Job Discussion Forums

[lisalisa_23452]

Has anyone heard anything good or bad about this school in Ras al Khaimah, UAE? I was offered a position teaching ESL and I can't seem to find any information about the school or the "head master"...the website looks shabby and thrown together with many of the words spelled wrong but I don't know if its all due to the translation or what. Thanks, everyone.

[nomad soul]

I assume you were never interviewed. Regardless, pass on this one, especially given the school's flaky, poorly-written ad. That monthly salary of 20,000 AED is another red flag that this is a scam. Seriously... for the requirements, not only do you "must love students." you'll also need to have a "genuine love for all students". Yet, apparently experience and a degree aren't needed per the following from their ad:

[veiledsentiments]

See the scam thread above. This is an obvious scam.

VS

[bharms85]

I have also applied for a job here through eslemployment.com and received a reply within a day, an interview a day after that, and approval along with a promised 2-year contract the following day. I don't have the contract yet, but I will see about posting in in the thread if I do, indeed, receive it.
The Skype interview (audio only) was conducted by an Indian gentleman who was still awake and available to conduct interviews at 0030 UAE time. It involved some standard interview questions, ie what is one of your weaknesses, what would your coworkers say about you (which I had in my cover letter already), how would you deal with disciplining your students, and what kind of person do you not enjoy working with? He replied to all my answers, "very good" and at the end, "you gave great answers."
I have no qualifications for teaching children, the school is grades 1-7, and only have limited experience tutoring school kids for exams and such. I have a BA in Arabic Studies, a CELTA, and have been teaching adults for about eight years.
I was very surprised that the process went so smoothly and, citing my CV and limited experience with children, was also very surprised that they want to hire me.
Scam?

[bharms85]

October 9th 2016

EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT LETTER

This contract of employment is entered into between AL Rashad British Private School and

MY NAME on English Language Teaching position Employment under the terms and conditions of

employment below.

Position and Section Employed: You have been offered the position of English Language Teacher in

junior classes; their age is between 10-14 years, 25 students in each class.

Our Job offer is subjected to the following terms and conditions:

1. Period of contract shall be for two (2) years from the joining date, it is renewable contract.

2. You will be on probationary for a period of six (6) months from the date of joining. In case your

services are not found satisfactory, your service will be terminated.

3. Your monthly salary package is (AED: 20,000)* Dirham. Your salary will be paid directly into your

bank account every on the 27th of each month.

Commencement of Employment and working days: 1

st of November, 2016 until either party

terminates the contract. You will be working seven (7) hours daily, five (5) hours teaching hour and 2

hours for office hour. You will be working Sunday to Thursday, Friday’s and Saturday’s off days.

Holidays: You are entitled to Paid: •Vacation/School break holiday • Public holidays • Ramadan Holiday

You will be entitled for 14 days paid holiday for Christmas and New Year, 20th of December to 4th of

January. Return flight ticket will be provided every year and at the end of your contract with us.

Maternity Benefits: You are entitled to maternity leave and maternity leave pay according to the

provisions of the Employment Ordinance/terms and condition.

Paternity Benefits

• You are entitled to paternity leave and paternity leave pay according to the provisions of the

Employment Ordinance/terms and condition.

Sickness Allowance

• You are entitled to sickness allowance according to the rules regulation of our School under the

following circumstances:

• If the number of sickness days taken is 5 days or below, an appropriate medical certificate in support

of the sick leave is not required.

• If the number of sickness days taken is 10 days or more, an appropriate medical certificate in support

of the sick leave is required.

Free Accommodation: You will reside at AL Rashad British Private School residential building for a

period of two (2) years, whereby the management would be to take care of your accommodation. Your

apartments is well furnished and arranged, your apartment has Washing responsible machine,

Furniture, TV set, Refrigerator, Internet access, Kitchen items and Electricity/water supply.

Medical Insurance: Health insurance will be provided for you and your family free of charge.

*Group life and Group Personal Accident Insurance Coverage.



Working documents: As non U.A.E Citizen, you need Two (2) years Employment working Visa,

Emirates ID card Teaching certificate and Flight ticket.

Processing and traveling expenses: You will in cure all the processing fees/traveling expenses

including your working documents charges and get reimbursed after your arrival.

AL Rashad British Private School and (Mod edit) hereby declare that they understand thoroughly the

above provisions and agree to sign and abide by the provisions/terms and conditions. You will send us a

copy of signed employment contract letter for future reference.

Signature of Employee

Signature:_________________________

Date:______________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

[bharms85]

I hope it's appropriate and legal to post the contract. I am new to the forum. If it isn't I will remove it, refrain from posting contracts in the future, and apologize for doing so. Let me know.

[nomad soul]

[veiledsentiments]

I doubt that the forum would care about posting a contract here, but a legitimate employer might. LOL

Same as NS, I still find this highly suspicious. As she said, the salary is too high for someone with no related qualifications or experience.

[nomad soul]

And no telling if/when those visa and flight expenses would be reimbursed...

Given the minimal requirements, the school could have easily hired a native-English speaker already in country with UAE residence status rather than recruit from abroad. Duh.

[bharms85]

My next move tomorrow morning is to ask about:

If they would reconsider paying for the flight?
How do I get the visa in their opinion?
If I can talk with a teacher employed there currently?
blah blah

I'd like to see how far I can take this before they ask for money, which I know very well not to give.

I'm happy that I found this post and I'd like to thank you two especially for the help and speedy responses.

[nomad soul]

In the meantime, apply for legit jobs with realistic salaries. If you're adventurous, check out the British Council and AMIDEAST in Egypt and Morocco.

[lisalisa_23452]

[bharms85]

I continued contacting the school until the point where they wanted me to send money to a travel agency for the visa and airfare. I was stubborn and continued to ask him questions after he sent the contract, but before signing it. It's a scam. Period.

[Tazz]

I'd say the 'washing responsible machine' should be the final red flag in the advertisement.....