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eclectic
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 1122
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 Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:11 am Post subject: "expected" salary in Egypt: BA+1 yr. exp. |
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I have a BA in English, Masters in Business, 1 year teaching exp. in Asia, no TEFL cert.
What can I expect in Egypt re: salary/etc..? Is TEFL or TESOL or CELTA required without a doubt? |
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justcolleen
Joined: 07 Jan 2004
Posts: 654
Location: Egypt, baby!
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| Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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Salaries in Egypt vary, depending on where you choose to work.
Which city are you looking at? |
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eclectic
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 1122
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| Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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Well I guess Cairo for what I imagine are its sheer numbers-advantage in terms of schools. But other cities would be OK, barring any dangerous unrest, and very small isolated towns would be out.
Is it possible to save anything per month with a frugal lifestyle and "average" salary for a beginner with only 1 year teaching experience and BA like me? |
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justcolleen
Joined: 07 Jan 2004
Posts: 654
Location: Egypt, baby!
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 5:57 pm Post subject: |
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| eclectic wrote: |
| Well I guess Cairo for what I imagine are its sheer numbers-advantage in terms of schools. But other cities would be OK, barring any dangerous unrest, and very small isolated towns would be out. |
What dangerous unrest? Do your research; Egypt is not a dangerous place to live, particularly for a westerner/foreigner - unless they are stooooopid enough to go native and venture out into the vast, open spaces and get hung up with some unwelcoming Bedoins (who aren't hospitable to anybody anyway).
Sure, there's more schools in Cairo, but it's all relative because living expenses are higher in Cairo than other, "smaller" places, and because foreign teachers tend to populate Cairo over the other cities in Egypt.
As for salaries, Sharm pays more than Hurghada, Hurghada pays more than Cairo, and Cairo pays more than Alexandria. Cost of living is most expensive in Sharm and least expensive in Alexandria.
There's no way to predict what you can expect in terms of salary as schools vary in what they are able to afford and the depth of their desperation for a western face.
| eclectic wrote: |
Is it possible to save anything per month with a frugal lifestyle and "average" salary for a beginner with only 1 year teaching experience and BA like me? |
It depends on the package you'll be able to negotiate for yourself. Very few schools pay in currency other than the Egyptian pound (LE) and you will have to consider the conversion rate if what you mean is saving dollars.
It is certainly possible to live on even the most modest salary in Egypt. The trick is to stay away from buying western products (which means you'll have to be very careful to bring the western products you'll need with you - such as make-up and underthings) and eating like an Egyptian. |
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santi84
Joined: 14 Mar 2008
Posts: 1317
Location: under da sea
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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| justcolleen wrote: |
It is certainly possible to live on even the most modest salary in Egypt. The trick is to stay away from buying western products (which means you'll have to be very careful to bring the western products you'll need with you - such as make-up and underthings) and eating like an Egyptian. |
Egyptian food is so much better anyways  I still can't believe people fly from all over the world to enjoy the view of the Sphinx... from Pizza Hut. |
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justcolleen
Joined: 07 Jan 2004
Posts: 654
Location: Egypt, baby!
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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Pizza Hut? I guess I never noticed a Pizza Hut, although I did spend 8 LE for a can of 7-Up at the KFC across the way. Desperate times call for desperate measures (what I really wanted was access to the A/C).
We're having a dish party at work in Monday. I will learn to make kosharee for the festivities. |
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eclectic
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 1122
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| Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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Just colleen-thanks for all your helpful pointers. I am an Arab-American, so I know how to "eat like an Egyptian" since I've been eating Arabic food for 36 years now. Also, what makes you assume I have a "western face"?
And, actually, I have on 2 separate occasions actually visited bedouin friends in Syria when I was a 16 year old boy.
But I agree with you, that it would be stoooopid of someone with a "western face" to try it.
Do your research. (that was also a mildly condescending comment you made to me, and I have often wondered why anglo-saxons are so painfully unaware of how this kind of smug pomposity causes the rest of the world to loathe them in general.)
When will the anglos SEE that coming across as a condescending character is their fatal flaw? |
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justcolleen
Joined: 07 Jan 2004
Posts: 654
Location: Egypt, baby!
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| Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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| eclectic wrote: |
Just colleen-thanks for all your helpful pointers. I am an Arab-American, so I know how to "eat like an Egyptian" since I've been eating Arabic food for 36 years now. Also, what makes you assume I have a "western face"?
And, actually, I have on 2 separate occasions actually visited bedouin friends in Syria when I was a 16 year old boy.
But I agree with you, that it would be stoooopid of someone with a "western face" to try it.
Do your research. (that was also a mildly condescending comment you made to me, and I have often wondered why anglo-saxons are so painfully unaware of how this kind of smug pomposity causes the rest of the world to loathe them in general.)
