Job Discussion Forums

[revilo]

So as I'm waiting for the great Economic Collapse, I put in applications for B3H and Booz Allen. I have the standard quals: MA TESOL (brick & mortar) BA English; CELTA; adult ed credential ESL (yawn).

The way I understand it is: B3H is a Saudi Air Force contract to teach ESL and Booz Allen is the standard teach ESL to Saudi navy types.

I saw the thread entitled: KSA salaries, your guide and it was quite the rabbit hole. From what I've read about BAH, I am not sure I wanna put up with that kind of behavior. I flew outta Kuwait screamin' and ravin' about spoiled worthless students. Do I get the same with BAH?

Is there anyone who has experience with B3H? If I teach ESL to Saudi mechanics and technicians, will it be slightly better than Saudi navy? I passed the NOC hurdle and I'd like to settle into a job that I can handle without too much drama. It seems like every time I go to the ME, there is always some drama.

[Sirens of Cyprus]

Booz Allen

[revilo]

Maybe I should rephrase the question:

Should I accept an ESL contract with a military contractor or should I focus on employment with a Saudi university?

1. The military contractor might lose the contract (which is very likely given the poor relations between Washington and Riyadh).
2. The students might be corrupt, worthless students who threaten my job if they don't like me.

3. Saudi universities are committed to edumacating their students for the hi-tech jobs of the 21st Century (don't know if they'll succeed, but they need English teachers).
4. Saudi universities are less likely to fire a teacher (without cause) because of Saudi labor law.

Does anyone know if teachers who teach with military contractors have to pay taxes (like they do in the states)? If I have tax liabilities with a military contractor, I may as well take the Saudi university.

[BajaLaJaula]

Depends on how long you want to live in KSA. Less than 5 years, take the military contract. Higher pay in this case, usually means less than ideal students and less job satisfaction.
SALTS
BoozAllen
Vinnel
in that order of pay and bS to deal with

UNIS in general will pay less, buy you might actually enjoy your job. Good option if you want to survive more than 5 years.

There are always exceptional folks who can survive longer with military, but most will reach their limit before too long.

[jaffa]

If you are teaching military cadets, you'll be more interested in Booze Bahrain. Someone once told me, whatever you do in KSA DO NOT teach miltary. It makes babysitting university students look easy.

[2buckets]

I taught military students ESP, (RSAF) with Lockheed International on 3 different contracts. Maybe these were a higher level of students because they were headed to the USA for follow on technical aviation studies, but I found them to be OK. Classes were only in the 10-12 range, which helped. Those who weren't motivated sat in the back of the class, and those that were sat up front. This was pre-cell phone/ipad era which also helped.

I also taught for Civil Aviation Presidency students, (only 80 per year accepted by competitive exams), this was also a positive experience. Most of these students came from the provinces, were not affluent, and needed a good job that was offered on completion of the two year program. They would become air traffic controllers, communication, avionics, and fire and rescue personnel. They had to be ICAO certified, so it was not an easy course


All in all, I had a good time in Jeddah, liked sailing, fishing and SCUBA diving. Lots of partying on the compounds, battle of the bands, women from the"girl ghetto" (air hostesses and nurses), happy to get out for the
weekend.
[b]
MOD EDIT[/b]

The occasional police raid heightened the excitement. The famous Shabatly compound raid comes to mind when the police brought ladders to get over the wall and avoid the gate guards giving a waning, captured about 100 people on "drug" charges, while hundreds more escaped by hiding in the bushes and scaling the walls. It was all good craic.
The other notable raid was at a party where a guy was dancing naked on the stage and had flashing lights attached to his exposed "private" area. I guess the police were either shocked or pleased.

Getting a little off topic here, but I doubt these events take place in a Uni setting. The ESLers were a minority, and most of the employees were former military personnel teaching technical courses and doing hands on "wrench bending".

Most were there for the 6 S's: Sun, Sand Sid(iqki), **x, Surf and Shekels.

Some military jobs are terrible, I've heard, TINS (Navy) comes to mind.

If you're flexible, patient, and adaptable, you can make the best of any situation.

Good Luck!

[revilo]

So it has been 3 or 4 weeks since I sent in apps and I noticed that B3h and Booz are still running the ads on Daves. No word from them, not even an acknowledgment of receipt.

Boo hoo.... I guess I'll try my luck with the unis. There really is no shortage of labor in this economy. I really thought they'd jump at the chance to hire a Yank with MA and prior military exp. Oh well.....

[nomad soul]

Wipe away those tears. They're probably still taking in applications and haven't started their screening process yet. You'll find that in this part of world, a little patience goes a long way.

[cnthaiksarok]

The word is that B3H is getting better. In other words, they've canned a super who was constantly making things more difficult for teachers and are on the mend, at least admin-wise.

[nickelgoat]

.....

[cnthaiksarok]

[Chuma]

Any updates on the working and accommodation situation with B3H?

[Mojoski]

Have signed with B3H and going through the "on-boarding" process now. Lots of paperwork to plow through, but so far, everyone I've been in contact with is very nice.

I have no idea how many sites they are operating, but the accommodation in Khobar looks to be very good. Just studios, but that's all I need, and they are luxury studios, fully equipped from the coffee maker and dvd player to the salt shaker and towels.

Good news about pay is it goes directly into your US bank account. Bad news is there is tax. Filling out W-4s, etc. In one interview, they did say something about 330 consecutive days in country qualifying for tax exemption of some sort, but I didn't quite get it at the time because I was interviewing and had other things on my mind. I'll have to ask for clarification. They always repeat that we can call them with questions anytime, and so far, they have always been johnny on the spot that way.

They seem to take care of you from day 1. Six contact hours every day, though, so you really have to love being in the classroom.

[veiledsentiments]

[DaliTime]