Site Search:
 
Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Is it worth it now?
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Saudi Arabia
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Stephen Jones



Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124

PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 9:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
They're all worth noting but the big concern is the price. At $80-130 it will also cause rapid destruction of your wallet.
At that price you must be buying the twelve-year vintage in oak casks with special Christmas wrapping.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
JT9D



Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 18

PostPosted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 6:43 am    Post subject: Re: Is it worth it now? Reply with quote

biffinbridge wrote:
I've recently been offered several jobs in the Kingdom,(I'm a Gulf and Libya vet),and it seems to me that B.Ae aside,it just isn't worth it anymore.The salaries are awful.You can earn 2000 quid a month inspecting parks for dog turds at present.


I think we need to answer the origional question here. The salient points being 1) what is on offer; and 2) what is being offered?

Firstly, Saudi Arabia is busy with a massive saudization drive, trying to get their own people employed. Therefore they need to get rid of the expats. Easiest way to do this is to offer pathetic salaries, and then hold up paying said salaries, and just generally making life difficult. If you are not a technician or some type of engineer, you're probably going to be screwed.

Secondly, what are you (employee) bringing to the table? Do you have any other skills that are usefull? If you are a teacher, are you the type who drones through a lesson, the type who tells students to read the next chapter on their own, or do you go out of your way to make the lesson interresting - something they will remember for the rest of their lives.

If you're only in it for the money (doing a job), you will be sorely disappointed. If, however, you experience satisfaction in seeing the results of your work blossoming (career), then money will not be a major crisis.

Training is a major part of my work. My trainees have no interest in reading books and quickly get bored when I try to lecture them on the work. However, when we get outside and start using the tools they're right in the thick of things. Last week one of my guys did a job for the first time. It is a job normally done by another section, but I got p!ssed off at them because they had taken over 3 hours to do the job the previous day. I got the component to be changed, gave it to my guy, and an hour later the job was finished. There was no mess made, no leaks, and the system worked perfectly = 100% satifaction for +-11000 riyals

The reality of the world currently is all companies are trying to get something for nothing. The dollar has weakened seriously in the last 3 weeks, nobody knows why sterling remains so strong. Saudi is a great place for my wife and I, cost of living is low, medical is good, gasoline is at give-away prices. This is one of the safest countries in the world , it is over-policed and their laws concerning theft, murder, etc, ARE an effective deterrent.

You need to decide what you want need, and what you want to do .......


Have a great day
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Yahoo Messenger
ALPH



Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 87

PostPosted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 8:33 am    Post subject: Re: Is it worth it now? Reply with quote

JT9D wrote:
Saudi is a great place for my wife and I

Good on you JT9D ! .. it's refreshing to hear one straight from the heart. I think your being (happily) married has a lot to do with your healthy outlook. Most posters here are Disgruntled singletons like meself. Well done ! First the wife, then the country methinks .. after all, what is Hell without a spouse along ..
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Van Norden



Joined: 23 Oct 2004
Posts: 409

PostPosted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 11:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
what are you (employee) bringing to the table?

My passport. My time. Years of my life.

Quote:
Do you have any other skills that are usefull?

No, none.

Quote:
If you are a teacher, are you the type who drones through a lesson, the type who tells students to read the next chapter on their own

I used to do this when I first got here. These days I do even less.

Quote:
or do you go out of your way to make the lesson interresting - something they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Yes, but probably not in the ways you are thinking.

Quote:
If you're only in it for the money (doing a job), you will be sorely disappointed.

Maybe. I�ll let you know how disappointed I am when I finally get to Echo Beach, far away in time.

Quote:
The dollar has weakened seriously in the last 3 weeks, nobody knows why sterling remains so strong.

The dollar story is older than 3 weeks. Go back 5 years to see how much damage has been done. The big worry is what�s going to happen next. If there�s a meltdown in the US we�re all done for.

Sterling isn�t particularly strong vis-�-vis most other currencies at the moment.

Quote:
This is one of the safest countries in the world , it is over-policed and their laws concerning theft, murder, etc, ARE an effective deterrent.

Are you advocating we emulate the Saudi police-state model in the west?

Quote:
after all, what is Hell without a spouse along ..

1/2 the hell.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
JT9D



Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 18

PostPosted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 5:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="Van Norden"]
Quote:

Are you advocating we emulate the Saudi police-state model in the west?



Glad to see some read through my ramblings Very Happy ........ however, being from a country that has downgraded from a first world country to a third world country, where crime is given free reign to the extent it's bordering on anarchy, I like to think of gardening or agriculture - weeds are permanently removed from the equation

Quote:
Maybe. I�ll let you know how disappointed I am when I finally get to Echo Beach, far away in time.


I have my own Echo Beach that I dream about everyday - it's what makes the craziness bearable. Someone once said ' There are three types of people in the world - those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, those who wonder what happened' I try to live everyday as one of the first group. You're correct about the dollar, it was just looking really good in the last three months
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Yahoo Messenger
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Saudi Arabia All times are GMT
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3
Page 3 of 3

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

Teaching Jobs in China
Teaching Jobs in China