Job Discussion Forums

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Thanks Crocus... a bit confusing the new 'date' bit, but I suspect that it is one of those things that come up in the Middle East where someone in Admin suddenly has this 'great' idea that will 'simplify' things for his insignificant (but wasta-filled) position that just screws up the system, confuses everyone, causes excessive aggravation and then gets dropped once everyone actually figures out what it meant.

Is there anyone out there who can tell Gordon what the approx tuition costs might be for the schools? (but first, Gordon... you must get a handle on how many children you have... is it 2 or 3? perhaps you could check with your wife. I'm sure she must know... Shocked

) I do know that some teachers have sent their kids to the Filipino schools as it was cheaper, but academically fine.

So, it looks like best case salary is 830+60+44+75 or 1009 OR or US$2600.

VS

younggeorge · Joined: 15 Apr 2005 Posts: 350 Location: UAE

With an MA and 11 years experience, assuming at least some of it is academic, you'd get a better deal at either HCT or ZU in the UAE. The shool fees allowance, in particular, is about double. It's a bit late for this year but there are always a few last-minute gaps to fill so it could be worth a try. Check out the websites for online applications:-

http://www.zu.ac.ae

http://www.hct.ac.ae

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Thanks everyone for the info. VS, I have 2 kids (my wife concurs) but we might have 3 by the time we go there or one more on the way. I'll let you know.
I am not looking for anything this year, I am planning for summer 2006. My masters will be finished next May or June, so no post-masters experience. My teaching experience by then will be 6 years academic university teaching and 5 of the conversational variety.

I'm mostly looking at Oman, UAE and Qatar.

Also, does anyone have any experience with deliveries in these countries? Japan is a great place to have a baby, better care than in Canada.
Thanks again.

younggeorge · Joined: 15 Apr 2005 Posts: 350 Location: UAE

With those qualifications and experience, I think you'd get about 12,000 Dirhams per month at ZU = 1,200 Omani rials so about 50% better. On the other hand, the UAE is probably more expensive to live in and maybe a less relaxed lifestyle - Dubai, in particular, has serious problems with traffic and the accompanying pollution levels.

For the pregnancy issue, there was a post about this recently in the UAE forum. You need have no worries, though: she'd be well looked after.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Gordon,

whew... glad we got that figured out. Laughing

But, at least the third will not need school fees for a few years. The Gulf is very children oriented, and I've worked with so many people that had babies while there. They were all very pleased with the care. (and there were some extremely difficult pregnancies that all had happy endings...) One perk at SQU is that the hospital is on campus.

One problem for you could be the timing of your MA. Many of the employers are not comfortable with the idea of 'here is my application and my MA will be done in 6 months' (since you should start applying around January). Definitely try to fly to the Gulf for the TESOLArabia conference. That is the way to get a taste of the place and to network with teachers living and teaching in various countries and institutions.

BTW, almost all new hires in the gulf start in August/September, so it looks like you will have summer of 2006 to relax.

VS

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Thanks VS,
I understand the difficulty of applying without the piece of paper in hand. Certainly one could apply and not even be close to completion. Not much I can do about that. Not much of a summer off unfortunately as my contract here runs till the end of July (actually end of August) but I can leave before.

George,
That is quite a big difference in pay. From reading up on the various unis in UAE, the two that most interest me are ZU and AUS. HCT looks good too, but their hiring practices seem a lot to be desired and it sounds like the various colleges can be hit and miss.

Thanks both for the insights.

The TESOL Arabia conference sounds like a good plan for me. When do most employers offer contracts? I most likely would have to give my employer notice April or May.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

If this year's TA is any indication, you could very well have offers before you leave the convention. I know some that had multiple offers (and a few with none... but let's be positive...). Some people are still getting offers, but most had received them a month or two back.

Both ZU and AUS are very difficult to get into. Neither of them do a lot of hiring in any one year.

Your first Gulf job will be the most difficult to get and you may very well NOT get into the best places the first try. Your 'not quite an MA yet' could lead to having to start at a place like SQU. Things get easier once you can put 'MA plus X years of ME teaching' on your CV. Cool

(moving between Gulf countries is pretty painless - in relative terms...)

VS

younggeorge · Joined: 15 Apr 2005 Posts: 350 Location: UAE

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Thanks you two for the inside scoop. My wife is getting pretty excited now too. I know that it is tough to get into the best unis, but you never know if you don't try. For some strange reason, I always seem to get jobs I shouldn't get over people with way more experience and education.