Job Discussion Forums

[Hass]

Hi all,

Has anyone heard of this place. They were advertising recently for teachers.

The company itself is based in Australia, Queensland I think.

Thanks.

[veiledsentiments]

Isn't this the one that has taken over hiring for Qatar Petroleum?

[QatarChic]

I have never heard of them

[Hass]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the prompt reply. Really appreciated. Veiledsentiments, yes they are the ones recruiting for Qatar Petroleum. Any advice on Qatar Petroleum at all? What about you Qatarchic?

Thanks again. I appreciate it.

[QatarChic]

I know one or two people who work/have worked at QP. From what I hear it depends on the type of contract that you have. If you are on a direct hire contract then, salary is better- the figure I have heard is 13000 QR- but if you are sub contracted then, a monthly salary of around 9000QR seems to be the going rate. The thing with this contract is that your contracts run for around 6-9months.....People are given a single furnished apartment, utilities paid etc. In terms of the actual work, I have heard a mix of good and bad. Hours seem to be short- but with an early start 6.30. Most people seem to complain about the beaurocracy. On the whole, they say its ok- some even extending their contracts.....what are they offering you Hass?

[lionbrian]

Yes, Griffith Uni hires for Qatar Petroleum! How does it work?

QP needs teachers (babysitters), then the incompetent managers at QP ask Griffith to find teachers (It doesn't really matter if they are qualified, well experienced or not as long as they are ready to get in next plane & start babysitting!). QP pays this contractor about 30,000 to 40,000 Qatari Riyals/A month for each teacher they hire, and then Griffith with another local contractor (from Doha) share the big cake. What's left for the teacher?

# 9OOO QR/A Month
# No benefits
# Teaching load: 25 to 30 a week it depends on the non-native speaker in the management who makes over 20,000 a month and can't even speak English, but you have to stay there from 6:30 am to 14:30. That means, you have to get up at 5:00 am to teach (Jeeezzz!)
# A very tiny apt in a poor neighbourhood (Indians & other labourers)
# If you get sick, they chop off 300 Qatar Riyals/a day regardless if you are sick or about to die!
# You teach under massive hot temperatures in the summer (Teaching goes on in June/July & August)
# You could be teaching in Doha & a week later, they ship you to a graveyard to teach! Welcome to UmSaeed & Dukhan (Try to find them in the map)

What else! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED & DON�T FORGET TO ASK THE GUY WHO INTERVIEWS YOU!
All in all, it is a SHIT HOLE & THIS PLACE STINKS!

[lionbrian]

To Hass: NOTHING TO HIDE! THE TRUTH IS THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!
Here is the link about the fishy ad:

Griffith University: WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW! Very attractive ad! And the reality, you will end up in Cuantanamo Bay (QP Portacabins) with a miserable salary compared to the Middle East ESL/EFL Market with NO BENEFITS AT ALL & TEACHING DURING HOT, SANDY SUMMERS WHILE YOUR SPONCER IS SITTING IN THE OFFICE & GETTING YOUR MONEY! WHAT A JOKE!

(MOD edit)

Think twice!

[Kerux]

Some thoughts on Qatar and QP.

Qatar is tauting itself as the richest per capita country in the world, some
$ 42,000 USD per person. It's really much higher than that because of the 750,000 population, 500,000 or so are third world nationals and they ain't going see no $42,000 US per year. In short, Qatar is a very wealthy country.

QP is Qatar. The vast majority of the wealth coming into this country comes through the gas industry ie. QP. We are talking millions of dollars every day, and with the price of oil and gas in the $70 range, it may be measured more in millions of dollars per hour.

How does QP treat their training staff?

Take the pay. The process teachers get 17,000 QR a month or about $4670 a month plus all the bennies. Not too bad.

English teachers? The process teachers admit that the trainees need better English skills as the process training is all done in English, and most plant discussion is done in English and the manuals are all in English. We all know that when we teach English, we're teaching how to think in English. It could be argued tht English teaching is as important as process teaching, but because there are more Engish teachers willing to work at the lower pay, why raise it?

So, how much do English teachers get paid?

9,000 QR or about $2470 or 52% of the process teachers.

