Job Discussion Forums

hamsh · Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Posts: 2

I had been interviewed with PMU committee at the Department of Information Technology, it seems they are asking questions related to the material of the course that I will be teaching than ethics and teaching philosophy. Also, I do see bad comments about PMU. Any advice.

Warning Bells · Joined: 10 Mar 2011 Posts: 87 Location: Always Changes

These people who run this 'university' are idiots! Don't waste your time!
First year they opened, they offered me a position without an interview or any type of background check. I asked for a slightly higher salary and an interview. They refused! Then the next year they 'granted' me an interview. They offered me the job with a higher salary than I had asked the year before. The trouble is, they couldn't send me my contract and visa for over six months after the interview. They couldn't even return my emails with questions. Next year rolls around and they apologized because they couldn't get their act together and asked me if I was still interested. Rolling Eyes

They wanted to know if I would fly back to my home country and wait around for them to send me my documents to process my visa there. Yes, I'll give you a third try, quit my current job, pay for my flight back to my home country and wait for months on end for you to finally send the contract and what I need to process my visa.

Morons!

isabel · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 510 Location: God's green earth

We should all be careful to not let this thread get locked.

PMU? Where to begin? Firstly, as the above poster said, they cannot even organize getting employees to the Kingdom in the first place. I knew one woman who waited a year from when they offered the job. She still came, and lost the job within 6 months. There are plenty such stories.

Try to find a job in another part of the region. The wages are good and there is a lot more freedom in The Emirates, and Oman, while not paying quite as much, is actually a lovely country with spectectular beaches and mountains.

Khobar is hot, dry and ugly. Right now it is +40 and there are sand storms. The compounds PMU uses are really really god-awful. One has been deliberated razed of any trees, and the other has the feel of housing project after a bombing raid. It is a 30-45 minute deadly monotonous drive to the University (housing on campus was slated for completion a year or two ago, but I doubt they have broken sand on the project). The drive is occasionally livened up by extended rants and complaints, and the occasional outbreak of song by someone who has been there way too long.

The administration is nothing short of Fascistic. It is largely management by edict. Your work, holidays, and living conditions will be dictated to you, largely by email. Don't think about trying to negotiate a thing.

Read the posts about PMU and try, really try, to imagine yourself there, Imagine your response when holiday time comes, and your passport and visa have not been sorted out, 6 months after arriving, and you have to spend 2 weeks at the compound in the stifling heat while your colleagues are off at a nice beach somewhere enjoying pina coladas. Imagine your feelings when you are ready to leave your job, have given notice, etc., and you get to the border and discover the university has cancelled your exit visa. (http://saudilife.net/qa/91-law/14702-employer-is-not-giving-exit) Imagine unpaid overtime.

Now imagine not being able to voice your frustration about your job there here on Dave's, because access was banned after the last round of kvetching by others at PMU.

Not a pretty place, in any way. If you do take the job, remember you were warned.

Linguist · Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Posts: 202

isabel · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 510 Location: God's green earth

hamsh · Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Posts: 2

I agree with you "isabel" the philosophy and ethic should be common for all not on a specific departments. I am not going to enjoy my work there if the attitude bad as I hear it here. I do see English department behavior and attitude is the same like other departments. In addition, I believe here in this forum, people has gathered more culture experience than any other sites.

isabel · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 510 Location: God's green earth

There are better places in the ME. I took the job in the Kingdom because I didn't know better- my mistake. PMU was a brand new school then, and there was no online track record. I have liked every country I have worked in, and have found reasons to appreciate all of my jobs. Save Saudi Arabia and PMU. There is just too much at stake to take the risk.