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HCT? - think Saudi is bad? Check out this for shameless!
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only1life



Joined: 09 Jan 2005
Posts: 19

PostPosted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 1:08 pm    Post subject: HCT? - think Saudi is bad? Check out this for shameless! Reply with quote

Further to the litany of criticisms of HCT... I'm here to confirm they are no exaggeration. You had best save your hopes and money. Ignore any solicitations from them and any lucrative 'offers' they may give. They are every bit as devious as described in other posts. Here is my experience.

I've had my profile registered with HCT for several years...before the reported decline. I recently decided to look at jobs in a better location for my children to grow up. Dubai, or anywhere close by, would be good for them. I thought I'd see for myself what pursuing an application with them would be like. First, my CV was approved (late March) and then I was asked to complete an automated video interview (early April). Then I was contacted again and asked to sit a personal video-conference interview (mid-June). Then I was congratulated and told I was now in a pool of candidate teachers awaiting appointment to one of the campuses. In early July I was congratulated again as a campus in Dubai wanted to appoint me. So far so good.

Next I was given 6 different requests for various documentation before the offer letter could be generated. Of course they wanted original transcripts (in my case 3 different universities) sent directly from the universities ($$$). I was also asked to get my highest degree attested along with my marriage certificate and children's birth certificates ($$$$$$). Along the way I was sent mail saying my offer has been approved for over 29,000 dirhams. Now to proceed with the offer all they needed was the requested documentation. One by one I gave them everything they requested...I even told them the date the attested documents would be ready. Low and behold... the day after my attested documents were complete I received an email saying we regret to inform the college has decided it will no longer pursue my application.

I needed to get all my official documents attested anyway...that didn't piss me off. But the UAE embassy will charge about US$55 for each document to be attested. Whether you are comfortable or desperate I strongly recommend scratching HCT off the list. Even after all the reported screwing around with salary, benefits, etc etc...it still looks like an attractive offer. Certainly more than most jobs. But you have to understand the management in charge of HCT today are bereft of morals and have a thoroughly uncivilized attitude. If you're a gambler and don't mind risking a wad of cash on pursuing an HCT 'dream' offer, then more power to you.

I'll stick with my current job in Oman. It has it's problems like anywhere but at least I've been treated fairly and it stacks up okay on the whole compared to most places I have worked in the world. The scathing criticisms and warnings you will read about HCT in Dave's ESL and elsewhere are no exaggeration. What I have experienced with HCT culminating in their shameless, disgusting and callous behavior is apparently standard operating procedure there. Whatever credibility the college once had is well and truly gone. The management are unfit to hold their positions...but hold them they will.

Here's the correspondence (in chronological order) between HCT and myself demonstrating how despicable these people are at HCT. Clearly a disreputable institution:

Thank you for your application for the Faculty- B. Ed position with the Higher Colleges of Technology.
I am pleased to inform you that your application has been short listed for an interview.
------------------------

You recently interviewed for the position of Faculty - B. Ed. (English Language Teaching in Schools) with the Higher Colleges of Technology. We appreciate your time and the information you provided to the interview panel regarding your background and work experience.
We are pleased to inform you that we have received positive feedback from the Interview Panel and they have recommended that your application be placed on the short-list for this current position.
Due to the size of the HCT, we often have several vacancies for the same position at various colleges. Thus, your application will join a pool of short-listed candidates who are being considered for immediate and future vacancies at any of the HCT Colleges across the country. Hiring managers at each college review this talent pool on a regular basis and bid on any candidates they feel would be a strong fit for the specific position they are looking to fill within their College Directorate.
-------------------------
Dubai Women’s College is interested in moving forward with your application. Please let me know if you are available to join by 9th August.
Regards
-------------------------
Thank you for your prompt response.
Let me move it forward to the management approval and I will let you know the salary once I get the approvals. Our approval process takes around 3 weeks at least.
-------------------------
In order to expedite the process, we need to apply for your security clearance approval. The security clearance process is the next phase in our hiring procedures and is a requirement of many higher education institutions in the Gulf region.
Please complete the attached security clearance form and scan and email it to me (in jpeg format) as soon as possible along with the documents highlighted in red below.

