Job Discussion Forums

[MyTrunkshow]

Mention U of Hail on the Saudi forums and there are several posters who have a mandate to slam it as the biggest hole on earth. Typically, threads get pulled as it gets so nasty. I contribute to the threads getting pulled as I won't let any inaccurate information to go uncontested about Hail. If it's true, no matter how bad it's depicted, I'll agree. If it's slanderous and inaccurate, I'll refute it.

I don't know why some feel that people from the smaller centers in Saudi aren't entitled to teachers. Teachers are condemned if think they can make it here. Just look at the older posts about Hail. Wow.

Hail is a nice city to live in as far as Saudi Arabia goes. The locals are friendly and hospitable. Bar none. I've been to the homes of 3 locals. (Of course that's limited to the visitor area, but that applies to Saudi friends as well.)

Potential hires have the right to access information. Teachers read these boards and make life-decisions based on them. It is not fair to slam Hail based on one's preference for a larger city or because one had a bad experience due to management that is no longer here.

Here is the most accurate portrait of Hail - both the good and the ugly. The school info. applies to the men's campus.

Work. The classes are now between 17 and 20 students. Some have in the low teens. Some are in the mid 20s. Books used are Headway and some in-country produced material for the higher levels. Students are for the most part, very responsive and congenial. Offices are shared but large. Computers are decent. The bad is that the facilities are spread out. Administration is in one building and the teachers are across town in a building with classrooms. To address this, a car ferries teachers back and forth at noon(free).

There was an issue with large classes last year (40) but teachers were paid double salary for this burden. Yes. Double.

Management The director is fair and is trying to run a show without being obtrusive, over-bearing or in your face. He is responsive and helps out a lot with many issues teachers have. All in all, it is a supportive environment. The ladies' college, by all accounts, as I have talked to the girls, feel similar about their director. They like her and think she is fair. Most teachers work 4 hours a day. Either 8-3 or 10-5 with a three hour break. Teacher's daily office hour is one hour of the break. Many leave for lunch. Other's surf the net or do prep/homework.

In the past, there was a director in 2005-6 who was not well received.
There was a great interim director who was very well like and supported but now there is a very able fella at the helm.

Housing.Most live on two small compounds. One has 10 houses and the other about 50-60?. The housing is 10mins. outside of the city. It is more than adequate accommodation. Some live in the city in one or two apartment buildings near the school.

The housing backs on to a mountain park so it's actually quite nice.

Transportation and driving There are 3 shopping trips into the city each week. Some of the men have cars, which provide a much different experience in Saudi Arabia, especially in Hail. If male and coming here, GET A CAR. If not, then take the 600sr transportation allowance and spend it on taxis. Bad- The buses aren't adequate and there are not enough trips to the city each week but to my understanding, anyone who wants to go goes.

Traffic is mostly light and there are no traffic snarls. Waiting for more than one redlight does not occur - except at one intersection that has a 17 second green! Things are too far apart to walk. The highways are decent but in town, there are many potholes and reckless drivers...mostly older Bedu who don't use mirrors! There is a new 6-lane freeway passing by Hail that runs from Riyadh to the Jordanian border. It is about 80% opened. It takes 3 hours to Qassim and Madinah and 5 hours to Riyadh. There are some fast young drivers but they usually pass on the left so it's not much of an issue. The compounds are outside the city and one can't just go in on a whim. A phonecall to a sometimes unreliable taxi has to be made. I hear that taxis cost 25-40sr one way in a taxi from the compounds to town. In town, I think it's a flat 10sr.

Hail City Hail has 250,000 people in the city and another 250,000 in the surrounding villages that come to shop in Hail so there is reasonable selection for half a million people. Stores include Panda (like a Carrefour or Tesco), a largish Indian market containing knockoffs of electronics, shoes and everything in between. There is a women's mall called Samah Center. Men can go but if suspected of fraternizing with women, you will be asked to leave. There are 2 malls opening up...but who knows when. There are 4 Herfys, 2 McDs, 3 KFC, 1 Hardee's and two or three decent restaurants. Two Pizza Huts, Little Caesers, Kudu and a bunch of Basin Robins are the extent of the western restuarants. There is great debate as to whether or not the decent restaurants are decent, but they're OK. There is a stripmall where Panda is but it's dinky. There are several gyms. We do have access to the best one (Fitness Time) but one needs a car as it's on the other side of town and only available before about 2pm for staff. There are many shwarma and Turkish restaurants with good cheap food. There are also several other larger supermarkets- Arbrar and Salaheia. There are no western style coffee houses like Starbucks or Java Time.