Q University pays their English teachers 14,000 as does CNA.

Do you want to work under that pay scale?

Then there are the conditions:

The main training center is not nicknamed the Gulag for nothing.

The classrooms are pretty hi-tech. There's a three by five dirty whiteboard and an overhead projector that usually works. Plenty of makers too.

The offsite training is about a 50-60 minute drive out of Doha. Those teachers aren't asked or consulted about teaching there, but told to go. When a teacher objects saying "I wasn't told I would be teaching with a 1 hour 40 minute or two hour commute every day," the comeback is, "The contract with QP says all teachers are to go where QP needs them." When you say, "I've never seen contract," you get no answer. (You get no sick pay either). They get paid 10,000 QR for every teacher they hire, so if you quit, so what? They find some new sucker. And QGMT gets 30,000 for every sucker they get, and give you 9000. That's a 70/30 split isn't it?

Do you think that the commuting teachers are compensated for their commute time which equals working an extra day a week more than those teachers who don't commute?

One decent direct hire who has since left QP for a more professional atmosphere (and that should tell you somethng) worked it out so the commuting teachers could take off early one day a week, which resulted in about three hours taken off the eight hours extra work load. When Abbas and Kamil, the 'bosses," found out after reading the professionally prepared minutes of a meeting that was held by these commuting teachers in which these teachers made some suggestions for improvements at QP, they completely ignored every single one of those reasonable suggestions and immediately cancelled the going home early day.

How much louder and more forcefully could those two have said f*ck you?

The entire middle management is run mostly by Sudanese who have a lock on what is going on. I doubt that the QP upper managment even know how corrupt the entire thing is. As long as the gas flows out the end of the pipe and into those tankers, and the money flows back in, they most like won't care either.

Then there is the manager of QGMT who relishes being referred to as a Dr. He's a micromanager and can no more manage than a monkey can do brain surgery.

Enough. If you still think you want to work at QP, nothing more I say will prevent you.

Oh, wait one last thing. You'll be making as much as third world national non-native English speakers. They are referred to as "bilinguals." Some can barely speak Engish much less teach it. The irony of the entire situation is that the plant managers are requesting native English speakers, so they get to commute, while the third world nationals get to and from the Gulag in about 10-12 minutes.

Native speakers that have left recently or are planning to leave? Five-six
Third world nationals who have left in the last several months? Zero

They're in heaven here. You won't be.

[crewmeal]

Had a phone interview today from Griffith Uni. Sadly its as mr lion lists.!!! I told him about the adverse comments on this site and he seem to know all about it and said he couldn't be held responsible for what was on it and that people had a right to say what they liked.

The only thing that seemed to differ was the accomodation - a fully furnished 1 bed flat with a/c

Contracts will be sent by the sponsor of QP and my name has been passed to them.

As to whether I apply I have some serious thinking to do!!

[lionbrian]

A BEAR HUG!

Welcome to Doha!

[james van cleave]

OK. So, what do you expect? These jobs in the Gulf are generally pointless. They know it-we should know it.
Having said that, --9,000 a month does sound a bit cheesey.

[omanized]

With the skyrocketing cost of living, the package is not acceptable, that is easy to see. The rest of the ranting on this and other threads seems to be cultural or social - did lionbrian not do any research into working in the Gulf before signing on for the worst year of his life ?

Note to potential Gulf employees ! This is a foreign land with foreign customs and rules. Why does this seem to be a shock ?

And I have to comment on the non-native speaker bashing - I'm calling lionbrian's bluff - with some interesting grammar mistakes and the often hilarious idiomatic blunders ( chicken out of the bag - personal favorite ) I can only assume that he is non-native himself. I can see why the other posts were locked as the level of hysteria increased - still, entertaining stuff, thanks for the memories....

omanized

[lionbrian]

Dear Omanized!

You have the right to say whatever you think chapl! Freedom of expression! I liked your last paragraph in your last posting, please keep posting as I am always interested in reading opinions/assumptions/ false statements/ and so forth!

[Rin]

[omanized]

Assumptions ? Rather, observations... GO FIGURE OUT !

Yes, as tempting as the wind up potential is, I will refrain. I don't want to open a jar of worms.