Job Discussion Forums

[windstar]

Do you know anything about IPA. I believe you do but I am looking some information about their pay, workload and other relevant issues. Do they pay for children education and accompanying spouse? I am currently employed in ME with an MA degree.

[johnslat]

Dear windstar,

The Institute of Public Administration has immediate and ongoing positions available at various locations in Saudi Arabia

Job Title: EFL Teacher

Qualifications: MA in TESOL or Applied Linguistics or BA in ESL with 3 years full-time experience teaching ESL

Teaching Load: 22 hours per week/optional overload at $33/hour

Salary: US$2093 to US$3026, based on credentials and experience

Benefits: Free furnished housing for both family and single status; paid summer vacation (45 days) with return tickets; Ramadan and Hajj vacations during the teaching year; subsidy for children�s education; private offices with personal computers and internet access

If you go to this website:

http://www.ipa.edu.sa/en/6.asp

you can get an application for employment,

I was employed by the IPA for a total of 19 years (5 in Jeddah, 14 in the Riyadh headquarters). Obviously, I found it a good place to work. I left KSA in 2003, but I still have some contacts there.

Regards,
John

[windstar]

Thanks for you help, I sent an application a few minutes ago.

[Desert Storm]

Sounded like a good place to work but I think they are allergic to melanin.

[windstar]

Forgive my ignorance, I could not understand what you meant by "they are allergic to melanin".

[johnslat]

Dear windstar,
I assume Desert Storm means the IPA is prejudiced against "people of a darker hue":

"Melanin: A skin pigment (substance that gives the skin its color). Dark-skinned people have more melanin than light- skinned people. Melanin also acts as a sunscreen and protects the skin from ultraviolet light."

I'm not sure how he got this impression because I never saw any evidence of it during my 19 years working for them.
We had "dark-skinned" teachers, both "Western" and African, during my tenure there. I suppose the situation might have changed since 2003 when I left, but I doubt it. I still have contacts there and they've made no mention of any such bias's having been initiated.

So, Desert Storm, I'd be interested in hearing, if possible, how you came by that impression.

Regards,
John

[scot47]

I think Desert Storm feels that IPA do not like colored folks.

[johnslat]

Dear scot47,
I know - and that puzzles me, for, as I posted above, I never had that impression when I was there. As far as I could see, the IPA was "color-blind."
Admittedly, there weren't tons of teachers of "a darker hue" (but I wonder - are there lots of them at any establishment in the KSA?), but there were some. And the ones I worked with were among the best - all of them stayed as long as they wanted to, and in some cases, that was quite a few years.
Regards,
John

[windstar]

Thanks for your explanation but I could not understand how he came to that conclusion that I am somewhat dark skinned or IPA is prejudiced against "darker people".

[Desert Storm]

I had a very strange experience with them that I simply can't explain. I applied to them in early summer 2006 and was able to secure an interview in Dammam. The coordinator in Dammam and I hit it off pretty well and my correspondence with the head recruiter in Riyadh was just as pleasant. After my interview with the gentleman in Dammam he told me from his own mouth 'Look, you basically have the job. I will do everything I need to do on my end. All you need to do is send the official application to Riyadh to take care of the formal paperwork from there.' After that I never heard back again from him for weeks (maybe months can't remember). I was anxious because I had another job offer that was pretty decent and so I needed to decide quickly which one I was going to take. I had attributed the gap in communication to the regular run-of-the-mill bureaucracy here. However, after some time of constantly harassing the coordinator for some sort of update on what the heck was going on, he told me 'Oh, right. When you're application went to Riyadh it was rejected. Sorry.' (something to that effect)

It was then that I supposed that IPA may be allergic to melanin. Everything was fine and dandy until I sent that photo in! Until now no one has given me an official explanation as to what happened. I'm almost certain it had nothing to do with qualifications because of how well my interview went and I know that they were in serious demand (probably still are). So that's what happened...maybe Mr. Slattery could correct me if I'm wrong to jump to that conclusion.

