Job Discussion Forums

[fitzpatrick_thomas]

I have been offered a job at The Educational City- Co. located in the city of Riyadh.

As well as flights they pay accomadation.

Is the money what I should expect and what about the hours ?

I have never been in Saudi Arabia before.

[GabeKessel]

This is standard. Do you have an MA? For a BA it is pretty good. How many weeks' vacation? Do they pay your tickets? How many? How many of those 40 hours is teaching and how many is preparation time? Is there a bonus?

Please provide more details.

If you are just a BA holder, it is actually quite good.

[fitzpatrick_thomas]

I have a BA- no MA . They pay my fares there and back - once. Not important since I am flying from Yemen.

The teaching hours are 35 per week.

Thanks for reply. If you have any tips on Saudi please post them.

Is it true that I will pay no tax ? What can I expect in terms of accomadation ?

[garfield]

I, too, have been offered a position there but....... I live in Thailand and cannot be issued with a work visa here, the employer has suggested that i come over on a visit visa and they will try to convert to a work visa. Am I right in hearing the alarm bells ring?

[veiledsentiments]

Just from what I have read on this board, I'd say that is a major alarm bell. Have you done a search on this board for comments on your employer? Also search for comments on visas.

VS

[GabeKessel]

For a BA holder it is a standard salary although the hours are a bit too many. I would take the job. And no, you will pay no tax. With that kind of salary you should be able to save $2000 a month. A pretty good deal.

I do not hear alarm bells just because they are asking people to come over from Thailand. I did a similar thing when I got a job in Kuwait. I was in the Philippines and they converted the visa later.

I would still research on the company. Who are these guys, anyway?

[JZer]

I can't believe that people are willing to move to the Middle East for such a low salary. You can make between $2500-3000 teaching in a Korean University with free housing and you don't have to give up the pleasures of life.

[GabeKessel]

Where are those universities that pay that much money with housing? All the jobs I saw in Korea, including universities, pay around $1800-2200.

[JZer]

I exaggerated a little. Most universities in Korea pay around $2000 U.S. a month plus free housing and an end of year bonus. Do Saudi universities may an end of the year bonus? The end of the year bonus takes you up to about $2150 a month. But if you are willing to work maybe just 3-4 hours a week overtime which many universities have you can earn another $500 a month, which would put you around $2700. Also I don't know how many hours a week that Saudi universities require you to teach but at some Korean universities you could teach an extra 3-4 hours and still only work 20 hours a week. I see that King Fahd currently has an ad for 20 hours a week. The monthly pay is just $2312-$3100. If you are only getting the bottom level of pay I don't know why you would choose to work in Saudi unless you have kids and then the educational allowance will save you money as opposed to probably having to pay to send your kids to a private school in Korea.

I do understand that you could save more in Saudi because you don't have to pay taxes but I would rather pay taxes in Korea which are around 6% than lose some of my freedoms by going to Saudi. I just don't think Saudi is really worth it.



Look at this ad for Kangnung National University that is currently posted on Dave's , there may be some universities that will pay you 1.9 million or 2 million for less hours than this one. If we compare the base salary of both jobs you would earn $2312 at King Fahd and $1827 at Kangnung University. Since you are only required to teach 18 hours at Kangnung we could add 2 hours overtime a week. That would put the pay around $2312 to $2100 if you are getting the entry level pay. Also I have not included the severance pay which would be around $1900 or$158 a month. So we have $2312 at King Fahd if you are offered the lowest salary versus $2258 in Korea. If you really need the extra money you could possible teach more overtime or tutor.

Well just something to think about. Maybe someone can give me a reason why working in Saudi is better but if you are single I don't see it and I don't mean just because of the life style. I don't think the pay in Saudi is really that much better unless you need the education subsidy.

1) Job Description

- Position title: Full-time Native English Instructor (minimum 18 hour of teaching)
- Contract period : One year , renewable

2) Qualification
- English native speaker with a B.A. with Tesol qualification and at least one year teaching experience
- English native speaker with M.A.

3) Benefits
- 4 week paid vacation ( 2 weeks at the end of summer and winter vacation)
- Furnished housing
- Shared office with a computer with internet access
- Beautiful beach and mountains (famous tourist attraction)
- Subsidized medical insurance
- Severance pay in accordance with Korean law and KNU policy

4) Working condition
- Duties: Minimum 18 hours per week
- Overtime: 22,000 won per hour
- Salary: 1.9 million won per Month(2 million for M.A)
- Overtime pay for over-time classes( over 18 hours)
- Occasional staff/teachers' meetings, work-related responsibility(researching and choosing texts and so on)

[JZer]

GabeKessel, don't forget that this guy is posting about $2700 for a 40 hour work week. If I wanted to work 40 hours a week in Taiwan or South Korea, I am sure that I can make more than $2700 a month.

[Stephen Jones]

Look again at the vacations in the Korean ad: 4 weeks.

At KFUPM you will be getting around four and a half months holiday a year, all of which you can spend outside the Kingdom.

Also, there are few people at KFUPM or JIC on the bottom of the scale, because as you say it is not that competitive compared to Korea, or to contractor work in Saudi. Also you do get an end-0f-srvice bonus of two weeks salary.

In general those who work in colleges in Saudi are either married with a couple of kids and a wife who doesn't mind, or likes not working, or single people in their late forties or fifties who have already done more than their fair share of partying elsewhere and for whom the difference in savings is significant.

There are also a fair proportion of people who have home and/or spouse in a low paying third country such as Thailand, India, Philippines, Spain or Mexico.

[GabeKessel]

Is it true that KFUPM does not hire people over 45?

Also, to support the previous point, I prefer Saudi to crowded Asian countries. These were fun in my 20ie and 30ies when all you want is parties and girls, but Saudi is a country that grants you privacy and solitude ( banning the occasional terrorist attack) and that is what the 45+ crowd wants. It is an excellent place to work little and save a lot of money vs. working harder and saving less money.

Saudi is a place where one can really relax and devote one's life to hobbies, writing books and other valuable pursuits.

Now if you look like Antonio Banderas or have the same appetite for females as Wilt Chamberlain, maybe you should give Saudi a pass, at least for the next 10 years or so.

[JZer]

Ha, in ten years I don't plan on really needing the money. Well anyways best of luck to all in Saudi. What is the average starting pay offered? I do not mean what they advertise but what they actually would pay someone whom they offered a job to. Say with a MA and a few years experience.

[Stephen Jones]

[JZer]

I know you are going to think that I am stupid but does BAe stand for Bahrain or some other country? Where are the advertisements for jobs that pay $7000 a month?