Job Discussion Forums

[adelinet]

Hello all,

Not sure if any of you can help me - I am a complete novice to all of this, and stumbled onto this website through some searches I ran on google...

My partner and I both work in retail - he in operations, and myself in the buying and merchandising field. Due to his work, we are planning on moving to Dubai. However, from what I have read in books and researched on the net, it seems it is incredily difficult for a single woman to move out there. As we have no current plans to get married, I will be hoping to move out there as a single woman. The problems I am currently facing are that the majority of retail offices are based in Kuwait, and therefore not in a good location for me to get work in my field.

I am now seeking an alternative. I am fluent in French (as it is my mother tongue) and my English is perfect, so I am considering a move into teaching. Obviously, with a lack of qualifications, this will be nigh on impossible!! It is for this reason that I'd be more interested in a teaching assistant's role. Again, from what I have read, native french speakers are sought after in educational and nursing roles, so it looks as though there would be a few opportunities available to me.

What I am hoping for from you guys, is if you can advise me as to what qualifications I will need to gain before being allowed into teaching in a school (I would ideally prefer primary, although I realise that beggar's can't be choosers...!). I really hope some or one of you can help me with this, I've always wanted to get into teaching, but have never been able to afford to take the paycut that would be necessary in order for me to gain my qualifications whilst still earning!! Many thanks for all your help, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can achieve this!

Adeline

[Afra]

Have a look:

http://dwc.hct.ac.ae/expatinfo/lyceegeoeogespompidouschool.htm

There is also more stuff on Google about Lycee Geoges Pompidou. There is also a French nursery school in Jumairah somewhere.

[Manny2]

Hi Adeline,
I do not know where you got your information that it is incredibly difficult for a single woman to move to Dubai, no more than for a single man. If you hold an EU, Australian, Canadian,US passport ( and maybe there are some other countries on the list ) then you can come and get a 60 stay visit visa stamped in your passport on arrival at the airport without any hassle. The difficulty for most is then finding a place to stay and finding a job. If your partner has a job organised then if he gets accomodation or at least a reasonable allowance then you have a place to stay while you look for jobs. There are often jos advertised in the Gulf News ( www.gulfnews.com) for merchandisers for some of the many internationl retail outlets here - I am not sure how much they pay but it depends on what you would be happy with and I can't imagine a teacher's assistant with no formal teaching qualifications would pay much either. The majority of people on this forum have at least a Masters degree and many years teaching experience mostly at the tertiary level and those who teach at the primary or high school levels have a minimum of a Bachelor of Education degree and/or are liscenced to teach in their home countries, all of these qualification take years to attain and there is no quick route to becoming a teacher. You may find schools and private organisations who are willing to employ unqualified or minimally qualified staff but the pay and conditions will be terrible. So I suggest you continue to research jobs in your field. Hope this helps.

[Iamherebecause]

If you really want to give teaching a try you can do a basic level qualification either before you come or on arrival - the CTEFLA for English, for example via the British Council; or the French qualifications are called CREDIF, I believe there are several levels: ask the Alliance Francaise if they offer courses. You might be best advised to try and find work in your own field first though and then see if you can do some observation or something in your free time to see if teaching is for you.

[adelinet]

Thank you all for your help!

I realised that there would be no quick route into teaching - I've already looked at the possibility of doing it full time over here, and for obvious reasons would want the full qualifications. I was just wondering what would be necessary for me to do the same out there...

I will definately check out all your websites and sources. Thanks ever so much.

With regard to where I found out about single women travelling out on their own, I was told that in order to get a residential visa, I would need a sponsor - either a spouse, family member or an employer - perhaps this is now out dated information...? It was a recruitment agency that mentioned this and I also read it in several (possibly now outdated!!) books on working and living in the gulf.

Once again, thanks very much!!

[Iamherebecause]

Yes, you DO need a sponsor to get a residence visa. If you come in on a tourist visa you have to leave the country (briefly) to get it changed once you find an employer.

I'm not sure how Abu Dhabi city works, but where I work it would be a bit of a no-no for someone to arrive, and have a partner they are not married to arrive at the same time and start living with them permanently immediately - I know of couples where the partner has turned up a bit later and sort of slid in to the accommodation but (especially if accommodation is identified and provided by the employer) you do need to be careful about local mores. I also know of couples who did a swift registry office marriage before coming here so that the the non-working partner would get a visa, an airfare, healthcare etc.

[adelinet]

We have discussed (briefly) the possibility of a brief registry office marriage, but it is not really a path we want to take!! (Or should I say... HE wants to take! - typical bloke!)

Thank you for clarifying that, as I'd want to be there for around 2 -3 years minimum, I would need to get a residence visa. Am I right in thinking that it is now possible to buy property out there too? I believe that at some point, it was also incredibly difficult to buy property unless you were a member of the UAE, although now, buying property automatically gives you a residency visa. Is this correct?

Thanks.

[veiledsentiments]

Buy property? Only if you are independently wealthy... and have the ready cash... a couple hundred thousand USD in hand might do it. The property available for sale is restricted to fancy tourist-type luxury condo type units last I heard.

VS

[NadiaK]

House prices are rising dramatically - only a year or two ago they were reasonable compared to the UK, say, but now are spiralling sky high.

If you have a (non-teaching) degree then you might want to look into doing a British PGCE (one year's postgraduate certificate in education). There is at least one British university which offers it in Dubai. Sorry, can't remember who, but you should be able to find out.

[Wigwam]

NadiaK
The University of Sunderland offers the PGCE as a friend of mine did it last year and is now teaching at the British School in Abu Dhabi. It is taught in Dubai over 9 months and many teachers were working in schools at the same time so if you can get your foot in the door and tell the establishment that you are also doing the PGCE they might offer support (financial or time off). Though the course may seem pricey (25,000 dhs) the benefit in terms of enhanced salary is staggering. Also it means you have recognized qualification for Europe and most of the world.

[Stephen Jones]

[stoth1972]

[LuxorHouse]

Adeline, the Khaleej Times web site (www.khaleejtimes.com) also lists job openings under "Appointments," as does www.bayt.com, www.nadia-me.com, and Monster (http://globalgateway.monster.com) under Middle East.

Good luck!