When will the anglos SEE that coming across as a condescending character is their fatal flaw? |
Oh, so you don't have a western face? That changes everything! Now I can answer your question fully: You can expect to be paid the same as any other "Arab-American" - or "Arab" for that matter - would be paid: a fraction of what an "anglo-saxon" can expect. A fraction. Nothing else will matter, not your education, your experience, even how "western" you sound, you will still be paid next to nothing. That's because anything and everything "western," particularly an "anglo-saxon" face holds value here, exponentially higher value than anything that resembles "Arab" or "Arab Americanl."
Do you have any other questions that my voice of experience can help you with? |
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eclectic
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 1122
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| Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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That is quite expected and yet at the same time downright depressing, as many things in reality are, aren't they?
Well how would an Italian face fare in Egypt, which is not quite anglo-saxon, or even a Greek or let's say Puerto Rican face? Just curious, as there a quite a few "steps" in complexion or "westernness" bewtween a pure anglo-saxon and an Arab or Arab-American. Some examples of this would be let's say an Armenian or a Greek.
And yes, your experienced voice would be quite helpful, though the "bold" feature there wasn't the main thing that convinced me of such.  |
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justcolleen
Joined: 07 Jan 2004
Posts: 654
Location: Egypt, baby!
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| Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:31 pm Post subject: |
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Would a Greek, Italian, Armenian, etc., be paid more than an Egyptian, Omani, Jordanian, etc.? I know for a fact the answer is yes.
Look, I don't set the salaries. It's not me who decided that a teacher from anywhere else but this region is somehow a more capable teacher simply because of their ethnicity.
Is it fair? Of course not. Is it right? Nope. Is it discrimintory? In my opinion, yes.
Nonetheless, this is the way it is.
You asked. I answered. I can't change people's perceptions. If I could, there would be no reason for Fair & Lovely to exhist, much less be doing the booming business it does here.
Meshee? |
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eclectic
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 1122
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:07 am Post subject: |
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Well I'll be.........Actually there are some Italians and Armenians who are darker than some Syrians for example.........
Yeah that skin-whitening thing sells good in India, too.
Fair & Lovely, what a crock. Maybe in Inukjuak (tundra region up near Greenland) they should sell "Olive & Sexy" for the eskimos! |
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justcolleen
Joined: 07 Jan 2004
Posts: 654
Location: Egypt, baby!
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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| eclectic wrote: |
| Well I'll be.........Actually there are some Italians and Armenians who are darker than some Syrians for example......... |
You know that and I know that because our world view is a little bigger (okay, maybe a lot bigger) than that of people who have never been out of their home country, particularly Egypt because it's so difficult for Egyptians to travel outside of Egypt.
However, when it comes to paying tuition, parents want what they want, and that's for a foreign face in front of the class because they believe their child will have a better teacher. School owners want a foreign face to trot out in front of the parents who pay the private school tuition.
I can give you multiple examples of the salary differences between "Arab" or "Arab-American" hires and hires from anywhere else on the planet. The contrast is stark. The minimum salary a foreign teacher (at my school) can expect is ten times the salary most of my "Arab/Arab-foreign" teaching staff works for.
TEN.
| eclectic wrote: |
Yeah that skin-whitening thing sells good in India, too.
Fair & Lovely, what a crock. Maybe in Inukjuak (tundra region up near Greenland) they should sell "Olive & Sexy" for the eskimos! |
Egyptian women slather on Fair & Lovely in an attempt to get the skin color western women aren't always happy with. What they don't realize, though, is that they don't end up with white skin but a shade of purple. Purple faces and brown hands. What's the point?
Olive & Sexy? Sure it is. However Olive & Sexy doesn't get parents to open their wallets and pay tuition and, at the end of the day, bizzness is bizzness. |
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eclectic
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 1122
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:47 pm Post subject: |
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Wow. Guess I shoulda known it. Makes sense. Typical homo sapiens.  |
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rana
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 31
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| Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 2:01 am Post subject: |
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eclectic,
Just want you to know that Arab-Americans can get well paying jobs in Cairo, I did.
In 2000 I had the same exact level of experience you describe and ended up getting a decent job making $1600/ month in USD, health insurance, and housing.
The employer clearly knew that I am Arab-American and in fact called me in Gaza City to ask me to get to Cairo ASAP to start teaching.
Our school had plenty of Egyptians from England as well, there was also another Palestinian-American colleague. We were all hired and were compensated well as foreign hires.
pm me if you'd like. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 3:11 am Post subject: |
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Hey Rana... haven't seen you around here for a few years. I hope that all is well with you.  Are you still in Egypt?
VS |
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