Job Discussion Forums

[redafiya]

This school is currently advertising on the daves esl jobs board, so I thought i'd give it a try.... I want to work in the middle east anyway, but wasn't convinced about Saudi....

Now, this is no disrespect or slander to either the school itself ( by all accounts a good reputable school ) or the guy who runs it...he was very courteous, professional and polite in his contact with me....but i just want to comment on maybe two aspects of the pre interview banter , intial email contact which leave me frankly,puzzled or bemused/amused...maybe long term saudis can explain the oddness?

In one of his emails to me he told me directly in no uncertain terms that my wife may well be treated harshly in Saudi ( his literal words )...ok, hardly news to anyone knowing the status of women in some parts of the middle east ,so no problem there -- truth is truth-- but it's hardly an inviting sales pitch to show prospective teachers the benefits of the job to married couples is it? hahahahaaa .... but at least its honest, so no real objection...( "Ok, my wife may be treated harshly by the locals? Hmmm..great, that's fair conditions, just let me arrange my flight tickets for the both of us...." ....You gotta laugh... )

Then , to cap it all, I was sent an enclosed document answering FAQ about Saudi, the school etc ( you know the kind of standard school produced docs ) ....ok fair enough...the document was honestly and accurately explaining the austere and conservative nature of Saudi society and how one should be prepared for that...ok, all good so far, this is being honest and telling it like it is...no prblem there then....

...But then at the end of the document,just under the section on restrictions in Saudi society/prayer times/explaining there are no theatres/cinemas etc.... taking up about a quarter of the whole document, there was a huge, humungous black and white picture of a drug ravaged Elvis Presley, black bags under eyes from drug fuelled nights, shaking hands with the criminal Nixon in the Whitehouse! ( maybe you know the picture -- its a famous picture taken when Elvis was utterly wracked by drugs, but went to the Whitehouse to offer his services to Nixon as...ummm...errrr.... an anti drugs baron ! Its famous....)

Now, no slight against the school -- they have been polite and honest in their dealings with me....but the whole email exchange,publicity pics of the school with weird elvis pics has just left me speechless.....

I can only conclude Saudi is a weird place to work....


( I can remember living in various austere Islamic states as I was growing up, and how odd it all was living in those places..but often we just switched off to it as a kind of survival mechanism... )

Good luck to whoever takes the job!

[scot47]

I have heard reports from many who worked in this school. Nothing positive.

[redafiya]

Thanks for the reply Scot -- I have to admit, the humungous picture of a drug addled Elvis on their promo lit -- just under the section decribing the austerity of life in Saudi, prayer times etc -- left me baffled/amused.

Then the email telling me my wife should expect harsh treatment and a lonely life in Saudi -- and then asking me when I was free for the formal school invite to interview -- left me more baffled. On the school website pictures, the school looks an unhappy austere place, and the teachers look haggard and desperate. I have taught for long enough ( and lived in strict islamic states too ) to recognise that look of loss and desperation and unhappiness in a TEFL teachers face -- i saw that look on the faces of the tefl teachers on their website.

Thanks Scot.If you, as a long termer in Saudi with reliable info about life at street level, has heard nothing optimistic about this school-- there must be a reason why. The pics on their website look lonely and barren. I think people who have taught for years can read between the lines and pick up clues.

[DesertStar]

[abufletcher]

I've lived and worked in Germany, Saudi, Kuwait, Oman, Mexico, and Japan and Saudi has had by far the largest percentage of "eccentric" expats. That having been said, I loved my Saudi experience down in the Asir but would have serious doubts about taking a job in Riyadh. Far too many expats which seems to have created an "us vs. them" mentality that I didn't really experience in the Asir. True is was still "us" and "them" but it didn't seem adversarial.

[veiledsentiments]

I'm wondering why this is in the General Forum and not the KSA Forum. I actually know a person who taught at King Faisal for a few years... but he had a very high tolerance for BS... and needed to sock away some money quickly.

He regaled me with horror stories about the place. It seemed that every year about 25% of the new teachers would bail out in the first couple of weeks... and another 25% at mid-year... and about 75+% by year end. Very few made it through a 2 year contract.

I wonder if it has changed...

VS

[Stephen Jones]

The main problem with King Faisal is the hours. The idea of the school is that the students are looked after from 6.30 - 18.00 and from 6.30-14-00 on Thursdays. The teachers have to be present those hours, even though they only teach around 18-20 hours.

When they started in 1994 they paid westterners 13,000 - 14,000 a month, plus a luxury furnished flat. They have cut down on salaries however, and now you are likely to be offered only eight or nine thousand, which goes nowhere to compensate for those hours.

And then there is the problem with teaching the kids of very rich Saudis. It was quite common for students not to attend class between Ramadan and Hajj because they stayed abroad on holiday. One parent had the college fax his kid's homework every night - which they did, to Beverly Hills!

[veiledsentiments]

When my friend was there, the students declared that silverware and table/chairs were a sinful modern idea. So, everyone had to sit on the floor and eat with their fingers in the student lunchroom.

VS

[redafiya]

Thanks for all the informed replies and input from people in the know -- Clearly this school is not a fly by night, amateur outfit, and clearly they are aspiring to be professional -- However, I think that is vital to uncover these kinds of schools which are obviously miserable places to work with weird , depressing, expolitative set ups and conditions established by their owners.

It is vital so that they can see people are "onto them" and that they can't decieve everyone -- I am very senstitive to this kind of situation, becuase I am an experienced teacher now of 15 years experience -- but in my younger years, I was one of those poor naive fools who stepped into a promising looking post abroad -- only to return home after having been lied to,exploited and treated appallingly by my bosses, having worked in an Orwellian paranoid atmosphere for a year.

Let these school's owners know we are onto them. Hopefully, it will help t prevent future employees from being abused and misused.


Thanks to veiledsentiments, scot ( both of whom regularly offer realistic, informed advice ) and the others for the accurate portrayal of what set ups like this are really all about. Abu Fletcher's and Steven Jones' posts too, are helpful. Thanks.