Job Discussion Forums

[trapezius]

One of my Pakistani student's mother who just finished her Ph.D. last year (but has several years lecturing experience) was just offered a job at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), the newly established university on the Red Sea Coast about 80 km North of Jeddah. If you remember, there was a thread about it last year, and if you also remember, they want to be as good as MIT by 2020.

Anyway, my student's mother has been offered SR. 37,500 (USD 10,000) plus all other benefits you can and can't imagine. They even offered to send her a car every day if she decides to continue living in Jeddah! My student and his parents are in the process of immigrating to Canada, so they also told her that once she is a Canadian citizen, her salary would substantially go up.

Some very pertinent points to remember are that my student's mother is already resident here, is not a Western citizen, is not world-class, just got her Ph.D. a year ago from a thrid-tier US university, doesn't have teaching experience at any world-class universities, and definitely does not have any published research to her name other than her Ph.D. thesis just a year ago.

That makes me think that someone such as http://www.kaust.edu.sa/bios/bio-basset.aspx or http://www.kaust.edu.sa/bios/bio-luyten.aspx is probably getting around SR. 75,000 at the very least, and more likely around SR. 100,000 per month.

That would make professorial jobs at KAUST some of the world's highest paying.

If you go to http://www.kaust.edu.sa/about/faculty.aspx you will see that they have been able to 'steal' some of the best faculty from some of the world's top universities. With take-home pay ranging anywhere from $200,000 to $300,000+, and all living expenses taken care of (including home electronics, kitchen appliances, and linens!), plus unlimited research funding, I am not surprised.

Now y'all are wondering how ESLers fit into this. Well, if you go to their website and go to the employment section, the very first job that comes up is an ESL position! I do wonder, though, how much they pay for ESL jobs.

Apply and find out!

P.S. They have even setup a private website http://www.movetokaust.com to help faculty members and their families in their relocation to KAUST... who offers that?!


And http://www.kaust.edu.sa/community/housing.aspx

[007]

[HCEG1]

When something sounds to good to be true............

FWIW, I recently posted a new thread saying that a certain company was urgently looking for EFL teachers in Saudi. After the first response which said 'Why are you giving XXXXX company a free advertisement'?, it immediately got deleted. Is it OK to flag jobs or not?

[veiledsentiments]

I would say that the difference is that he is telling us about a new employer that no one knows anything about... he is not just trying to give them free advertising for TEFL teachers. He does point out that they have an employment section as do most of the major employers now on their website. We don't know if they are actually hiring or not... nor does he... and websites are often not up to date.

That is quite different that posting definite job openings for a particular employer who should have the money to come to Dave's and run an ad. The ads are not that expensive.

So, I'd say no... it is not allowed to flag job openings. But that is not what Trap's post is doing and I hope it doesn't get pulled

VS

[Gulezar]

KAUST is still on my top pick list for next September. I've interviewed twice with them by phone and hope to get a face to face soon.

[Asda]

Well, I have heard from a few friends who work for KPMG (one of the many consultancies helping to set this place up) that the place is strictly postgrad. I imagine that most, if not all of these hotshot graduates will already have a decent level of English.

I also hear that the campus is HUGE and rather kicka$$!! Puts KFUPM to shame...

Another friend of mine mentioned that they have a strictly 'not a beard in sight' policy - dunno how y'all feel about that.

[veiledsentiments]

[scot47]

Definitely for postgraduates only.

[Nick Adams]

There is a fair amount of misinformation in this thread. KAUST won't be hiring ESL teachers, but there are some certified teachers who read this message board so I am providing the info below for them. I do not work for KAUST, but I did interview with them in person and read through their printed recruitment info and their website.

The main facility is a research university, so it is true the higher paying jobs are likely to be for professors teaching specialist courses. However, they are also hiring certified teachers (i.e. BA + teaching credential and/or MA + credential) to teach the children of employees. There is an international school opening this fall that will use IB curriculum in the future. In a few years they will be opening separate boys' and girls' schools as well. Next year they are scheduled to have 2,000 residents on site, with growth projected at 11,000 within five years.

The facility will also eventually include retail and entertainment zones. It sounds like the labor for these service industry jobs is mostly coming from Southeast Asia, specifically the Philippines. KAUST has an ultra progressive agenda including environmentally friendly, low carbon "green" housing design. Women get paid the same as men and women with dependents have been hired. Part of this progressive agenda is free education for most employees' children -- so it sounds like the service industry workers (mostly Filipino) will be in the same classes as the professors' kids. This should make for some interesting social dynamics.

[Nick Adams]

If I remember correctly, the facility (once completed) will be roughly 6 kilometers by 3 kilometers in total size, with three distinct residential zones. I think those numbers are off, but it is a big compound.

[veiledsentiments]

Trap mentioned that he saw an ad on their website for an EFL opening... but I checked it today and it didn't show up.

Hopefully we will learn more as it gets going... as usual, there are probably lots of rumors out there.

VS

[007]

[freesoul]

Personal integrity in an ESL context would be in my dictionary:

- No stabbing in the back.
- No double- face to teachers and administrators.
- No bossing teachers around to demonstrate managerial skills to his superiors.
- No mixing and then messing personal and professional relationships at will.

[Cleopatra]

[Linguist]