Locals Can't say enough about them. They are so friendly. I've been served more tea, dates and Turkish coffee than you can imagine. My car broke down 300km outside Hail. The police had my car towed, but took me to their station, provided refreshments and drove me back to Hail in their police vehicles, all within the afternoon. It is very easy to be here and get invited somewhere....but you need a car.

Airport There is nothing good to say. It has too few flights. Typically, an overnight has to be done in Riyadh if going anywhere to/from Saudi Arabia. The flights to Riyadh are cheap...99sr to 200sr one way. There are one or two flights in the morning and two or three at night to Riyadh and Jeddah. I drive to King Khalid Airport in Riyadh to avoid a 9 hour layover in Riyadh negotiating exorbitant taxi fares.

Furnishings Adequate to excellent. There is not equal distribution of furnishings. One has to advocate for oneself. BUT, if one has a car, there is no issue in getting anything from the warehouse. My one bedroom house came with: new fridge, new stove with 4 elements, new-ish washer, 2 air conditioners that have heating and cooling functions and lastly a radiant heater.

Kitchen: tea set/dishtowels/glasses/pots,pans/kettle/plate set/dish rack, cooking utensils/cutlery/frying pan

Living area: three love seats/sofa/curtains, sheers/high quality desk/coffee table, dining room table/chairs/office chair/end tables/lamps/2 nice area rugs

Bedroom: new mattress/wardrobe/dressing table/night stand/clother stand/iron/ironing board/clothes dryer rack

Bathroom is tiled to 2m height/easy to clean/sprayer/bidet/bathtub/two mirrors/shower.

House was wired so satellite leaves no cables anywhere. I believe good tvs are 1000sr, receiver and installagion run about 300 or so.

Bottled water is now delivered once or twice a week. 3sr for 20litre

The bad about housing: Lots of extension cords are needed. The cheap ones short-circuit. There is a feeling of being deserted as people lock themselves in their homes. The layout is suburban style, landscaped with desert shrubs, but not particularly appealing as say, the Dipl. Qtr in Riyadh. Internet is supplied but is unstable. A new provider may have changed that but no one's holding their breath. Water has gone off half a dozen times-usually for an hour or two but at least once, it was off for two days. There are two stores nearby. One is the gas station, 300m away and the other is in a small theme park, 300m away in the other direction.

Stability and Pay There are quite a few men and women who have been here for several years. One fella 11 years and quite a few 5+ years and they are in no hurry to leave. Wages are on the rise and it will soon be no secret that Hail's wages, due to its being off the beaten track, will rise to be the highest in the region for a 4 yr college. 15000- 18500/month is now advertised for this September's openings. What this means is that turnover will be low come contract renewal. Pay is never late for direct hires and all paperwork goes very well if filled out properly.

Weather Hail is 1,000m in elevation. This means cooler nights and much cooler summers than all the major cities in KSA. Looking at the records of the past, it is not often above 40c in the summer and most days are in the high-30s at that time. Dec-March are cool, pleasant and very sunny. More duststorms than we'd like though, spring is the season for them. Spring should see many days between 25 and 35 until June. Of course, in the sun it feels like 50c.

.................J .. F ..M.. A ..M .. J .. J ..A.. S..O.. N..D (Wunderground)
High ( C ) 17 19 23 28 33 37 38 39 37 32 23 19
Low ( C ) .3 5 .8 .14 .18 . .22 .23 .24 .21 . 16 .9 .5

A few sentences has turned into a 'What to expect in you come to Hail'
I expect this post to be fully trashed so have a go at it 'Hail bashers'.

mts.

