to start in terms of gaining some sort of full-time teaching experience over the next couple or so years.
Last edited by nomad soul on Wed Jun 17, 2015 9:00 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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BajaLaJaula
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 267
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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Military contracts usually pay more....check out jobs offered by:
Raytheon/SALTS
Booz Allen Hamilton
Vinnell
B3H
They will pay quite a bit more, except for maybe Vinnell and B3H, and don't require a MA. If you have the Masters in TEFLTASTIC Magic and Grammar Wizardry...they will likely snatch you up. |
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billings
Joined: 20 Sep 2010
Posts: 68
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 6:29 am Post subject: a Ph.D. in Saudi |
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My experience says that a Ph.D. in Saudi will definitely open doors to the very best jobs, much better salaries and greater opportunities for promotion.
DO NOT DO THE Ph.D. ONLINE!!!!
Also, Saudi Arabia is a great country for kids, even one-year olds.
There are a lot of very poor-paying jobs in Saudi with very poor conditions. However, with research, there are also some great opportunities.
I would suggest a Ph.D. in a general area like Educational Management. You could do your dissertation in any area which interests you and would be specific to future job applications. |
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desertstorm
Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 7:36 am Post subject: |
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Thank you for the post Bilings.
In your experience, has a PhD led to a teaching job with some managerial responsibility? Or has it been purely managerial?
Does the PhD allow you to educate/train other teachers? |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 8:30 am Post subject: |
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| desertstorm wrote: |
Has a PhD led to a teaching job with some managerial responsibility? Or has it been purely managerial?
Does the PhD allow you to educate/train other teachers? |
From actual Saudi university job ads (higheredjobs.com):Faculty in Academic Development
Minimum Qualifications: Applicants must hold a doctorate in education (PhD or EdD) and must possess excellent written and interpersonal communication skills. The mediums of instruction are English and Arabic, so bilingual candidates are preferred.
Desired Qualifications: Candidates with research and teaching interests that complement those of the existing faculty are desired including educational research and instructional technology. Experience in higher education in an international setting preferred.
....
Professor of Education
Required Qualifications: A PhD in Education with a concentration in Human Resource Development, Instructional Technology, Educational Leadership, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Curriculum and Instruction, Teacher Education or Special Education. Two years of teaching experience at college level is preferred.
Desired Experience: The Department of Education and Human Development seeks a technology-savvy candidate who can teach Undergraduate and Graduate courses in Education in the following concentrations: Human Resources Development, Instructional Technology, Educational Leadership, Teaching English to Speakers of Other languages (TESOL), Curriculum and Instruction, Teacher Education, and Special Education. The purpose of this position is to provide high quality teaching that is technology-based. The chosen candidate will essentially teach courses in Education to the students in the Master and Pre-master programs.
....
Assistant/Associate/Full Professors, King Khalid University
http://www.eslcafe.com/joblist/index.cgi?read=36059
We are actively seeking PhD holding (Male and Female) in the areas of Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Translation, English as a First Language, English Literature or a related field. Candidates should be able to start from August 20th 2015. We are also seeking PhD holding (Male and Female) in English/Arabic Translation.
The university also encourages new PhDs to consider making a career start in our institution. There are opportunities to teach, do research, have an interesting cultural experience AND earn and save money. The following are some positive points of working at KKU as a new PhD.
Professional Reasons:
• New MA Programs in Applied Linguistics and Translation;
• Opportunity to teach graduate level courses and be in on the ground level of a new program;
• Research opportunities with the Language Research Center
• University Journal accepting publications in English and Arabic: "King Khalid University Journal of Humanities";
• Active research population – topics range from eLearning and Computer Assisted; Learning to Teaching Methodology to Discourse Analysis;
• Yearly international symposia/conferences
Do your research. Also keep in mind that there are Saudis with education-related doctoral degrees from US and UK universities who will get priority for these positions.
Last edited by nomad soul on Fri Jul 03, 2015 9:46 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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