Job Discussion Forums

hwatkiss · Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 3

Okay, so I'm currently in Korea, looking for jobs in Dubai. I will have an MA in education (curriculum and instruction) by February (that's when I'll receive the diploma), and my contract here finishes this summer. I have five years of ESL teaching experience in Korea. I have a couple of questions:

1. With my degree and experience, what kind of salary range should I be considering? (I'm liking the ones that say 15,000 dhs per month and up, but I'm not sure how realistic they are, or whether they're just the bait to get you to sign the contract.)

2. I've heard it might be smart to go through a recruiter, especially considering that I have no idea which schools are reputable and where anything is located. However, I haven't come across any recruiters that don't ask for money, and I'm not sold on paying a recruitment fee. Do you have any recommendations on reputable recruiters or whether I should apply on my own?

adorabilly · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 430 Location: Ras Al Khaimah

It depends on what you are after.

If you want to get hired as a school admin (with your MA) you might want to look a the international grade schools.

If you are after teaching ESL students, then apply for HCT, ZU, ECAE, UAEU directly. To you have any type of ESL certificate? The MA in ed curriculum might not work for TESL instructors. Of course it does mean you could easily teach the Bachelors of Ed courses HCT offers.

If you are working as TESL instructors you should be getting paid above 13,500 AED a month in the UAE. (that is the starting salary at HCT for MA in TESL/applied linguistics and 3 years experience) The other 4 pay higher.

Is it dubai you want, or the UAE, because those are two very different places. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the most "western" but also the most crowded and expensive. Sometimes looking in the smaller emirates can be a better deal for quality of life and having your money go farther.

Avoid recruiters. They are usually a scam/ripoff because you can apply to any of the above on your own, free of charge.

Now is not the best time to go looking for work. The schools are up to speed and many will not need anyone until the winter break, or the fall. It might be in your best interest to come to TESOL arabia, or the main TESOL conference in Denver and then interview there. You would have a greater choice of schools in the region.

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

What kind of job are you looking for? Admin or teaching? Teaching in International schools or university level?

What are your credentials pre-MA? BA in something education related? Certification to teach in your home country? TESL/TEFL cert?

You may not be quite ready for the 15000 level yet... more likely the 12-13000 range.

Avoid recruiters...

VS

hwatkiss · Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 3

I've got a bachelor of business administration, so not particularly teaching-related, and I've got neither a TESL certificate nor a teacher's certification. I'm considering doing one or both of the two so I'll be more eligible for jobs back in Canada when I return there in a few years. However, I was hoping 5 years of experience teaching and a Master's in an educational field would allow me to skip jumping through that hoop.

My teaching experience has been four years teaching adults, and one year teaching middle school kids. I'm open to both international schools and universities, but I think I'd prefer the universities. I'd like to be involved in some curriculum planning and administrative stuff, but I love being in the classroom too, so I really haven't decided what direction to go in. If I came across a job in industry doing training and instructional planning, that would be great too.

Yeah, really, I'm not sure where I'm going with this.

adorabilly · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 430 Location: Ras Al Khaimah

With the MA you are earning and the 5 years of experience, I'd apply to
HCT, ZU, ECAE, and UAEU. And apply for their bachelors of ed programs (ECAE in particular could be a good fit).

If you want to teach ESL, get a TEFL cert of some sort to go with the MA just to be on the safe side, and then apply at the colleges/universities here.

do a search for UAE and colleges/universities. You will come up with the ones listed above and their webaddresses.

Avoid recruiters.

helenl · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 1202

Do you have any post grad experience using your MA? - HCT's Bed program is usually staffed by people who have been working in the field at least 5 and usually 10+ years (although that may have changed in the past 2 or 3 years given salaries have not kept pace with either inflation or FX fluctuations).

You might try for a non-teaching position with HCT in administration - it's highly unlikely you'd be considered for an English teaching position.

Longton · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 148

OP - Are you a native speaker? It makes a difference.

hwatkiss · Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 3

So should I be looking for a job now, for next fall? When's the usual hiring season if I'm looking for an August / September start?

Iamherebecause · Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 12:31 pm Post subject:

Probably a good idea to start looking now, or at least trying to research which places might accept your qualifications and offer you the sort of work you want. Once you have a job offer the paperwork can take aeons.

There is a job fair at TESOL Arabia - you need to balance the costs though: airfares, hotels, overpriced conference fee and then job fair fee on top of that. And of course if you are taking the job fair seriously you don't get to attend any of the conference sessions.

Some employers do videoconference interviews - I did one of these for HCT at the UAE Embassy in London for example. You need to know if there are facilities for this in Korea which the employers you are interested in would be happy to use.