1) Completed Security Clearance Form

2) Colored copy of your passport Please ensure that your passport is not set to expire within the next 6 months.

3) A recent colored passport-sized photo

4) An attested copy of your highest academic qualification. Your certificate will need to be attested by the country of origin1 and then the UAE Embassy. Originals of the attested documents need to be provided to us upon arrival in the UAE. Since you are working on your attestation you might as well get all the other necessary documents attested as well – marriage certificate and children’s birth certificates. These documents will be required when you are here in the UAE

Should you have any questions about attestation procedures within your country of residence, please contact your local UAE embassy and a representative will be able to walk you through the attestation process specific for that region.

Since your highest qualification is from the UK, here are the steps from the UAE embassy in London:
You can also use private companies (a few of my candidates have used these and their services are very good, for a fee of course):

5) An experience certificate from your current or previous employer. This type of document is used within the Gulf region and confirms the employee’s position title and dates of employment. If you wish to keep the purpose of the letter confidential, the document can be addressed “to whom it may concern”; it needs to be printed on company letterhead or bear the company stamp. If you have this document on hand, please scan and return via email or this can be forwarded to us at a later date.

6) Original Transcripts of your Bachelor’s and Master’s (Kindly request the University to send it to the following mailing address)
-------------------------
Your application for Faculty – B, Ed position at Dubai Women’s College is currently in the final stages of review, so we ask for your patience. In order for us to give you an idea of our offer, the approved total compensation is AED 29,950 (base salary is AED18,715). This includes an amount of AED 833.33 per month for the purpose of relocation which you will receive for the term of three (3) years. After the three (3) year vesting period, this amount shall cease
Please confirm acceptance of the salary package.

The start date is August 09, 2015 as the start date.
The signed offer will be sent to you in soft copy format with Terms and Conditions listing your benefits.
Note – Your response now allows us to proceed with generating the offer.
Please do not resign till you receive your offer letter and till your security clearance is approved (waiting for your attested qualifications).
-------------------------
Thank you for your interest in working with the Higher Colleges of Technology.

I regret to inform you that after careful consideration and given the changing needs and requirements of our colleges, the Higher Colleges of Technology has decided that it is no longer going to pursue your application for the Faculty – B. Ed position.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience.

On behalf of all the members involved in your recruiting process, I thank you for your interest in the Higher Colleges of Technology and wish you luck in your future endeavors.

Regards,


Last edited by only1life on Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:41 am; edited 2 times in total
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Balzac



Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Posts: 266

PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 6:01 pm    Post subject: Re: Truly strange and quite unbelievable. Reply with quote

Wow. That is truly amazing. Properly led down the proverbial garden path! I have a friend who has worked there for many years and speaks very highly of the management at HCT.

A couple of comments by way of feedback. First, it's really debatable whether you would really be better off in Saudi. I have worked there for more than 5 and a half years and I' m sure it has taken years off my life! If you get a good gig (and I was on similar cash to that mentioned in your offer letter) then you can put up with it, but not forever. The management where I worked in a technical college was a total joke and lacked even the basis of organisational competence most of the time so no, I would say that Saudi is not for everyone, only those who are able to grin and bear it.

Secondly, I too have applied to HCT and on the third attempt received an email saying I'd been selected to be put in their 'talent pool'. However, that was about 3-4 months ago and I have heard nothing at all from them. Even that took several months from the time the application was first made.

Not sure what I will do now but I think Saudi and UAE are probably off the table. I have been offered a 3-year gig with one of the British uni franchises in China starting next semester 2016, so I may take that.

Good luck!

