Job Discussion Forums

[tambok17]

Note: comments below are only based on my experience and my opinion. Comments from other people who have worked for these companies may vary.


I have worked for STA/SDT, and here is my quick assessment of the place for future teachers and applicants:
The good:
1) Excellent salary – SAR 18,000+ - SAR 20,000 + a month, paid on time, and good housing, as a rule. You can be put on a compound with all the executive conveniences thereof- a pool, a restaurant, a recreational area, a store, etc. Transportation to and from work is free.
2) Vacations are some two months a year taken when you want them as long as you accumulate the days- 1.3 days per work week. All you have to do is notify the company in advance to make sure they do not have classes at the time or , if you really have to go, to ask them not to schedule classes for you. Even if you do not have enough days accumulated, you can ‘borrow’ vacation days or have those deducted from your salary.
3) The company emphasizes communicative methodology, so the students really learn English. If you are a modern teacher who believes in progressive ESL education that stresses practicality over cumbersome, old ways of teaching, STA/SDT is just for you.
4) Prompt communication from the HQ in case you send them an email ( at least that has been my experience).
The bad:
1) STA is located in Dubai so they manage you by proxy through a Saudi company that often screws up visas and residency, makes false promises about visa, Iqama and passport delivery dates, delivers documents through drivers who often cannot speak neither proper English, nor Arabic and who the staff ends up having altercations with. “No passport again?” “Where is it?” “You said you were going to bring it last week? “ “Tomorrow, Inshallah”. It got so bad once that a teacher had to get his Embassy involved because the passport was not being returned to him in spite of repeated entreaties by the former.
2) A customer is always right. Unconditionally so. Sometimes, I had the impression that a teacher at SDT/STA seems to be given a Doomsday Clock when he starts working there. If a Saudi student or manager makes a complaint about you, or passes a little comment about you that is negative, be it right or wrong, your Doomsday Clock relentlessly moves one notch to the right towards your dismissal.
3) You may be a qualified professional with an MA in TESL, but the company ( either SDT or STA) sometimes hires teachers with a BA + CELTA/DELTA, a degree in another discipline, or even without any degree at all. So, you have people working side by side with ESL/EFL MA holders who are not real professionals in the field. The result- unprofessional , childish conduct, back-biting, character assassination, tattling, and just rude, unruly, even thuggish behavior that should not be present at an educational institution at all. On one occasion, there was a teacher who thought it was funny to pass foul wind in the van on the way home from work, or to walk up to other teachers in the staffroom , loudly fart at their desk and then stand there and smile.

How to survive there:
1) You will be given a couple of exams to make sure you qualify. Brush up on your grammar and IELTS skills. You will be observed twice, too. When they observe you, make sure your class is communicative- they want students working in groups and the teacher just facilitating the class. So, make certain that when the observers walk in, the students are busily talking with each other in English, doing presentations and you are just there coordinating everything with the minimal effort on your part. That is what they want to see.
2) Classes are sometimes “patrolled”, with supervisors/managers looking into your classroom window from the hallways. Be aware of that when you teach.
3) When at your desk, leave many ESL books and notebooks open, pens and pencils lying around and prepare for your classes, or look as if you are preparing. On your computer, there should be some ESL sites open, or exercise sites or other work related sites. Occasional banking and emails are OK. If you bring your laptop with you, do not ever chat on YM or any other messenger. Other teachers will report you in a jiff. Also, do not bring a PDA and start sending messages over it. Do not take your mobile phone to class, ever. Leave it at your desk or in your bag.
4) Dress conservatively, as an MP would, and wear a tie even if you see other teachers dress casually and not wear a tie.
5) Never , ever be late for the van in the morning. When in the van, keep your conversation with colleagues to a minimum, and, if you have to talk, avoid heavy topics. There is little camaraderie among coworkers there, so be careful about what you say. If you speak Arabic, it is better that you do not let other people know about it, and never, ever use it in class. You may ask students to use their dictionaries, but do not utter Arabic words in front of them. Knowing Arabic is often seen as a liability, not an asset. Just stick with English and, generally, try not to stand out much. Do not be either too popular or unpopular. Follow the Middle Way.
6) If students want to talk /joke about sex and girls, which young Arab men are wont to do, do not encourage that kind of behavior or go along with it. It can cost you your job very quickly. You may have some twelve students who are laughing at a sexual joke, but one “Mutawwa” who will report you in a heartbeat. Clean jokes are OK. But not too many. If your class relaxes too much, then the next teacher who teaches it after you may get angry at you and report it.
7) At some other Saudi companies, you can schedule a vacation between Saturdays and Wednesdays but leave the country Wednesday night and arrive Friday night without having weekend days counted as vacation days. Not at STA/SDT. There, all days spent outside the Kingdom must be counted.
Stoically and patiently bear the mistakes of the management, the visa and passport snafus and the occasional strange behavior of colleagues without degrees or with shallow ESL background. Keep your cool.
Conclusion: if you want to make good money fast, STA/SDT is for you. However, mind your p’s and q’s and try to blend into the background as much as you can. Things are not forgotten there easily , so learn what the rules are and follow those. There are often many unwritten rules that are easy to break there, so it is important to always be on your toes, while, at the same time, trying not to stand out much.
Some guys have been able to save GBP 30,000 in one year while working at STA/SDT. So, it may be worth it to lie low for a while, watch yourself and do what they want you to do.

