Job Discussion Forums

[globalnomad2]

Manny2...thanks for your question. And no, pay problems have not been sorted out. After my summer vacation, the sponsor entity withheld 1/4 of my August paycheck to punish me for having taken the entire 6-week summer vacation. It seems (though they never told me) that I was supposed to take ONLY the vacation days I had actually earned (in the corporate philosophy). Since by mid-June, when vacatin began, I had earned only 5 weeks, they docked me for one week for my August pay...even though I had already earned all of my vacation days by the end of August!

I almost walked out then...and they're renting me on borrowed time now. Patience has its limits.

It's not GMU's fault, as they, like any reputable institution of higher ed, do not play games with instructors' salaries...except in the sense that they should have provided strong leadership and abusive-sponsor oversight from Day 1 over a year ago.

The sponsor has changed, and I get all kinds of rosy promises...but they still stole 1/4 of a recent paycheck and if everything is rosy, where's my paycheck?

[NadiaK]

Buur, I think you need 10+ years of experience (+ MA) to start on 12,200. With 3-9 years of experience you'd be starting on something under 11,000, as Holbrook says.

(That's the generic "you," btw.)

[veiledsentiments]

[Strolling minstrel]

The ceiling on starting is 12,200. However this is amenable to negotiation if you can make a case and HCT are desperate to hire.

[globalnomad2]

Surely the starting salaries can't be as low as 10K with a master's degree. Maybe they were generous with me. I joined HCT in 1997 with two master's degrees and 9+ years experience and they started me out at 10,900. Was up to 14,500 at the end of 2002.

Will keep you posted on GMU.

[tiberio]

sumptuous... thanks, i learned a new word today. i love english teachers.

[veiledsentiments]

Globalnomad... HCT hasn't changed their scales since 1990... I started at around the same as you in '92 with one MA+5... and I have seen people on here who started at about the same last year - with equivalent ed + exp.

Actually I think they started you low... of course it may depend on whether your other MA counted at all.

VS

[Gordon]

Do most employers only count post-masters experience or all of it? If so, who does and doesn't?

[veiledsentiments]

Gordon, it rather depends on the experience. In most places it is vague at best. In only a couple places have I seen an official breakdown of salary scales. (and none of them were in the UAE - only AUC and SQU)

If you have experience in Academic English with Arabic speakers... it tends to count...

VS

[Gordon]

I know that CNA counts a variety of experiences as "experience", but they are not the usual employers, being foreign run.

[holbrook]

Once again to clarify....

The previous post is correct. The scales haven't changed in a while. I know a bunch of MAs with 5, 7, 8 years of exp. just as I had and we all started at about 11,000.

About experience: The experience level doesn't bump you up much unless you cross a critical threshold. Additionally, they only count post-MA experience, not during MA or pre-MA experience in calculating your salary.

About bargaining: I've heard stories of people bargaining and starting a little higher. This is a risky approach, but depending on your circumstances it might be worth the risk. As someone earlier said "they are desperate now." Maybe?

About Ph.D.: You can apply for extra for having a Ph.D, but it is up to the discretion of the Director of the college and must be approved at the college in question, not through Central Services. This means that you couldn't confirm this extra pay until you get here. Additionally, I don't think that the Ph.D allowance is very significant.

Honestly though, the pay is pretty good compared to many other places and you never have to worry about getting paid less than what you are owed, being paid late or anything like that. They also hand you about 35,000 Dhs cash on your first day. You can get car loans, insurance, telephones, internet, a driver�s license and even personal loans right off the bat. Not many other places allow you to do that. At some places you need a month or more to get all of your letters of permission in order. These are issues in other gulf countries and with other institutions.

They also put you up in hotel for a week with money for all of your food included, while you settle in. If you live in far off campuses they even arrange for shopping trips and pay for freight trucks to cart you�re your gear back for you. These are issues in other gulf countries and with other institutions. It is a reputable organization that does treat you with dignity, even if the pay is less than it once was (in real terms) or less than some other places.

Cheers

[veiledsentiments]

[stoth1972]

I know of someone at HCT who started around 13,000 but brought some skills to the job that they needed, and she wasn't just a straight ESL instructor, so I guess she has some responsibility.

[metateacher]

In my opinion the best info and advice I can give you about working at HCT is don't count on it. They like to get a large number of candidates and then go round them one by one ofering a measly package hoping one will accept. Because of the way their budget is organised, or not, they often don't know till the last minute how many teachers they need and all of a sudden need half a dozen. If you get offered another job then take it.

[veiledsentiments]

That is certainly true in normal times, but people have been saying on here that this year they are VERY short of teachers.

Can anyone confirm what the situation is right now? Have they managed to snag enough adjuncts?

VS