Job Discussion Forums

[lionbrian]

GREAT JOB!

Kerux is saying the truth and whatever he mentioned; he is neither exaggerating nor making false statements.

I never wanted to mention life in Qatar since I was more concerned with the teaching atmosphere at Qatar Petroleum, the thieves who hire teachers, lie to them and give them miserable salaries and ship them in remote places to teach without any notice.

For example, there are 5 star hotels in Doha, you can go & have a beer or a nice meal Dude! It will cost you a bundle if you do it twice a week since you can't lock yourself in your apt all the time. The thing is with 9000 QR/A month, ain't going far man!

All in all, when you realize that those English teachers from the third world (India, Palestine and other non-natives) are making twice than native speakers, and then you start hating your career and even thinking that the best alternative is to BAIL OUT OR DO A RUNNER!

Many natives have already left and a bunch of them will leave soon!

9000 QR/A month for a native without benefits and teaching in June, July & August is a very degrading thing that Qatar Petroleum has never done! *beep* them!

[veiledsentiments]

Kerux's description is that of the Gulf since I first went there since the 1980's... nothing new here. (with the exception of Dubai perhaps)

As I have been saying for years on this board, if you are a younger person into partying and seeking Ms Right... you've probably chosen the wrong part of the world.

VS

[Kerux]

Definitely. Qatar is let's say the opposite of a place like Thailand.

Also, we should mention that Qatar is one of only two places what I am aware of where one needs to get permission, ie an exit visa, to leave the country.

Then there is the Internet blocking by the Qatari government. We're not just taking about porno either. I happened to be looking for some pictures of tribes in Africa. I clicked on some images of women with plates in their lips, piercings in their noses and ears that would make a heavy metal punk rocker jealous who had exposed *beep* sagging to their knees and guess what? Blocked. What do the think one was going to do with those images - masturbate? They also blocked the news from Indonesia that Playboy was being published there for the first time. I just now tried to access this site www.theculture.net/barbie/ and it was blocked.

They also block any and all articles/reports/books/opinions etc, that cast Islam in a negative light.

One lady working at QP was fired on the spot for making comments that 'denigrated' Mohammad when all she had said was that she wouldn't die for Mohammad. There is also the fear here at QP that you will be sacked for 'non-Islamic thoughts."

[lionbrian]

Please let's stay with the boundries of EDUCATION, HIRING PRACTICES, Qatar Petroleum and their attractive salaries as well as their benefits (DAMN IT!). Honestly, talking about religions & cultural issues are not needed in this forum!

Well, anywhere you go teaching, there are always pits in the local systems and they could be religious, cultural, social, psychological and the list goes on!

From all my previous discussions, my message is clear for those Western English Teachers: STAY AWAY FROM QATAR PETROLEUM UNLESS THEY RECOGNIZE western degrees, native speaker abilities.

Believe it or not!!!!! the management body at QP considers undergraduate & graduate degrees form sub-continent and Poor Eastern European countries similar to those from the USA, UK, Australia, NZ and Canada!

Dude! It costs about 20 times more to get a graduate degree from Western universities than any universities of those countries that I mentioned above. Then, why 9000QR/A month is for everyone!

Don't take the job because I can assure you that once here, you will last a maximum of a month, then you will start working on your EXIT PLAN! THIS HAS ALREADY HAPPENED!

[veiledsentiments]

The reality is that many countries block sites on the internet - certainly all of the Gulf countries (and China). Often the sites are innocuous and I have requested that sites be allowed and they did it. If porn and/or religious and political debate is crucial in your life, stay in Thailand or the US or Europe. I can't understand why people whine about this stuff. Just stay home!! We are being hired to teach English and they pay us well for that. It's their ballpark so they get to make the rules...

This is the first I have heard of Qatar requiring exit visas. Is it just certain employers? like QP? For instance in Kuwait, it seems to be only Kuwait University which required an exit visa of teachers.

VS

[lionbrian]

It's a rule in Qatar: You need an exit visa to leave the country! To get it, you will need to go through a bunch of assholes to get your papers signed, and then the most interesting thing is that you have to write the reason for leaving! Wow! VIVA PRIVACY!

Let's say, you need to go out of Qatar just for a change to Dubai or Bahrain for instance, all QP employees should know that you are leaving!

To all teachers at QP, just ignore this exit permit and GET AN EXIT PLAN! That sounds more interesting!

[randytheringworm]

By the way, I went to an internet cafe in Doha earlier today where nothing was blocked. I wonder whether it was a fluke or not.

Kerux, I tested at my computer at home (also in Doha) what you said about sites critical to Islam being blocked by trying two sites that I'm familiar with, though I haven't looked at them for a long time. One , for "The Institute for the Secularization of Islam" opened; another "Answering Islam" ( a fundamentalist Christian critique/polemic), was blocked.

[Kerux]

[Kerux]

[veiledsentiments]

That still hasn't answered the question. Is it just QP that requires the exit visa, or just government employers, or all employers? I recall that DMB did once mention the need for an exit "letter" but I don't remember if QP was the topic.

So, the advice for new teachers is to do your homework before you take the job.

VS

[Stephen Jones]

The internet censorship is beginning to become annoying.

In the past most of the blocked sites were ones you wouldn't go to anyway. But there are now large numbers of sites that are blocked at the top level. You can't see a single photo from blogspot, because they block all photos. We are talking about tens of thousands of sites being blocked. Any tinyurl link is blocked, and so is youtube.

[Kerux]

[Kerux]

[veiledsentiments]

I'd like to see it confirmed by someone whose experience was with an employer other than QP. For instance, what about the private colleges in university city that are American sponsored? Do their teachers need an exit visa? How about Qatar University?

One must be careful about generalizing in these countries. For instance when I was in Kuwait, I thought that everyone needed an exit visa, but it turned out that it was only the employees of Kuwait University. I preferred countries like Oman and the UAE, where I never had to deal with it.

Hey Stephen, I figured that you would know a way to get around the censorship.

VS

[Richard_Gao]

Employees in my company also need exit visa. I used to need one, but since then I asked my company to give me a multiple exit permit (not free unlike a single exit permit).