[SCHUBERT]

thanks for the inside, Tambok17. Tis refreshing have a comprehensive account of what tis all about. This one is a template
Respec' man,

[buildbyflying]

they pay the big bucks to dodge the endless bullets. good if you have thick skin.

[Middle East Beast]

[Middle East Beast]

[scot47]

I was interested to read that the poster feels that those with MA's do not behave unprofessionally. That has not been my observation in KSA ! Admittedly I have never had the misfortune to work for the company of which he writes.

[tambok17]

It is interesting how people's experiences vary. Thank you for sharing your notes and observations. Another problem that I have found is that the company promotes/puts in positions managers who have sometimes not been in Saudi Arabia long, or at all , and who try and impose other countries' ethics upon the Saudi system and us employees who try and do things the Saudi way. Those who had worked in the Emirates bring their dog-eat-dog style to Saudi, they sometimes gossip and slander people behind their backs- all in a place much more relaxed and harmonious. Those who had been in the British system for a long time bring their neocolonial, cruel Germanic ethics into the very friendly and "measured" Saudi work place. By the time they have figured out how Saudi works, a lot of damage has already been done- mostly to long time Saudi hands who had been there forever.

[tambok17]

[Balzac]

Tambok17,

are you a spokesman for the company because you sure seem like one! Are they paying you for your advertorials?

My experience of SDT is quite different. They messed me around kept promising like an Alice in Wonderland "Jam tomorrow" scenario which of course never arrived and in the end I just gave up and went elsewhere.

So I guess truth is always relative my friend. A certain manager called Dave was instrumental in my chagrin with this company along with teh general manager an arab and the HR manager again an Arab. I was also promised payment for my interview expenses which never arrived even though I submitted a receipt.

There's always two or more sides to every story and the picture you paint of this company is frankly not what I have experienced nor what I have heard from others.

nuff said.

B

[Mr TEFL]

Tambok 17,

How do you go about applying? Is it strictly single-status or can married men with families apply?

[tambok17]

Gentlemen. I am trying to give as an impartial assessment as I can. And no, they are not paying me. Have not you read my 'bad' part? Actually, I quit there and asked for a letter of recommendation which they said they would give, but never did.

Sometimes I wonder what their mothers and fathers taught them when they were young.

But I also want to give credit where credit is due and keep my emotions in check.

I wholeheartedly invite other people to share their experiences with STA/SDT with the ESL community.

The good and the bad.

As far as the contracts go- I got a single/ unaccompanied contract.

Managers, I think, can bring their families with them.

One thing about life that I am trying to figure out is how some people who lie, cheat and mess up/ make terrible mistakes ,and are often incompetent, keep their jobs, have great money flowing in, walk around with their chests all puffed up, have good lives going on, ride in nice cars all the while others make tiny mistakes and get fired. Can some priest or guru explain this to me? Because normal people cannot.

Better yet, how can I join the ranks of such incompetent people who have money flowing into their lives and who walk around smiling with their chins up!

[Middle East Beast]

[rogan]

There are important differences in contracts, salaries, working conditions, working hours, holidays, travel et al between STA, SDT and BAe.

[Middle East Beast]

[Marquess]