Job Discussion Forums

seriousgirl · Joined: 31 May 2007 Posts: 20

Dear All,

Had been planning to return to Saudi to Dammam to 'nice' uni for 2 year contract and offer of 42 0000 usd or so, plus possibility of overtime, etc.
They have still not arranged flight, etc, but I guess will do so soon.

Was just offered, suddenly, EFL contract thing, 11 months, with nice company from home country,teaching Emirati teachers, based with ADEC in Abu Dhabi...but sharing a beautiful new villa with 5 other instructors on friendly team...?...(normally big no-no,sharing)
Pay-3200 usd per month.Sounds like nice job...

Is the pay cut worth the better standard of Living in the UAE? Can one live modestly and comfortably with it? Yes, I still do want to save and travela bit.
Is that a decent offer for AD? Or can we compare Dammam area for standard of living/quality of life? I am a single female.

I am quite addled at the moment, and must decide very soon, Ad group want answer pronto...please advise?

thanks,

serious

trapezius · Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:40 am Post subject:

Put your flame-retardant suit on!

seriousgirl · Joined: 31 May 2007 Posts: 20

Meaning...I am gonna get blasted? Well, I'm in a bit of a panic, buddy.
And I have not been to either place...so....the costly UAE or the restrictive Saudi myths?

trapezius · Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 12:20 pm Post subject:

Yeah, that's what I meant!

But let me try to offer some opinions.

The pay cut is not substantial, so without looking at other factors, I would say go for AD.

However, you also have to carefully look at the work environment, job satisfaction, quality of students, accomodation, etc, if you really want to enjoy the added quality of life in AD.

Perhaps it would also help us to help you if you provide us the names of the employers.

If you are teaching teachers, I would say that is far more preferable to teaching young students in Arab countries. I definitely think that would be more fulfulling, if a bit duller.

Sharing? That's a no-no for me as well. Have you seen pics of the villa? You will have your own properly sized room, right? Your own bathroom? (That's very important) I guess the kitchen and living areas will be shared. How many kitchens for 6 people?

For a single person, especially a single female, I would say go for AD. Yes, there will be a few resident single female members on this forum who will tell you they prefer Saudi to UAE. I would be willing to bet a lot of money that if a survey was conducted, the vast majority of single females would choose the UAE over Saudi. I guess it also depends on your age, and if you are a religious Muslim or not (if a Muslim at all). The ones on here who prefer here to the UAE are not young women. How old are you? In your 20s? 30s? 40s?

Let's see what the others say.

P.S. Do you like to go to clubs, bars, etc? If so, you should obviously choose UAE. Drink? UAE. Exercise? UAE.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Sharing ? A 100 percent NO !

007 · Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 12:28 pm Post subject: Re: saudi vs abu dhabi?!

trapezius · Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 12:36 pm Post subject:

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I assume the $42,000 is US currency for a year. The normal practice here is to quote a monthly salary. This is about 13,125 SR a month which is not great but okay - especially for a person of the female gender.

trapezius · Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 1:02 pm Post subject:

Mia Xanthi · Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 1:56 pm Post subject:

seriousgirl, please carefully read the postings on the UAE forum about these teacher training programs. Some of them have been hell on earth for the participants, and the sharing of accommodations is a red flag anywhere. I wish you all the best wherever you go.

(I am choosing to ignore all the "young women" and "feminist" comments on here. Rolling Eyes

)

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

Seriousgirl...

I recall a thread earlier this year where you were deciding to break the contract in your job in Saudi, which you did and went to Oman. As commonly happens, you didn't last long with the infamous Majali in Sur, Oman. Personally, I don't think ADEC will be much better than Sur from what I have read here. There have been tons of posts by people unhappy with that project. The sharing situation would be a deal killer for me.

Since you have lived and taught in Saudi, you should know whether you can tolerate living there again... or whether the freer living situation of the rest of the Gulf is worth sharing a villa with 4 strangers of unknown habits.

VS

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

I was offered over $4000 to teach with the ADEC project in Al Ain in 2007, but did not go, based on e-mails from teachers who had worked there and told me what a sham the whole project was. Things may have changed, but I doubt it.

Sharing, as Scot says, is not really suitable for grownups over the age of 24.

The money for UAE is adequate, but with all the enticing things to do there, will not leave much room for savings, compared with Saudi.

Ghost

Gulezar · Joined: 19 Jun 2007 Posts: 483

It really depends on the employer and the people you live with.

I liked living with my colleagues in a semi-shared accommodation in Saudi, but all we shared was the kitchen, and we all know what a great supporter I am of the pot luck dinner. My accommodation lacked exercise facilities to counteract the fabulous increase in calories. If your employer can assure you that there are exercise facilties for women available during your non-teaching hours and you are interested in reading, writing and exploring the Saudi culture and language, then Saudi might be a go.

If you have had some experience of the Middle East, then Saudi will not be too great a shock. After a year or two in Saudi any other place will seem like a resort.

balqis · Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 373

Dear seriousgirl,

1. If you are ''normally a big no-no to sharing'' [ your own stance in your own words] why should you be sharing now? Have you changed this part of your personality, after all crucial to the bones in one's character set-up? If not, then why would you agree to sharing? Ney, not just simple sharing; it's sharing advanced, i.e., with five women you know nothing of. Can you imagine it?

2. www.englishcanada.org also recruited recently for similar positions for abu dhabi teacher training though there was no mention about shared lodgings; I'm almost sure they offered single housing and similar salary to the one you quoted;

3. You have two other places I know of in Riyadh searching now for female teachers [ King Saud and Al Yamamah]; and if you want to try out the Eastern Province of Arabia [ re: Dammam], I think Prince Mohammad Uni in Khobar keeps recruiting too;

good luck,
balqis

Mark100 · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 441

I would plum for Saudi everytime over the UAE.

You want to save money right?

Go to Saudi.

Dammam is okay as you are close to Khobar and Aramco so plenty of expats and plenty of things going on and not much to spend and dare i say it the Saudis in my humble opinion and this is a generalisation are much nicer than the Emiratis.