Job Discussion Forums

[WellRoundedSquare]

Hello all. I'm a longtime lurker, first time poster.

I have poured over every university in the UAE, gone to all the websites and applied to everything I have found. I've applied to the awful international language schools like Berlitz etc... I've applied to schools in Doha, Cairo, Istanbul, Bahrain, and...silence.

It's been about a month now, I've sent resumes, e-mails, filled out hulking online application forms to dozens of schools and literally have no heard back from a single one. Is the mid to late July period a dead zone in hiring?

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Pretty much. Most new staff have arrived and those on contract are just returning now.

NCTBA

[WellRoundedSquare]

Are there any schools known for last minute hiring? I've been home in the states for the last couple of months and am going a little stir crazy. Does anyone have any advice on intermediary gigs while I wait for the next round of university hirings circa March?

[helenl]

As a rule, you are offered a 2 or 3 year contract in UAE. There are no short term jobs (for the desirable employers) unless you are already in country, usually under a spouse's sponsorship.

There may be some no shows or even runners before the school year starts but I wouldn't hold my breathe if you haven't had an interview yet.

[Zoot]

It's likely the schools or universities that would offer you a job at this point would be those you'd be better not to work for anyway.

[veiledsentiments]

I'd say that dead zone is certainly true for the top tier university employers.

Right now every HR department is in panic mode trying to get all the new teachers in and settled. They don't even know yet if everyone will arrive or how many students they will have. It will be a good month before they have that answer in most places.

The next round of hiring will be for second semester with a January/February start. Of course, you have told us nothing about your credentials. Most employers just ignore you if you don't meet their requirements.

I would do my lurking around in the US and see if you get any nibbles for second semester. You are certainly more likely to find some part time stuff in the US than in the Gulf... it isn't a "drop in" for "part-time" or "short term" kind of place... complicated work visas needed.

VS

[WellRoundedSquare]

I have a feeling the hitch is my Master's which isn't in applied linguistics. A field I hadn't even heard of until I start applying in the Middle East. The Master's was technically International Studies but half the course work in the US covered Language Acquisition Pedagogy and all that claptrap - the other half while teaching in China covered curriculum development and teaching practicums - the sinking feeling is that "applied linguistics" is the only thing that opens the doors though.

Otherwise I've got three years of experience teaching in Japan and China - two of them tertiary. I got the 120 hour tefl a few years back and my BA is in English/Creative Writing.

Theoretically I should meet all of the standards for most of these schools.

By "drop-in" I mean mostly the non-collegiate langauge schools that hire year round - I don't know what the chains are in the middle east, in Japan they were the Novas and in China the WEB International/English First/Scholastic Crowd. Hopefully there's something out there with a one year contract where I can wait out the blitz come Jan/Feb/March and hopefully would be able to transition into a college job the next year.

Thanks for any advice you guys can offer, I've read this forum pretty widely the last few years and there's an excellent cache of knowledge and experience here.

[Gulezar]

I sent a PM. Can you get PMs? Let me know if you got it.

[helenl]

Hopefully in your applications you stress the work you have done in completing your Masters - that will help. According the the info you give, your experience is the bare minimum acceptable - there are a lot of people who have the "properly named" Master's plus 5 - 10 years of directly applicable experience. It's a big pond with a lot of frogs.

However, keep trying, HCT occasionally brings people in mid-semester if needed and certainly does hiring for the end of January.

[veiledsentiments]

As helen says, you really need to stress in your applications your experience and education that is directly related.

The Gulf is not the sort of place to drop in and do a short language schools stint. It is expensive and the work visa rules are stringent. You could mess up your chances of getting a legitimate job. (say if you sign a contract to work legally any chain language school and then want to switch over to a 'real' job). If you have a contract with one employer, you can't switch to another without their permission... and of course, they won't give it unless you finish the contract... and sometimes not even then.

Stay out of the country until you have a legitimate job offer with a place that you want to teach a few years. Did you apply to HCT? If so, be sure to touch base with them in a month if you have heard nothing. By then, HR may have had the time to be able to open the new applications section.

VS

[WellRoundedSquare]

Great. Thanks for the responses guys. I'll keep plugging away and see if a Hail Mary comes through.

I talked to HCT and QU months and months ago - I can give them a try again

[turtlepi1]

I think many institutions (public) are still scrambling to hire for this semester, both English faculty and content areas.

If you are interested and available I would suggest that you make sure that your profile is up to date.