Job Discussion Forums

[verity]

Thanks for reading my first post!

I've been reading extensively about Oman and the ME and have some specific questions.

It seems that jobs in Oman or the ME generally 'require' a car, unlike the places I've lived in East Asia with lots of public transport.
1) Are there really no other options for getting to work in the small towns of Oman, assuming your apt. is not walking distance? (Yes I realize weekend travel may require it, but likely I'd be going with someone who has a car and can happily share expenses?)
2) I no longer have a driving license. Can a foreigner get one in Oman, or get one easily?

I understand the conventional wisdom is to avoid recruiters. Interesting that they can have such a bad rep. in some countries but fine in others (cec). But if one is living half a world away, it's clearly a disadvantage in trying to 'break in' to the job market by direct hire.
3) How are interviews arranged for a direct hire? Are phone interviews enough? OR
4) Is it better to delay my search until I can show up at the next TESOL Arabia conference and show my face? (Hmmm, sounds expensive.)

There has been a job recently for Haima, or Hayma, located in central Oman.
5) Does anyone have any information as to the living situation there and its travel connections to the rest of Oman?

thks verity

[omanized]

Welcome ! Oman is a great place but it is not pedestrian friendly. There are taxis everywhere and the mini buses ( baiza buses ) that zoom up and down the main roads but in the smaller towns I don't really know if they are frequent enough to consider as a commuting option. You can arrange for a regular taxi driver to shuttle you around but it can add up and it may require some trial and error to get one who is on time and consistent. I think having a car is almost essential to really take advantage of your time here - make the daily grind much easier and have your freedom on weekends - there is a lot to see. The decision between saving every possible dime and having a decent quality of life is an easy one for me.

Regarding having a DL - you will be run through some hoops - the paperwork is easy but passing the test is hard - I consider the system to be a rip off - your 'trainer' will charge you for his time and you need to have some traiing before any test - so, the more you fail, the more you need to pay. I have heard some ridiculous reasons for failing the test, not to mention that the police officer sitting in the back seat will tell you to turn down a wrong way street that may not be well marked - if you are new to the ME, are you going to ignore what a policeman tells you to do? Would you expect that he would deliberately mislead you? It can be a farce and I don't know a single person who passed on their first try.

Otherwise, life here is great !

omanized

[veiledsentiments]

Verity,

You didn't mention your credentials or experience. If limited, your only choice is likely through one of these so called agency hire jobs. But if you have read around, they are certainly not the best situations. They are a foot in the door though.

If you can afford it, the best way is to come to TESOL Arabia. Yes, it will cost you a bit, but you will be able to see the possibilities and the realities of making this move. Think of it as a bit of a pricey holiday with job interviews.

You could extend your stay and take the bus to Muscat to see Oman. March is still cool, so it could be a pleasant trip even if you decide not to work in this part of the world.

VS

[kuberkat]

Welcome to the forum, Verity. Thanks for making your questions so specific. Hope these answers are not too unwieldy.

I am certainly no expert, but like you might, I came to Oman from EAsia and my licence had expired. (I also have serious social and environmental objections to the one-man-one-car lifestyle, btw.) So here is what I know. And despite my many points of agreement with Omanized, I disagree in this case, at least for small-town Oman.

1. You can live without a car. I did for six months. The "baiza buses" mentioned by Omanized prefer to take on longer distances in my area, so ordinary taxis are the way to go. These can be shared at a rate of about 100bz per 2km, or engaged at a negotiated rate. As Omanized mentioned (here I agree) the best plan is to book a driver for daily trips. Do keep in mind though, that in small towns, especially when dealing with older people, time is a very elastic thing, and punctuality is a very rare gem. (Way more so than even in the mellowest South of Thailand.) Since the taxi services may only be run by Omanis who are retired or have other jobs, driving is entirely secondary to the day job, mealtime, prayer time and siesta time. This is why a regularly booked taxi is so much better than depending on luck. My suggestion is to meet a few reliable drivers who speak enough English (your Omani colleagues can probably introduce you), and simply put them to the test.

