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well-travelled
Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 97
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2005 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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Just a thought. Nearly 1500 people have read this thread - including a fair few teachers from the Sharjah colleges, I'm sure - but it's gone dead.
Surely someone has some comments to offer - whether positive or negative!??
well-travelled |
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holbrook

Joined: 14 Jun 2003 Posts: 60
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 7:43 am Post subject: Recruitment crisis |
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Well the most recent news on the street here is that there is a crisis. I know that you wouldn't guess it by looking at the long stack of CVs in the HCT binder during TESOL Arabia but there is. The fact is that everyone knows that HCT is a basically good place to work and so everyone looking for jobs in the ME wants to apply here. The problem is that the pay offers have gotten too low with the falling dollar.
Most English faculty are offered 11,000 dirhams. That's what I got and many of my friends too. Good pay raises every year help too. But with the dollars demise this is too low for many nationalities. Truth of the matter is now that colleges are calling teachers from the pool of eligible candidates many, if not most, are looking at those numbers and declining. This is especially true of those recruited at TESOL International. Why take a job in the ME, with high social stress (Muslim country, close to Iraq) and high professional stress (demanding duties, long hours) when you can make the same money teaching kids in Korea or Japan?
For those of us with families (and from the US) HCT is still a great place to work. As long as you're willing to work hard, that is. But for singles who want to mix it up and have a good time the far-east is gaining ground. Just look at where the Korean Won has gone against the dollar.
Add to it the pay situation the increased student intake & more contact hours needed for each student and you can see a clear crisis. Many faculty have been asked to encourage our friends to apply and I would suggest that anyone who would like to work for HCT to apply ASAP, even if you were recently turned down. There will most likely be a shortage of qualified teachers this August. |
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Mark100
Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 441
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 7:24 am Post subject: |
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I went for an interview with the Higher Colleges at TESOL Arabia a few years back and I was left with a rather poor impression of the place.
They spent half the interview asking questions about conflict resolution and what i would do if i had a problem with a supervisor and how i would handle it and what i would do with unruly students etc.
Of course when this line of questioning went on for rather a long time I of course asked them if they had coflict resolution issues in their organisation.
This didn't seem to go down too well.
Then they asked a whole lot of questions about what levels i had taught and projects i had done and computer skills and Academic english etc to which i responded that i had taught all the levels plus IELTS and TOEFL and English for academic purposes etc.
Then i asked them what levels i would be teaching and they said everything but when i asked more specifically what level most of the students were they reluctantly explained they were pre elementary which sort of make a mockery of all the questions they had been asking.
When they asked me if i had any questions and i asked about the salary they refused point blank to give me any indication and in fact seemed irritated that i wanted to know.
Finally when i told them that i was interested in working in Dubai or Abu Dhabi only they seemed to have a minor fit.
I think that i got the quickest rejection email in the history of HCT.
Heaps better places to work out there although there are also heaps worse but certainly from the impression i got from the interview they were not a place that seemed attractive to me. |
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dmb

Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 10:09 am Post subject: |
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That sounds familiar. although I only worked in the ME for 18 months I was asked at the interview about my knowledge of CALL, TOEFL, ESP etc. I only ever taught elem. amd pre-int. Is this normal? |
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younggeorge
Joined: 15 Apr 2005 Posts: 350 Location: UAE
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 11:55 am Post subject: |
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Mark100 wrote: |
They spent half the interview asking questions about conflict resolution and what i would do if i had a problem with a supervisor and how i would handle it and what i would do with unruly students etc. |
Sounds similar to the interview I had: they eventually tired of that line of questioning and said "You seem very laid back. Doesn't anything make you angry?" They went on to ask me how I'd teach the present perfect tense: that almost did make me angry and I think my rejection letter must have rivalled yours for speed.
I went on to get a job at ZU and our students are definitely not all pre-elementary. The majority are Pre-Intermediate at least and we do make a pretty good stab at teaching EAP, as well as using CALL and preparing them for TOEFL and IELTS.
To be fair, I think HCT's students are much the same levels as ours, though there may be more at the lower end: "pre-elementary" would not be typical. |
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veiledsentiments

Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 2:08 pm Post subject: |
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I suspect that they were interviewing Mark100 for the CERT program. This is for low level students that can not get into regular HCT/ZU/UAEU. Basically it is for non-academic students.
This program was started when they realized that the promise of Sheikh Zayed to give all Emiratis a free education through university was unrealistic to say the least. In the early 90's, they found themselves with hundreds of students who had been 5+ years in the prep course at UAEU and another ten years of teaching them elementary English/math/etc was not going to make them into college material. HCT was assigned to create something for them. That became the CERT program.
Regular HCT intake English levels range from high intermediate up to near native speakers - with most of them tending toward the bottom of that scale for the women and almost all of them for the men. The cream of the crop of male students head overseas to study.
As to their interviewing, it has been like this for years. They have always had this ridiculous system of often silly (even obnoxious) questions - take offense at questions from the interviewee - and rapid fire rejection - and then a teacher shortage in September. But, this year the chickens have finally come home to roost. Their process cuts out way too many good teachers - the fall in the currency has meant that many did not accept the offers they got - and current teachers will have to pay the price with larger classes.
As to choice of location, the quickest way to get an immediate rejection is to declare that you are only interested in one or two locations. If you seriously want a job with them, you are better off waiting to see. Since AD and Dubai are the biggest, your chances are good - if you restrict yourself to them, you guarantee that you will get nothing. And even with the problems, I would say that it is still one of the better employers in the Middle East. (which probably says more about the level of Gulf employers than about HCT)
VS |
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well-travelled
Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 97
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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I tend to disagree with VS. I doubt that HCT interviews candidates for specific programs.
I would also disagree about the status of regular HCT students. I suspect - although I have no figures to back this up - that the majority of students, at least these days, are at the basic CERT level. But not all, of course.
This is a result of a fundamentally flawed secondary education system.
But it means that most of the students entering HCT have a rather elementary knowledge of English - and probably other subjects - and their motivation to learn is, to put it mildy, rather low.
(But in general the Emirati women are far, far more motivated - and far more of a pleasure to teach - than the men.)
As for the interviewing tactics mentioned by the above correspondents - well, they are disgusting. And I have no doubt that the negative comments are true. And, as far as I'm concerned, it is an accurate - and damning - reflection of the general ethos of at least some (but not all) of the HCT colleges. {Although, to be frank, I was interviewed by two very amiable people and have no complaints about the interview at all.)
Basically, I think HCT unwittingly does itself a great disservice by employing certain supervisors and heads of department who are total scumbags. The vast majority of supervisors there, as well as the vast majority of teachers, are professional, decent people. But for some reason the small minority can have a very negative influence on the whole atmosphere of a college. And I stress again, that what I'm saying only applies to certain colleges.
Nevertheless, HCT is an umbrella organisation. And if the chickens are finally coming home to roost, as VS suggests, well all I can say is that it's about time.
well-travelled |
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Bindair Dundat
Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 1123
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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well-travelled wrote: |
I tend to disagree with VS. I doubt that HCT interviews candidates for specific programs. |
I wouldn't rule out the possibility that they may recruit for specific slots from time to time (they may find themselves recruiting intensively for military programs very soon), but generally they expect flexibility. Successful applicants go into a pool from which managers from any and all campuses make selections. |
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veiledsentiments

Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 10:57 pm Post subject: |
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There is a good reason why I mentioned that they do target programs for interviews. One was the obvious comment to Mark100 which tabbed him for the CERT program. Plus there are other programs that require an MA - like the teacher training. I have corresponded with a number of teachers who were obviously interviewed for particular programs.
But, as BD says... mostly they are looking for flexibility. We teachers are but cogs in the wheel...
The shortcomings of the usual Gulf secondary system is a given and has changed little in the 20 years that I have been involved with it. They are still teaching basic survival tourist English for 7-12 years and then suddenly dumping them into needing academic skills that have been ignored up to that time. Only a few of the very expensive private schools provide adequate preparation.
But then this is what provides us all with a job, isn't it...
VS |
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well-travelled
Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 97
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 3:59 am Post subject: |
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Yes - my statement was over-generalised and I concede that BD & VS have valid arguments regarding the appointment of teachers for specific programmes, notably the B ED programme that some colleges are currently running (Women's colleges only??)
well-travelled |
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Tuttifruitti
Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 75
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 6:03 am Post subject: |
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Quote: |
well-travelled wrote:
I tend to disagree with VS. I doubt that HCT interviews candidates for specific programs.
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This can often depend on the time of the year. Speaking to people who have interviewed, there are times when certain supervisors are looking for a teacher for a particular programme, so they may have specific questions they want to ask (keeping within the 'generic' question format - of course!!).
At the moment they are looking for a lot of new teachers because of the 25 hour course, but this is 25 hours for the students, NOT the teachers. I don't know about other colleges, but where I work, anything over 20 hours is paid overtime and definitely NOT compulsory. They always ask for volunteers, and always get them. Maybe it depends on your director/supervisor/moneyman!
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veiledsentiments

Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 11:30 am Post subject: |
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Hey tutti
What is this new 25 hour course? Do the poor entry students have 25 hours of English every week? As I recall, it was 20 when I was there plus computer, math and Arabic. I do recall those ten hours a week of intermediate writing... whee... poor students. (plus they had another 10 hours a week of 'integrated skills' from another teacher.)
VS |
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Afra
Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 389
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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Currently, students at entry level at HCT have 10 hours English plus maths and Arabic etc. From the coming academic year, they will have 15 hours of English which will mean a total of 25 contact hours. English language teachers will not be teaching more hours (20), however, there appears to be a problem recruiting well qualified English language teachers. English language classes reduce to 8 hours per week in years two and three of Diploma level, although the teachers continue to teach 20 hours per week. And, in relation to another thread, HCT has students at entry below upper-intermediare level. Semester 6 students starting at Diploma 1 do PET at the end of year 3. |
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veiledsentiments

Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 1:21 am Post subject: |
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Thanks Afra...
Interesting that they cut English hours in half from what they were 10 years ago. That must also explain why they down leveled to the PET instead of IELTS as they used to do.
VS |
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Tuttifruitti
Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 75
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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Hi VS,
They still do IELTS in the Higher Diploma course and they're talking of getting rid of PET for Diploma in the next couple of years, but who knows?!
As well as the extra English hours for Diploma year 1 students, there won't be any more 'culling' after semester 1, so the bunch you get in September are there for the year!! Considering the entry level percentages have reduced in the last couple of years it should be fun!
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