[Desert Storm]

[johnslat]

Dear Desert Storm,
Well, I can't explain what happened to you, whether it was a bureaucratic mixup of some sort or whether your skin-color actually had something to do with it.
I would be VERY surprised if it were the latter because, as I posted earlier,
there were black teachers at the IPA during my time there.
I'm assuming you have a Masters degree (in TESOL or Applied Linguistics) because that's what they require these days.
I'll get in touch with a contact I still have there to see if he can dig up any info about the matter.
I'm sorry you had such a bad experience.
Regards,
John

[johnslat]

Dear Desert Storm,
Something that belatedly occurred to me. From your posting, it sounds like you were interviewed "in-country." Was that the case, and, if so, did you have a "Letter of No Objection: (not a "Letter of No Obligation") from whomever you were working for at that time?
"In-country" hirings were almost unheard of during my time at the IPA, even if the prospective employee did have all the necessary paperwork.(And the IPA was, and perhaps still is, notorious for NOT giving departing employees a "Letter of No Objection." I think I can recall maybe one teacher who supposedly got one of those, and he had MUCHO Wasta.
Do you think that might have been the problem?
Regards,
John

[framentdavid]

��.and not the least of the reasons for this are sometimes personal.

I was recently involved in a very complicated situation of having to renew my Iqama without my family being here. This simply could not be done. At the same time, my wife and baby could not get back here without me. Due to the IPA�s understanding of this situation, I was able to finally get my family here. The Administration here was very understanding of my predicament. Within ONE DAY, they began to issue documents which would request the Saudi Embassy in Washington to extend my family�s re-entry visas. I was referred to a Web site which stated all the requirements needed in order to extend their visas. Their passports, with the visa extensions, did arrive in time for us to come back to Riyadh together.
We arrived intact (more or less), on time, and I am so happy to be back together again with my family. I think the IPA understood this exactly, and I think they did what was necessary for our family to be together again.

I also think it�s worth it to note that in all of this process, I didn�t DEMAND, I didn�t whine and moan and groan, I didn�t embarrass anyone or make them look stupid, I didn�t beg, and I certainly didn�t say or act like, �WELL, THIS DOESN�T MAKE SENSE TO ME! THIS ISN�T CONSISTENT! GOODNESS, THAT�S STRANGE THAT YOU ASK FOR that PAPER!!!� I simply did what they asked me to do. And I didn�t really use any of the considerable �wasta� that I may well have accrued in 13 years of being here. In all of the people I DEALT WITH�all Saudis, I should note�they were extremely efficient, professional, clear, and responsive.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

P.S. Oh yeah, the work here!: It varies from good to great. The materials we use are very good, the technology, technical support team, and training we get to learn how to use it are first-rate, and the students are 95% good. You always have 1 or 2 �trouble-makers�, and most of them are very lazy, sometimes you have to work through very different cultural expectations, but overwhelmingly, what the IPA asks of you is more than fair. The salary is o.k., the housing is decent, and����

Many people here CAN BE just plain nice, if you know how to take them.

[scot47]

[quote="framentdavid"]��.
I also think it�s worth it to note that in all of this process, I didn�t DEMAND, I didn�t whine and moan and groan, I didn�t embarrass anyone or make them look stupid, I didn�t beg, and I certainly didn�t say or act like, �WELL, THIS DOESN�T MAKE SENSE TO ME! THIS ISN�T CONSISTENT! GOODNESS, THAT�S STRANGE THAT YOU ASK FOR that PAPER!!!� I simply did what they asked me to do. And I didn�t really use any of the considerable �wasta� that I may well have accrued in 13 years of being here. In all of the people I DEALT WITH�all Saudis, I should note�they were extremely efficient, professional, clear, and responsive.

[/quote]

That is the best advice I have seen here. Agressive behaviour is counter-productive !