As to weekend jaunts, this is a great country for exploring the relative wilds. Your colleagues are likely to want to share trips, and you will also be warmly invited by a neverending stream of Omanis, who are hospitable above all. (Meeting interesting people with 4WDs is highly recommended )

2. Since my licence had expired and I hadn't driven in ages, I trained for and got my licence here. The driving schools are another entirely Omanized enterprise that flourishes in college towns to accommodate students' needs to learn. The classes are quite reasonably priced individually (OR4 per hour), or you can pay a lump sum (OR120, I think) which will cover all classes until you get your licence. My main frustration was finding a teacher who could speak enough English not to endanger both our lives. I suppose every country has its own approach to driving, but the biggest difference for me was that there appears to be no awareness here of the blind spot between the rear and side mirror- a fact frighteningly manifested in driving here. Otherwise things went well, and- heaven!- the instructor handles all the red tape except your initial application and licence collection.

The first driving test consists of a quiz of road signs provided with your application, "alley docking" (affectionately known as "the drums") and an incline start. When you have done them flawlessly, you are permitted to prepare for the road test, where you simply drive your examiner and instructor around town.

While this may be a dire challenge in Muscat, where traffic is heavy and driving demented, it is really manageable in a small town.

You didn't ask, but buying a car is virtually effortless- at least if you are a Ministry employee and approach the Saud Bahwan group, purveyors of Toyota, Daihatsu and Kia. Again, all paperwork is taken care of, and if you buy during Ramadhan, you may find a great price that includes free quarterly services and insurance. End of commercial break.

Having been without a car and with one, I must honestly say that much as I love fresh air end a bracing walk and the ozone leayer, life in Oman is just that much better when you're mobile.

3. I agree that avoiding recruiters is best. However, many ELT jobs in Oman, including those offered by the Ministry of Higher Education, are now only available through recruiters. They are taking a greedy bite out of your salary, but it may be the only way to get hired. You will find more info on the recruiters for the coming year in the "Hawthorne and CFBT" thread on this forum.

I got my job through Hawthorne while I was holidaying in Thailand (since you're in BKK), and though the recruiter himself was not awfully efficient, his secretary was a dynamo. I waited dangerously long for a lot of things, but the telephone interview was scheduled and followed up rather promptly . In the interview, I spoke to the recruiter as well as a Ministry official, who did have some scary academic questions but had a very reassuring manner. I was hired on the phone. Big Moment!

4. Best time to search is in advance of the semester change: June is already a little late. TESOL Arabia is a very promising gamble, but with no guarantees. If you are at all able to be here for September. Start now.

If there's anything I missed in this extensive soliloqy, please do PM me.

[verity]

Thks all. To VS, whose posts I've read so many times recently, I feel I know you.

Like you Kuberkat, being car-less is for me partly a political statement after leaving behind a car-crazy culture years ago. From your comments and those of Omanized, getting licensed does sound 'doable', if a bit onerous, while in the short term I could find a system to use the taxis.

Yes I am looking now, having given notice to wrap up my present job in July. I've read in detail the CfBT and Hawthorne threads, and I do have more to offer than the minimum requirements in the job ads, so it is not out of necessity I consider this route. I'm not British, though the ads don't specify nationality. I've applied in any case, and will do the same for the recent postings of Nizwa and Dhofar which appear to be direct hire.

I'm prepared to take a forced sabbatical if need be. Though part of my switch to the ME is for longer term financial reasons, in the short term, I don't mind investing time and money in my search (or maybe an excuse to holiday?). I'm somewhat at my limit career-wise here in Bangkok. The glass ceiling for foreigners is pretty low, and I'm determined not to continue working here, though I'd love to come back and live in Thailand in the future.

From my reading in this forum, Omanis sound as pleasant as Thais. Kuberkat, what do you think?

[verity]

And a P.S.

On interview qus...
Kuberkat, were these to sort out your understanding of theories in SLA or more along the lines of how you would teach grammar point X?

More general:
This trend toward frowning on MAs by distance, is that limited to the UAE or is there evidence of it in Oman?

Pubs and research?
Though I don't much of either, but assuming someone answers 'Yes' to the above question, do these help offset, so to speak, the imagined deficiency of a distance MA?

Many thanks once again.

[veiledsentiments]

Verity,

No problem with distance MAs in Oman. (and no problem at tertiary level in the UAE - which is where you normally need an MA anyway) Do you have one or are working on one? If you are working on one, you may want to avoid some of the smaller village based jobs in Oman so that your internet options are more dependable.

Although the cultures are very different, Omanis are certainly more like Thais that the other Gulf Arabs are. The Thai culture is more inclusive of foreigners I would say. Omanis tend to be more dignified and polite than some of the richer Gulf residents. You see more of what we think of as the traditional Arab hospitality in Oman. I'm sure Kuberkat will have more to say, but that was my impression from my visits to Thailand.

