Job Discussion Forums

[bnix]

So...how about that recent entry on the International Jobs Offered Forum for ESL teachers and a Spanish teacher(?) in Malabo,Equatorial Guinea?Red flags all over this one!!Definitely proceed with caution on this one,if you don't die laughing first!
The Spanish teacher they want will apparently be expected to do "a 12 hour day in a six day week"....72 hours a week???But apparently,from the ad,only six hours would be teaching. The mind boggles...SHARED accommodation...right ...share with some crazy(ies) in the paradise spot of Malabo...even"better"(????) than sharing with a crazy in Saudi...probably the weather is just as hot ,too...although more humid...although they do let you escape periodically....probably to preserve the few shreds of sanity you have left after working a seventy two hour workweek in a hellhole like Malabo.

[cummings]

Interesting post (!) .... do you actually know (and from 'know', i mean have you ever worked in Equatorial Guinea?) anything about working in EG?
You seem to have a very strong opinion about it but little in the way of facts.
I have been working in EG for quite some time and know the people and company involved in the job posting.

Hours: they actually stated that there would be 4 hours a day teaching English (5 days a week) and up to 6 hours of teaching Spanish a week. By my calculation that adds up to a grand total of 26 hours per week teaching time. That's not exactly excessive!

As with other companies here, the rest of the time is given over to lesson planning and course development.

Shared accomodation: The accomodation provided is a brand new large house shared with other teachers on a private estate with all mod cons. I have visited them and they are quite luxurious.

Weather: The weather is generally 30C all year round with a wet and dry season. There are beaches, swimming pools and a number of boats available for socialising.

Life: There are now a number of bars and restaurants both on site and in the city. It is far from being a 'Hell hole'

Given that the other companies on the Island have their staff working 12 hours a day 7 days a week. Their deal looks like a good one.

Anyone who has the sense to ignore your 'red flag' warning will find that the salaries out here exceed most other EFL jobs.

I suggest you stick to things that you know and not mindless diatribes about places that you have plainly never been to.

[That Lisa Girl]

Please excuse my ignorance, but where exactly is Equatorial Guinea? Is it the country also known as New Guinea?

What's the political situation like over there, is it a safe place to work and live? I'm curious!!!

L.

[Stephen Jones]

The advert states that the four hours a day teaching is a "minimum". It also states that the working day is twelve hours a day, six days a week.

Shared accomodation may be a necessity in a town with an acute housing shortage such as Malibu but the only other places I have seen these kind of working hours advertised have been on oil rigs in the desert and the norm was between three to six weeks off for a six week tour of duty.

---"the salaries out here exceed most other EFL jobs"---
The salaries flipping burgers at MacDonalds exceed most EFL jobs; it's hardly worth putting in bold type.

One of two things; either the job is a lemon, or you ought to train your HR department about how to write a job advertisement.

[bnix]

Equatorial Guinea is a former Spanish colony on the west coast of Africa.I believe it was formerly called Ifni,although I might be mistaken on that point.It has absolutely nothing to do with New Guinea.The only similarity is the "Guinea" in the names.Look closely on the map...and you will see it.That's okay,Lisa Girl,I have heard of some Americans who think New York City is the capital of the US,so maybe they should teach more geography in both of our countries.Stephen,Malibu is in California.The capital of Equatorial Guinea is Malabo.That,okay,Stepen,maybe it was just a typo,but I got this sudden vision of "surf's up"!!! when I saw "Malibu".

Stephen,I agree entirely with your post(except for the one exception noted above).In the job ad referred to for Equatorial Guinea(under the Spanish program)..they say""A 12 hour day in a six day week"To me,that means twelve hours per day,six days a week,total seventy two hours a week.Does that mean something different to anybody?Just curious.If it is different than that,well,then like Stephen says,the people who write their adds should either get their act together or they should get someone else to write their ads.

As for the person who posted defending EG,so the house is "luxurious"....so...it is still shared...and with how many other "teachers"?I once shared aluxurious apartment with two people in Kuwait.One was on Prozac...the other one had an eating disorder.

And wow,you state...."there are bars and restaurants on site"....well,how uh "luxurious"

[itslatedoors]

Could it be that bnix has once again waxed lyrical about a place in which he has never worked?How unusual....

[cummings]

It hadn't been my intention to get into a pissing contest here. My intention in posting at all was to try to redress the balance after Bnix's negative comments.

The nature of jobs in EG is such that everyone works as if they were working offshore. A number of companies, including the one I work for, have their staff working on rotation (4 weeks on/4 weeks off) as Stephen Jones mentioned.

It seems that the trend now is for companies to try to move more towards residential posts as EG is becoming more habitable with the 'luxuries' of bars and restaurants. Sadly they are considered 'luxuries' to people who had spent time here before they appeared.

The long hours are the norm here regardless of who you work for. There is precious little else to do except work hence it is not something people tend to complain about. I don't know of any companies who have their teachers actually teaching more than 6 hours a day. Personally, I am just happy to get paid for lesson planning time as opposed to some other places where I have worked.

I can't really comment on the ability of their HR dept to write an advert. I can only assume that they were trying to be as realistic as possible about the conditions out here. We had one teacher turn up at our company last year who quit in horror at the end of the first week when he found out that he was 'really' expected to work 12 hours a day.

I put the comment about salaries in bold type as they tend to be high out here. I know of a couple of teachers here who were able to save in excess of 30,000 pounds by the end of a one year contract here. I thought that that warranted the bold type. (My knowledge of the salaries paid for flipping burgers at MacDonald's is sadly lacking so I can't possibly comment on that.)

Bnix, Your comment about the sharing is oh too true. It is the luck of the draw here, just like everywhere else.

In response to TLG's query about the political situation: The situation here is quite stable. The incumbent president was re-elected for another 7 year term at the end of last year. Crime seems to be increasing but it is no more dangerous than any city in Europe.

[bnix]

In response to "doors" comments,no, I have never worked in Equatorial Guinea.I never claimed to have worked there,either,I might add.Frankly,it is not very high on my list of places to visit,and I will probasbly NEVER go there.People can still comment on ads(this is a forum,after all,"door's"opinions notwithstanding).I found cummings second post very close to what the reality of the situation probaby is...if there are some people who want to take the chance for the money he mentioned,of course that is their choice.

As for all that"waxing lyrical business"...so what?I think "doors"might be getting a little unhappy with his snug little job in Qatar,even though he might be making"an awfully lot of money"

[zakiah25]

Glenski did a good job on the resume advice maybe we could ask for a post on the above subject.

[scot47]

A suggestion for the geographically-challenged. Get a job that pays a real salary and invest $40 in a good atlas. Then you can check out where the People's Republic of Bongola is and save yourself the trouble of posting.

[Cardinal Synn]

I know this an ancient thread but I thought it was "interesting" that Mark Thatcher (son of Maggie) managed to escape with a large fine and a suspended sentence for his part in the attempted coup detat in Equatorial Guinea while the others rot in African jails. Hmmm. Nice to have a famous mummy.