Job Discussion Forums

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Well Boomerang... your heart was in the right place. Keep up the vigilance and don't jump quite so quickly the next time - especially with KSA places. I'd give them days to answer the email... not hours.

There is probably also a difference to take into consideration between language institutes and universities. Universities tend to have lots of fanfare at the beginning while these small places don't.

Live and learn... Laughing

VS

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

If they were a scam they probably would have replied pronto. The fact that they haven't is actually a point in their favour.

It is quite normal for even venerable institutions to have a gmail or yahoo or hotmail address. For a couple of months the server at JIC was down and we asked for all replies to be sent to a hotmail address, and this was an institution with twenty years of history, dependent on the Royal Commission.

It is also quite normal to ask for vast amounts of details. They are likely to be needed at some stage or other, and so there is the tendency to ask for them all at once. Bear in mind also that a Saudi employer often finds it hard to get the idea that his institution is not the center of the universe and the only one you are applying to.

boomerang_kid · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:38 am Post subject:

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Colleagues,

I�ve now received a reply to my authentication challenge, from a representative of the �National Institute of Technology� (NIT), via an email address, which is resident on a well-known Saudi tertiary institution�s server.

And I've learned that although NIT currently has no viewable "website content", there is in fact, a registered address for their new server: http://www.nit.edu.sa/ Their site is apparently still under construction, and so does not turn up in Google searches.

I am now convinced that the institution is NOT a �sham school�, but rather a new institution, which (for some reason) has chosen to keep a very low profile. Whether this marketing approach makes sense to me, or not, is completely irrelevant. It is that institution�s right to stay out of �the public�s eye� until it chooses to officially announce its existence.

Clearly all my assumptions were based on my limited --- and non-KSA --- GCC experience, as well as my own cultural-orientation in a world where (all-to-frequently) �image� effectively trumps �essence�.

I can see now that my rush-to-judgment was altogether too swift and confidence in my own conclusions, too absolute.

I apologize to any colleague whom I may have deterred from applying to NIT and -- of course -- to NIT, itself, for any problems I might have caused for their current employee-recruitment plan.

And I pledge to do whatever is possible to make amends.

-- John van den Boom

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007 · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:20 am Post subject:

boomerang_kid · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 12:30 pm Post subject:

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007,

Actually no, I'm not the same guy.

Is this your likeness on this page?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Not a scam but new. My advice is stay away until you know if it is good or bad. As usual I am a pessimist.

Griff-James · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:26 pm Post subject:

Where would you consider good to work, Scot?

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Being a TEFL wage slave is not a good idea. I am reluctant to post suggestions. PM me if you want the TRUTH !

sliderama · Joined: 11 Nov 2007 Posts: 90 Location: al reef

Also like to issue apologies for jumping on the bandwagon.

Larry F · Joined: 24 Feb 2008 Posts: 1

If it looks like a scam, and NIT does, it is best to treat it like one until proven conclusively otherwise. I would not send sensitive information about yourself over non-secure channels. There are plenty of legitimate TEFL institutions out there in the mean time to which to apply for work.