As to nationality, with the exception of a couple of military contracts in Saudi, I think I have only seen two ads over the years that specified nationality. (one was for Americans and one for Canadians) Almost all places are a mix of native speakers and a few non-natives. Some places may lean British or American... then they hire a new Director and they lean another way for a few years.

VS

[omanized]

Oh yes , there has been extensive research into pubs here - of course the best ones are found at the hotels but there are some interesting alternatives if you know where to look.

omanized

[Duffy]

Omanized wrote:

[kuberkat]

Verity, I agree with VS that you will have no hurdles in most Oman institutes with a distance MA. In fact, several decent employers here willing to hire good people with a BA and a few years of ELT experience, so you're already a cut above the rest.

The interview questions by the academic involved one open question about methodology- though it was quite specific: it seemed to be this doc's pet subject. The next was about my field of research and the last one was about, as you guessed, publications and presentations. From what you have written, it seems you will have some impresive ammunition there.

If you are looking to broaden your base of publications and conferences, Oman may be a decent setting for you. There are only a handful of conferences and publications, but the competition for participation is not all that fierce, and you can easily clock up a handful of publications and presenations in a year.

[verity]

Thks again, all. Well, it�s interesting to know there are pubs of the beverage variety in Oman, though my best pubbing years are now behind me. Regarding paper-based pubs, actually it�s because I have next to nothing (one paper in my uni�s own journal) accomplished in this area that I ask. I completed my MA a couple of years ago (so no internet needs that way, aside from my own hobby surfing and some recent posts here are useful info), and haven�t done much outside of the classroom since. IN a way that�s Ok because I�m more focused on teaching anyway. While my Thai colleagues are supported and encouraged to do research, it�s just not something they expect foreign teachers to do. What happens instead is that we are offered, and sometimes somewhat under pressure to take on extra classes, for extra payment. But at least this tops up the otherwise insufficient salaries offered by public unis here. What I keep trying to tell myself is that in more competitive job markets, I�m going to need more on my resume.

So it may be that foreigners aren�t too active in this area in Oman, but I can�t help but think there is likely more going on than here in Thailand where the annual TESOL conference wouldn�t be of any substance, really, were it not for the large number of overseas presenters and attendees.

Not info yet for Haima, so perhaps that in itself will be my answer.

[omanized]

From my experience at the annual TESOL conference at SQU over the years, you can easily present a paper at least and hold a seminar - in fact, any intelligible and superficially academic work will do - your peers in the industry will highly appreciate anything interesting and dynamic as these qualities are sadly lacking from the last three years I have attended. In fact, I was fairly shocked, then saddened and finally humored by the feeble display. The most important skill to have there was to be willing and able to walk out of any presentation - an action I was embarrassed to do until I realized that half of the audience had already left.

Picture an impressively titled presentation on the schedule by a PhD holder from the sub-continent, race off to the seminar room in eager anticipation of an interesting lecture / discussion only to find someone who stands 25 feet away from the first row of seats, holds a reasonably well written paper in front of their face and reads without looking up for the first 5 minutes....Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I am .....and would like to talk about...blah blah...and this person teaches ? That was the first one and I sat there as people around me started streaming out of the lecture theater.

Anyway, this has turned out to be a bit of a rant - I'm on Nescafe number two and starting to get wound up - long story short - please feel free to present at this event, please have something interesting to say, or at least say very little in an interesting way. I would listen to a backpacking tefler with some personality over some of the PhD drones I have seen here any day of the week !

omanized

[kuberkat]

Hmmm, wonder if we have any backpacking TEFLers around... They may have to come in especially for the conference....

Thanks for the challenge, though...

[veiledsentiments]

Ahhhh... now that brought back memories of all the deadly boring presentations that I have sat through (at least partially) through the years. The worst were the ones where friends were presenting so one felt duty bound to sit and pretend to be mesmerized.

What a field this is that we are in (or perhaps I should say 'I was in')! It is all smoke and mirrors and way too much pretension. Personally I never bothered with doing presentations as I never could figure out why one would want to. My CV had provided me with every job that I wanted... there is really no 'advancement' in this field except moving to management, and that held no appeal.

But I never passed up attending conferences just to see old friends. And that is pretty much all they are good for except perhaps job hunting - which finally brings me back to the topic of the original poster!!

VS

[ntropy]

Verity,

Have you heard from your recruiter for Haimas? It seems not or you could ask him/her some questions direclty. When you find out, let us know.