Job Discussion Forums

[johnslat]

Dear LOL,

"I think there might be another who would say otherwise."

You're far too modest.

Regards,
John

[Double Cheeseburger]

I still think they're s**t as far as employers go.

[ckhl]

I still think they're s**t as far as employers go.

Indeed they are. It's a pretty fascist organization. As for those 'feeling trapped', it goes back to what VS said--planning. How on earth did you get yourself into such a corner in the first place? Didn't you see it coming? Was there this feeling that you had to 'have it all'? Maybe you shouldn't have had as many children knowing you'd be on teachers' salaries and in jobs whose security is less guaranteed than in other professions. Maybe it didn't make sense to take out that mortgage after all. For once I can say that we singles have it better.

As for teaching, TEFL and age, for many there is a rubicon that once crossed ensures the Gulf as the final destination. This is it. Might as well make the best of it. Most of all, take the money, not the job, too seriously. The question must be asked--why take a job elsewhere which, despite protestations otherwise, would amount to more of the same but require a lot more work and a lot less pay? And for those working their butts off in the Gulf, they still don't get it. You do a good job, but only what is necessary. You strive to be competent but average, a reliable foot soldier who doesn't stand out and get stuck with a lot of extrra work and duties. Save going that extra mile for pursuits outside of work.

[veiledsentiments]

Keeping one's head below the parapet is crucial. That is one thing that is easier now than my day because the colleges are so much larger. I don't know if my technique will work any longer, but I volunteered to teach more hours than were required then... because I wanted to teach content courses. To me the teaching was the enjoyable part of all my Gulf jobs... and if you are already teaching extra hours, you can't be "volunteered" for committees.

VS

[ckhl]

and if you are already teaching extra hours, you can't be "volunteered" for committees

and if you are 'volunteered' or press ganged or collared into joining a committee, why not just say no? Call their bluff. Really...just say no...will it really jeopordize that "contract renewal" as much as we think it will?

[johnslat]

Dear ckhl,

I think that would depend on whom you say "No" to - how much clout s/he has and how long s/he holds a grudge.

Regards,
John

[helenl]

I've known a handful of people in 8 years who bobbed and weaved their way around any extra committee work who were not renewed. However, I'm sure there were other contributing factors, but perhaps that was the one straw that "broke the camel's back?"

It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. I guess it depends on whether you care if you're renewed or not.

[ckhl]

It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. I guess it depends on whether you care if you're renewed or not.

you just said it..it doesn't happen often, and there are probably extenuating circumstances. You have to weigh the risks. Perhaps you don't say 'no'. You volunteer for committees where less is required and just tag along once you're on it. In other words, you nod in assent when face to face with some bone head supervisor and then, once his/her back is turned you just defy in a sneaky, surreptitious way, like a slippery fish he/she never manages to catch.

[helenl]

As you say, but there are some bone head employees who think that they can slip by using those tactics. I've seen one or two that slipped up and were out the door when renewals came up.

[ckhl]

but there are some bone head employees who think that they can slip by using those tactics. I've seen one or two that slipped up and were out the door when renewals came up.

They actually didn't say 'no' and tagged along? What were their student evaluations like? And for the one or two who flubbed up, how many, in your estimation, didn't while employing the same tactics? Is that what made them 'bone headed'?

[Iamherebecause]

HCT used to have the snazziest accommodation and the best pay-scale about a decade or so ago. But chaps complained about management and long hours. These days the salary is no longer competitive with e.g. UGRU/UAEU, ZU and the housing is not as good. People still complain about management, long hours and also about large classes and make-work. And the rest.

Yet there seem to be more posts on this board about how to land a job at HCT/ how to succeed at an HCT interview/ the place of HCT in a TEFLer's life plan etc. than about any other institution.

Have I missed something? Is it really the All Round Best Place to Work in the UAE?

[ckhl]

Yet there seem to be more posts on this board about how to land a job at HCT/ how to succeed at an HCT interview/ the place of HCT in a TEFLer's life plan etc. than about any other institution.

Have I missed something? Is it really the All Round Best Place to Work in the UAE?

AS I said in a previous post, you are wont to think it enjoys the status of the Ivy League of EFL jobs in the Gulf, what with all this talk of 'getting in'. HCT, the Yale-Harvard-Princeton of EFL jobs in the Gulf ???

As a twelve-year veteran of the HCT, I suggest potential applicants/candidates consider 'back up' schools as well. Make sure to highlight all your 'extra-curriculars' on the application. Above all, in your 'essay', emphasize how much of a 'team player' you are.

[Eisenhorn]

[veiledsentiments]

[MrScaramanga]

HCT notoriously had the best housing of all in the late 1990s-early 2000s, especially in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, where teachers were housed in luxury apartments on the corniche (AD) and huge villas with yards (AA). It's been downhill since though... For example, the folks who enlisted for HCT MZ were housed in substandard apartments in a souk area of Khalifa City. The housing allowance did not at the time especially permit better accommodations
Sad but true...
MrS