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fishjock
Joined: 15 Sep 2005
Posts: 39
Location: 9th and Hennepin, Cochadebajo de los Gatos
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 Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 5:31 pm Post subject: Al Yamamah College |
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Hi, first post on this board and looking for some advice. I've just completed a Masters Degree in TESOL and am looking to make a move to the Middle East.
I responded to an ad in eslemployment.com for Language Instructors with Al Yamamah College/Interlink. After e-mailing my resume they responded with a pile of information and further documents to be filled out if I wish to take the application further.
Wondering if these folks are a good outfit to work for? Their salary package is US$34-37K with 45 days annual leave. Would this be a reasonable salary to expect with MSc and 8 years experience.
Also, any general advice on how and where to go about looking for teaching positions in the region?
cheers. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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fishjock,
That sounds like a reasonable salary range considering that your MA is new. You also didn't mention if you have direct Middle East experience and/or whether it was academic English.
The holidays are a bit on the short side, so you might also want to apply to KFUPM also.
Al-Y is relatively new, but seems to have a pretty good reputation so far. There hasn't been much here on the place, so that is usually good news.  Since we certainly hear when places have problems.
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pklocek
Joined: 07 Sep 2005
Posts: 11
Location: Lafayette, California
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| Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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I too am interested in Al-Yamamah College. I have spoken with them about a position there and it seems good. I am waiting on my visa right now.
I am wondering, however, if anybody knows what sort of students YC attracts? I have been reading some horror stories here lately. There is no need to go to the other side of the world for rude students, I could stay home and get that in California ... |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 4:05 am Post subject: |
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Well there is more to a job than just the level of student rudeness... such as, a tax free income could be a benefit for you...
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Cleopatra
Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 3657
Location: Tuamago Archipelago
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| Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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I know a few people who work at Al Yamamah and I've not heard any of them complain about the students.
On a more general note, while some (by no means all) students in this part of the world can be lazy and undisciplined, I've found very few to be rude, or even unpleasant. Even the 'worst' Saudi students tend to be polite and respectful, and I've rarely had to deal with outright rudeness or confrontation. |
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ootii
Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Posts: 124
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 12:35 pm Post subject: |
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| pklocek wrote: |
I too am interested in Al-Yamamah College. I have spoken with them about a position there and it seems good. I am waiting on my visa right now.
I am wondering, however, if anybody knows what sort of students YC attracts? I have been reading some horror stories here lately. There is no need to go to the other side of the world for rude students, I could stay home and get that in California ... |
Yamama offers salaries and benifits that are compatible with the university sector, however, they do not pay any education allowance, so if you have kids in school you'll have to fork out for it yourself.
English language medium schools range from 10 to 18k SR per year. The British School is around 35k and the American school over 40k - per kid of course. |
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chickenwhat
Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Al Yamamah has a lot of beginner level students, about half of the students. Class sizes of 25 are normal. Hours are kind of long, from 8am to 4pm. Very few resources are supplied, i.e. bring your own books! There's a new age sentiment there that teaching grammar and using books is wrong, everything must come from the student. Sometimes it works. They want you to use the Silent Way. And meetings are a grind. Teachers are encouraged to give their input, then the input is totally ignored. Most people just stay quiet, it's the easiest way. Asessment every two weeks. And the biggest complaint for most people is the difficulty in getting visas for their wives and kids. Talking months here. Oh and repairs and maintenance in your apartment, forget it. All in all, not a great place. |
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ootii
Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Posts: 124
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:14 am Post subject: |
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| chickenwhat wrote: |
| Al Yamamah has a lot of beginner level students, about half of the students. Class sizes of 25 are normal. Hours are kind of long, from 8am to 4pm. Very few resources are supplied, i.e. bring your own books! There's a new age sentiment there that teaching grammar and using books is wrong, everything must come from the student. |
I don't think "New Age" is a very good description of their educational philosophy. They have an active interest in fostering learner independence and in developing inquiring minds. This is very novel in the Middle East and they are aware of it. Their recruitment materials, and hiring process, both focus on the identification and selection of teachers who are interested in their students and active pastoral care is a central concern of the college. This too is novel in the Middle East.
