Job Discussion Forums

Oreally · Joined: 23 Nov 2008 Posts: 39

One more for today. Anyone here have anything to say about the KSU/BELL/ORD project? Thanks again.
J

wulfrun · Joined: 12 May 2008 Posts: 167

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

More questions on another - new - thread.
Not many answers. Those working there seem relucatnt to post.

Oreally · Joined: 23 Nov 2008 Posts: 39

ok. Little bit unsure of what to do. I am just not hearing enough warnings that it is not a ok. Thanks for all your help and information so far folks.
OR

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:56 am Post subject:

O.K., here's the thing about working in Saudi Arabia...

NCTBA Rolling Eyes

xox Zeke

Cleopatra · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 8:31 am Post subject:

This is second or third hand info from acquaintances of mine who work in KSU (male and female sectors). Seems the set-up is utterly shambolic - even by local standards - with huge classes and few resources. The programme is enormous, with ambitions to recruit literally hundreds of ESL teachers, which, as you might have guessed, means that they are not neccessarily getting the cream of the crop.

Particularly as the salary and benefits aren't great: they only pay you for 11 months of the year, and give 500GBP for annual travel allowance, wherever you live in the world. Their housing - which I believe is shared - is only available to single teachers, and couples are put up in a hotel for a month, before being given a housing allowance to find their own accommodation. One plus is that working hours are short, with two shifts of 7.00-1.00 and 11.00-4.30, with the possibility of working both shifts for extra pay.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Bush telegraph reports down here indicate that it is not the best place to work.

word_to_the_wise · Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 67 Location: Riyadh

The salary is 12,000 - 14,000 SAR, which although 'not great' is certainly well above average. The short working hours are a plus, and you can transfer within the Bell network at the end.All in all one of the better gigs in the Gulf, albeit in the short term.

Cleopatra · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 1:50 pm Post subject:

Oreally · Joined: 23 Nov 2008 Posts: 39

Thanks again guys. Lets see how things work out. I appreciate everything you have said here.

OR

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

If you are only paid for 11 months... that means that the top is only 12,800, not 14,000 when compared to normal Gulf contracts. And if that also means that they don't have to pay you the usual gratuity, the top is shrinking even more.

The only way it is a decent financial choice is if you only planned from the start to stay for 11 months - presuming that you have decent qualifications.

Add to that shared housing and a pitiful travel allowance, I'd say that it is another of those under the heading "I am desperate for a job, so I will take this one and spend the next 11 months searching for something better."

VS
(BTW... those are similar to or longer than the hours that I taught in universities in Kuwait, Oman, and Egypt... so I don't find them particularly short.)

desert_traveller · Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 335

i regularly hang out with a few chaps from the male section at ksu

what i was told was that the academic side of the job is not bad at all, even though the academic management is abysmal, but the hours are reasonable, class sizes have been reduced lately that they have got more teachers coming in, and students are fairly pleasant (in saudi terms), also, the guys seem quite happy with the other teachers, it seems to be a very multicultural staff, fairly well qualified

on the other hand, as they say, the non-academic side is a disaster, with people not getting paid for months, entitlements getting withheld, iqamas taking ages, and utter chaos on all fronts. mind you that seems to be the case to some extent at all saudi companies, so i don't know if it is job specific or not

that they get paid for 11 months only on a university contract is a travesty, one of the biggest attractions of a uni job is the paid holidays, so that's really way below the belt, especially that apparently last year they got paid for the whole year

all in all, it doesnt sound that bad if you are prepared, and some of the guys seem fairly happy or at least ok, but it is certainly not remotely as good as it is advertised on tefl.com for instance

if you expect about 75% of what they offer and are happy with it, financially and otherwise, i think you are going to be ok

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

The place I work at seems to have even better hours than the KSU, because at this place you either do early split shift - 8-10 + 1-3pm, or late shift - 10-12, and 3-5pm, which adds up to 4 hours contact time a day. You also have a mandatory 1 hour office hour per day. You can prep during that time. I think the hours are quite reasonable here.

I also do overtime, 2 hours per night, usually paid 150 riyals per hour ($40).

Ghost

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 3:40 pm Post subject: Re: short hours

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

People keep commenting that Saudi savings are not what they used to be. But if you compare with most other places (Japan/Korea/Taiwan) - most people can save quite a bit more here. Also, fortunately, much less ageism here, compared with those North East Asian countries. An older chap can feel quite valued here, and that might rejuvenate his career.

Your overtime rate of $76 per hour (285 riyals per hour) is phenomenal, and would probably be top of the line in the region, except for those doing consultancy work.

When I worked in Turkey, those teaching TOEFL and other higher level skills were compensated more, but not sure how that works in Saudi.

Ghost