Job Discussion Forums

[stonecold]

IGIT likes to help people who don't want to wait too long to come early via a business visa, through jordan and other places. They have wasta(connections). Its convenient, not as costly overall, and gets done fast. I did this from korea, working for m-trading in Jubail. It was done in 2 weeks and no documents were necessary nor a health check. I got paid, did my job and then didnt need a release(NOC) afterwward to work for someone else. But if you already did all the leg work I dont blame you for waiting for the work visa.

as for the abaya, you dont have to wear the veil. many saudis add sequins and colors to the black abaya, and some women even wear multi-colored abayas all together.

lebanese food is easy to find and I noticed an organic section at the bin dawood supermarket. feel free to contact me when you arrive and i can show you around town. I have a car.

[Chailocks]

...

[veiledsentiments]

[stonecold]

.....I would have you sit in the back seat to avoid any suspicion. anyways, whatever moves you.

[desert_traveller]

stonecold, the fish hasnt even jumped in the water yet and you already want to catch it? come on man, you dont sound at all 'stone cold'

[lizziebennet]

IGIT is ok to work for.However, my husband does not want to go back to Saudi Arabia because of the lack of freedom etc (you'd think it would be me that wouldn't wanna go back seem as I am the woman lol).
We both had a few direct hire offers in Saudi after the 10 months we stayed there so I suppose IGIT can be a stepping stone.

For female teachers it is better because the female students are very well behaved. For male teachers it is very different.
Problem is the workload and hours. You can teach between 22 and 27 hours a week as an IGIT worker and you are expected to do lesson plans, lead workshops, create extra worksheets (there are no resources available not even Grammar in Use)
And if you are at a campus which is equipped for powerpoint like I was you will have to create lessons in powerpoint... This sounds normal but with a teaching load of 27 hours it can be tough...
The workshops are informative though and if you have never given a workshop it should be a challenge.
Also they do a lot of formal and informal observations and people can walk in your class at anytime to watch you.
This is on the female side. On the male side my husband did none of the above he just wallked into class with a book and cd...

IGIT building is ok! They lock the doors at night and have a security guards... If you are in the girls section no boys allowed one employee was fired for having a male in her room.
Sometimes the elevators don't work and it sucks carrying grocery bags up 5 floors but you get good exercise...

Had all basics like aircon, cupboards, a bed, a tv with cable, a microwave, a twin tub washing machine (sucks), oven and fridge but no kitchen ware and only single beds even if you are a couple. I suggest you bring your own sheets and buy your own blanket as you dunno who has used them and if they have been washed.

It has a pool table (no workable pool cues so we bought ours from the huge sports shop down the road) and it has a table tennis table.

Restuarants nearby! Are you kidding there is everything you can imagine!

Chillis, On the Border (mexican), Fudruckers, Ruby Tuesdays and Ruby's cafe and shisha bar upstairs with fantastic outdoor seating even for women,
TGI Fridays, Carls Jr, Burger King, 2 starbucks (if you count jam jum centre), Krispy Kremes (Sp?), Dunkin Donuts, An upmarket Indian Restuarant, an Italian Restuarant in Al Hamra Sofitel,
a Lebanese Restaurant, a Baskin Robbins, a MacDonalds, Cafe Aroma (oldest and best shisha bar in the city) plus loads of other places!
Plus there are loads of cheap shwarma places...

There is a local store like 5 min away called Al Raya, sometimes the guys at the store help you bring your groceries home and you can tip them.
The van goes on a shopping trip once a week to a mall with Danube. Danube has every American product you could wish for. There was nothing I couldn't find there... They have a whole organic aisle...

There is also one of the best gyms in the city 2 blocks away although it is like $120 per month if you pay for 6 months at the same time...
It is called Olympia and is behind the sulaman hospital. It has separate gyms for ladies and men. Has a pool, pilates studio, spinning studiio , restaurant, steam room, sauna and jacuzzis and any class you can imagine from swissball to dancing all with funky music unlike Buraidah where they weren't allowed music!
You can get a separate membership for the pool/ aqua classes if you just wanna do that.
You can't wear shorts in the gym but I think it's ok if you have your shoulders open. Just bring leggings. It is expenive but offers a sense of freedom!
I loved going and especially liked relaxing in the steam room and sauna! If it wasn't so close I wouldn't have paid that money but it is 2 blocks away and you can even walk that distance in the summer heat.

Sometimes they organise a trip to the beach and the drivers drive us there... It is expensive if you take a taxi...

I got $3000 and I think that everyone should not accept $2500 because some of your co-workers will be getting $3000 for the same work..

Please excuse my errors, I am typing on my Blackberry and struggle to scroll back and forth. The screen is so small and I forget what I wrote before if I am in mid thought.

[lizziebennet]

Most people with IGIT last year and this year were on an igama and had a medical insurance card so yes they can process work visas.

At one point last year they were recruiting inside the kingdom. In fact two of their representatives came to the Movenpick in Qassim to meet with Edex teachers to persuade them to move to Jeddah and join IGIT!
Things were going badly with Edex and Qassim university and everyone heard that Edex lost the contract. Also at that point in time the Edex representative quit and no one would answer the teachers and pay was late.
We decided Jeddah was better than the Qassim mess. A student threatened to kill my husband and said he would bomb the hotel we lived in at the time.
This was all because my husband would not mark his friend present when he was not there.
Quite a few teachers were threatend by the student.
All the teachers lived in a hotel with no security. I don't know if people know but a few weeks ago the US embassy sent out a warning that they had received credible evidence that a terrorist attack was being planned in Qassim.
Our group was basically the only group of westerners that we knew of there so I am assuming the Edex teschers would have been the targets.
My husband went to the dean to deal with the situation of being threatened by the student and he didn't take it seriously or bother to speak to the student. I think that was the final straw so we moved to Jeddah.
IGIT flew teachers from Hail, Najran, Riyadh and Qassim to Jeddah for interviews with KAU and the university in Madinah.
They poached teachers from M Trading (which didn't work out because M Trading faught back and blocked the visas preventing the teachers from leaving to get a new visa with IGIT), Edex (like me and a few others) and other places.

They had to put us on business visas. Right now those that are staying with them for the new academic year are at home getting igamas.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Sounds like a sweet deal!

NCTBA

[Grendal]

[Grendal]

[lizziebennet]

NCTBA if you compare Qassim to Jeddah it is a sweet deal. Especially for people with no MA or experience.
I got an excellent reference from KAU and I am pretty sure that it was my Middle Eastern experience not just my experience in Singapore, South Korea, South Africa or Thailand that helped me get the direct hire uni job I start at next week.

And yes Grendal even though we were both due to start direct hire contracts in Riyadh we decided the $500 extra a month each is not worth the sacrifices we would have to make.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[stonecold]

[stonecold]

...for not marking him present? Id say thats plenty incentive to mark everybody present! since the admin didnt care about the threat then i suspect they wouldnt care if you lied about attendance.

[Grendal]