I am surprised that they have such large classes. Locally they already have a good reputation among students, so they must be doing something right. Perhaps the large classes have something to do with difficulties of recruitment and an unwillingness to offer premium remuneration packages to their staff. I was interested to work ther, and was offered a position, tentatively, but finally decided that could not afford to work for them and also told them that they would have difficulty finding teachers who would come for the wages and benefits that they were offering.
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| Sometimes it works. They want you to use the Silent Way. And meetings are a grind. Teachers are encouraged to give their input, then the input is totally ignored. Most people just stay quiet, it's the easiest way. |
It sounds like they have not been successful in creating the kind of teaching teams that they wanted.
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| Asessment every two weeks. |
I assume you include quizzes in this. With so much testing, it seems you will not have very much time to teach.
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| And the biggest complaint for most people is the difficulty in getting visas for their wives and kids. Talking months here. Oh and repairs and maintenance in your apartment, forget it. All in all, not a great place. |
Well, this does not really surprise me. When I was discussing coming to work for them I did notice that they seemed generally unaware of legal procedures here. The housing allowance that they offered was also inadequate for a family and they seemed to prefer single teachers or teaching couples without children - thus the lack of education allowance.
I really did think that their long term goals did not accord very well with the level of support that they were offering to staff, nor with the wages and benefits that they were offering.
Interlink, which owns about half of the project - Saudi investors own the other half - does not offer particularly remarkable wages to their US staff either. Saudi "investors" are also notorious for demanding very high and immediate returns on their "investments". When they do not get these, they tend to withdraw their capital immediately. |
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menace2society32
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Posts: 92
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| Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 4:55 pm Post subject: Not a good salary? |
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| I guess I was wrong. I had considered $34,000 to be a very good salary. But after reading this thread, it seems that most of you would not consider working for Interlink/Al Yamamah. I am now second guessing my prior decision to take a position. Can anyone tell me what is the minimum tests required for the medical exam in the states. They don't give much info on what specific tests are required. Also what type of hospital or clinic should I visit. I know prices can range, so I don't want to pay too much and I only want to take the minimum number of tests necessary. Any other comments about Interlink (treatment of teachers, student behavior, etc, etc) are welcome. Feel free to PM me as I still debate whether or not I should teach at Interlink. Thank you. |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124
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| Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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There aren't a minimum number of tests; you have to do all of them, and then get each test paper signed and stamped by the doctor and then stamped by the country health authority. If you or the doctor forget it for one test, then the embassy returns your visa application. If you live near Washington or New York it is worth going to the consulate personally to pick up the form and then ask them to recommend a doctor, since they will no doctors who are used to doing this.
As far as costs go your employer should reimburse you on arrival. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Al Yamamah, can you earn overtime at Al Yamamah? What are the overtime possibilities in the Middle East? |
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chickenwhat
Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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| re ootii's comments, when I said assessment, I meant reports, grading. |
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cam
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Posts: 124
Location: Maine, USA
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| Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:32 pm Post subject: |
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| AY seems to have some good as well as negative points. I would like to know if they have a problem keeping staff. They seem to recruit on an ongoing basis. Is this because of increasing enrollment or high staff turnover? Any comments would be appreciated. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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They are new and expanding - and have just added a women's college. That is the reason for the flurry of advertisements.
You are right that there are pros and cons. From what I have heard, it seems that for now, it sounds an acceptable choice.
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TEFOFF
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 36
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| Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 11:30 am Post subject: |
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I TELEPHONE INTERVIEWED WITH THE TWO GUYS IN THE STATES, AND THEY SEEMED VERY PLEASANT, AND YES A BIT NEW AGE WITH REGARDS THE SILENT METHOD AND HOW TO APPLY IT IN SAUDI. THEY DO SEEM LIKE MEN ON A MISSION WHEN IT COMES TO THE WAY THEY WANT TO TEACH THEIR SAUDI CHARGES(I DON'T THINK THEY FULLY APPREICATE THE SITUATION ON THE GROUND THOUGH).
I GOT OFFERED THE JOB, BUT NO HELP ON THE MEDICAL AND VISA APPLICATION PROCESS WAS FORTHCOMING, SO I DECIDED TO GIVE IT A PASS. I THINK THE CONCENSUS VIEW ON THIS IS CORRECT: NOT A DIRE JOB, BUT NOT A BAD JOB EITHER.  |
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