Balzac
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only1life



Joined: 09 Jan 2005
Posts: 19

PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2015 2:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Going anywhere feels like a major gamble. China has some virtues and obviously some dangers. So, long as a proper Z visa is issued before you arrive you should be good to go. I'm sure a British franchise...like Uni Liverpool will do that. Some places suck you in on a different visa and then screw you about to get a Z visa after you get there. That used to require a trip to Hong Kong. However, the rules changed (ala Saudi) and candidates would have to go back to their home country and return to China. Utter insanity!

As for Saudi, I was hired by both Laureate and TQ. On both occasions the people who were supposed to be helping me get a Saudi visa simply couldn't! I ended up making calls and telling them they needed to do this or provide that...hook them up with visa agents, etc. I was stultified and ended telling them both to bugger off. I thought if these people were so useless as to make getting a visa so difficult then once I get to Saudi I'd really get screwed around. As lucrative as the offers were I decided to stick with Oman. There's my analogy with HCT and Saudi. We all know Saudi is a wretched place to work. But before you even teach a class it's likely you'll get screwed around badly. We're forced to deal with people bereft of any professional moral conduct. On a Malaysian project I was about to leave my home in Japan to go to the airport and received a call to say don't board the plane as a new Director just decided he didn't want the 5 new trainers. At that time we had a management body go to bat for us, appealing to the Minister of Education, who overturned the Director's decision. A week later we were on our way to Malaysia. Just like HCT, you see there are people gloating in their chair arbitrarily making edicts with no moral conscious or regard for the consequences of their actions. Further, they are rarely held to account for the damage they cause people and organizations.
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Balzac



Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Posts: 266

PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2015 11:10 am    Post subject: Re: Truly strange and quite unbelievable. Reply with quote

Yes I know 1st hand the lack of any mind of moral compass and these countries will mess you around with impunity.

I quit my job in Saudi as I was offered one with the Saudi electricity company with a decent salary. I received a contract and block visa in March and the 1 week before the start of Ramadan I was called by the HR and told the offer was withdrawn.

No.mention of any compensation whatsoever. That is the nature of life in the gulf unfortunately.

Oh well. What can you do!? Cry or get on with life. I chose the latter.

Balzac
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plumpy nut



Joined: 12 Mar 2011
Posts: 1652

PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2015 3:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

None of what you're saying surprises me. With what is put up on the forum concerning their weird methods, ethics and complete lack or reliability, it's a surprise anybody would attempt to apply for a job in the Gulf countries at all. However as far as the transcripts go, transcripts are the standard and it's a good idea to have a couple of copies of transcripts from each university.
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D. Merit



Joined: 02 May 2008
Posts: 203

PostPosted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 5:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep - PN has summed it up. While some of the things mentioned are inevitable hurdles of working in the Middle East, HCT is applying its own multiplier to an applicants feelings of stress, delay and frustration.

Their craven disregard for the wellbeing of faculty and their families has been documented in detail, yet still people perhaps understandably conclude that for nearly 30,000 AED they will take their chances.

Look at it this way - there is definitely at least one thing worse, much much worse than not getting a job at HCT: getting a job at HCT.

Do not disregard the vastly and speedily accumulating bad news about HCT, people.

From one who knows.
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only1life



Joined: 09 Jan 2005
Posts: 19

PostPosted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 8:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

D. Merit wrote:
Look at it this way - there is definitely at least one thing worse, much much worse than not getting a job at HCT: getting a job at HCT.


Touché! Yes, I think I would have spent many a day with the stress and regret of stepping into such a sewer as HCT... becoming another drop of effluent to be pumped out to sea.
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Shakhbut



Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 167

PostPosted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

By my calculations, with the new 24 hours a week rule, times 32 weeks a year, that's 128 extra hours for the same pay from August. And it gets better with three new teaching weeks in June, that's another 72 hours of new contact. Total increase in teaching load = around 200 hours over the year.
One more reason to count yourself lucky, only1life!
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nwtefl



Joined: 20 May 2015
Posts: 148
Location: England

PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 12:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is very similar to what I experienced a few months ago with HCT. Good interview - then said I was in line for a position at Sharjah Women's College and then asked for my certificates - then five days later an out of the blue email saying they were no longer looking for people. F***** bizarre.