[007]

HAIL
ALL HAIL

Pray to the god in the TV
Eyes wide, fixed and dilated, bleed
A myriad of rich Magic Kingdom, nothing phases me
It promises just what I'm longing to be

HAIL, All hail your brand new city
HAIL, An old American sin (all hail)
HAIL, This is the murderer of evolution
HAIL, This is no way for us to live

HAIL, the city of 1000s nights!!

(Artist: Throwdown, Album: Venom & Tears, Title: Americana)


Good Luck for you and the people of HAIL.

BTW. Does Hail have a prison?

[trapezius]

Ha'il is a prison

[Stephen Jones]

You've missed out the main reason for going to Hail, which is the pay. It's something like 25% more than KFUPM.

The town also lacks decent restaurants. Your ability to stand it will probably depend on your ability to entertain yourself (and you'll soon realize why people get hysterical if there's a bad internet connection). On the other hand the salary should be more than sufficient to cost a satellite connection.

I've had colleagues who worked at Hail, either at the University or elsewhere and genuinely liked the place. But a love of nature or the ability to socialize with all and sundry, including stuffed camels, did seem a prior qualification.

My Trunkshow is missing out the most important part, which is to make sure you're hired direct.

[Evan2009]

Do you have a lot of western teachers there?
Is there high speed internet (when it works)?
Can you survive w/o a car?

[MyTrunkshow]

There are about 20 western teachers here. Not many really, but enough.

Is there hi-speed internet. No. There is internet. It is acceptable. Why would you need hi speed? Many download sites are blocked.

I have a car. Most don't. No women do, of course. The families do...they feel they need a car. Single people can get by.

SJ is 100% correct. Coming as a direct hire as opposed to business visa applies to all of Saudi Arabia, not just Hail. But it is best to reiterate: Do NOT come here on a business visa and expect to feel financially satisfied as many around you will have perks beyond the contract hires.

Workplace compensation inequity is cause of much job dissatisfaction in this world, not just in Saudi Arabia or the Middle East.

There are those, however, who do very, very well on contract hire and have little difficulty as they know pay is coming, it's just late. They adapt, learn how to negotiate in Saudi terms and develop what johnslat says he learned from the ME, 'patience'. They don't raise their voices or slam their fists down. They learn to work in a system that is vastly different from their own.

Arabesque has the right attitude to succeed in Hail. He approaches the city as something positive, and doesn't focus on what it lacks. Gratitude is not apparent in everyone. Something can be learned from him or is it her?

mts

[Babli]

Hi everyone, can someone please tell me what the uNiversity of Hail is really like? My husband has been offered a very good position there paying an awful lot of money.

Is it wise to go there and leave a well paid permanent job in England and risk it by going to Hail for a bit more money or not?

[trapezius]

If it is just a "bit more money", why bother? Permanent job in England vs. temporary job with no job security in Ha'il, Saudi Arabia... and the pay is almost the same... TOUGH DECISION!

[cmp45]

[Babli]

Ok its a lot more money. In england he is getting �50,000 over there he will get the same but tax free (equivalent of �75,000) plus accomadation, free tickets to home country, free transport, kids schooling etc, plus he wants to go to an islamic country.

I am against leaving a permanent good job in england thats why i wanted to know the real situation there. Is it ok to give it a go for a year? or if it is not worth it, why not?
Thanks people

[trapezius]

So he will be getting SR. 23,000/month at UOH? I didn't know salaries went that high. What will he be teaching? And I guess he is being appointed as a full professor?

Can he join his job in England again after a 2 year stint at UOH? If so, go for it. If not, I wouldn't leave the job in England.

[Babli]

Yes, thats how much he has been told he will get (but nothing in writing yet)

He can leave the job in england for upto a year but thats it. It may be still worth going for it for a year?

[Asda]

If you do the math...I'd say HECK YEAH!!!

However, if you've never been to Saudi before (especially the more remote areas), you may be in for a shock, a big shock! I don't like to scare people away but I do think people should know what they're letting themselves in for. I mean, I imagine it would be quite hard to get by up there without Arabic.

Then again, it's not even a full year, plus you'll get the odd holiday during which you can go back to Britain maybe...

[Nashledanou]

[icehockey23]

Any info on how to become a "direct hire" at Hail University for 2009?