Thankfully I had not started the expensive attestation process but it really knocked me.

I am still waiting for my first positive UAE experience !
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crocus



Joined: 01 Feb 2004
Posts: 79

PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 12:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shakhbut wrote:
By my calculations, with the new 24 hours a week rule, times 32 weeks a year, that's 128 extra hours for the same pay from August. And it gets better with three new teaching weeks in June, that's another 72 hours of new contact. Total increase in teaching load = around 200 hours over the year.
One more reason to count yourself lucky, only1life!


Unfortunately it's not just three more weeks in June; the mandatory Summer Course 1 starts on 22nd May and teaching finishes on 28th June - that's around five and a half weeks. Then teachers have exams and marking to rush through before they can escape; back again on 14th August.

Are we sure about the 24 hours? What we heard is that in Foundation it's 24 classes, but since they are only 50 minutes it adds up to 'only' 20 hours. Unfortunately HCT does not yet have the technology to beam us instantly from one classroom to another.
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Shakhbut



Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 167

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

crocus wrote:
Shakhbut wrote:
By my calculations, with the new 24 hours a week rule, times 32 weeks a year, that's 128 extra hours for the same pay from August. And it gets better with three new teaching weeks in June, that's another 72 hours of new contact. Total increase in teaching load = around 200 hours over the year.
One more reason to count yourself lucky, only1life!


Unfortunately it's not just three more weeks in June; the mandatory Summer Course 1 starts on 22nd May and teaching finishes on 28th June - that's around five and a half weeks. Then teachers have exams and marking to rush through before they can escape; back again on 14th August.

Are we sure about the 24 hours? What we heard is that in Foundation it's 24 classes, but since they are only 50 minutes it adds up to 'only' 20 hours. Unfortunately HCT does not yet have the technology to beam us instantly from one classroom to another.


We've always taught until the end of the first week in June, so the change means three extra weeks to the end of June, no?
As for the hours change, perhaps I should have said class hours, lessons, periods. You sound a little like an HCT apologist, since you're using HCT's own reasoning for the 24 hours/class hours/lessons/periods.
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crocus



Joined: 01 Feb 2004
Posts: 79

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 12:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="Shakhbut"][quote="crocus"]
Shakhbut wrote:
By my calculations, with the new 24 hours a week rule, times 32 weeks a year, that's 128 extra hours for the same pay from August. And it gets better with three new teaching weeks in June, that's another 72 hours of new contact. Total increase in teaching load = around 200 hours over the year.

We've always taught until the end of the first week in June, so the change means three extra weeks to the end of June, no?
As for the hours change, perhaps I should have said class hours, lessons, periods. You sound a little like an HCT apologist, since you're using HCT's own reasoning for the 24 hours/class hours/lessons/periods.


If we teach, as usual, 16 weeks per semester + another semester/term in the summer of five and a half weeks, then we are teaching a total of 37 and a half weeks, no? Regardless of which particular months that teaching takes place in, no?

I feel there is a problem in your understanding of what I said about the hours. Please note the 'only' before the number of hours. I would hope that most reasonable people would see, particularly with my following comment that I am not, in fact, being as you so sweetly described me "an HCT apologist".
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 1:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I read it as... sarcastic... Cool

I find this management quibble that the "hour" is only 50 minutes so petty and silly. In teaching this is always the situation. As if they had just discovered this and that ten minutes to fight our way through the hallways is a holiday of some sort... as if we took a quick nap. Rolling Eyes

asinine...

VS
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crocus



Joined: 01 Feb 2004
Posts: 79

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 1:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

veiledsentiments wrote:
I read it as... sarcastic... Cool

VS

Rolling Eyes Laughing
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 1:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome back Crocus... Cool

VS
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