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ESL_Teacher_Riyadh
Joined: 08 Apr 2005
Posts: 8
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 Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:07 am Post subject: Salary range |
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Hi all,
I would be grateful if anyone of you could advise me on the following:
I am an ESL lecturer in one of the private colleges and am being paid around SR 8000/month while I hold an MA in ESL. I was hired locally last year; i.e no air ticket, housing, and other benefits. I'm on my wife's iqamah.
Some people told me that this salary is ridiculous as many others where I work do not even hold a Master's degree and yet, they were given a full international contract. They are also being paid around SR 10 000 - 12 000 / month.
What should I do?
This thing is killing me as I feel that my employers are taking advantage of those who are not native speakers. Yet, I have better qualifcations (I do not mean to praise myself !) than them and teach upper grades that many native speaker teachers do not even want to hear.
Again, what is the best course of action?
What salary should I be getting?
Is it true that it is difficult for them to get iqamahs for non-native teachers ?
Should I be asking for an international contract ?
Please advise ! We are meant to renew our contract soon. |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124
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| Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 5:26 am Post subject: |
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SR8,000 is a good salary for a non-Westerner, particularly one working on his wife's iqama. There are some westerners earning less.
If they are a small organization there can be big problems with visas. When a company applies for a visa in Saudi it applies for a certain number of visas for a certain nationality. If it applies for one for your nationality, it would take about four months to get (maybe more) and if you went elsewhere they would be stuck with having to hire someone of your nationality, who may well be quite unsuitable (things would depend a lot on the nationality). |
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ESL_Teacher_Riyadh
Joined: 08 Apr 2005
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 9:26 am Post subject: |
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| SR8,000 is a good salary for a non-Westerner, particularly one working on his wife's iqama. There are some westerners earning less |
Thank you for your input Stephen.
However, to say that some westerners earn less than SR 8000 is incorrect for the following reasons:
1 - Most of the time, Westerners get SR 7000 - 7500 because they only have a BA + whatever ESL certificate obtained online. So, they are under qualified but are accepted in some institutions due to the pressing need.
2 - Even though their basic salary is around SR 7000, they get a full package contract: housing, air-tickets, etc. So, they end up having approximately SR 9500 - 10 000 / month.
Additionally, many Westerners in my institution avoid teaching upper grades, as it involves a lot of grammar teaching. Needless to say many of them have degrees in fields not related to TESL, and when it comes to teaching the intricacies of the language, they realize that the CELTA or the doggy certificates obtained online are not of much help. It's easy to wag one's tongue in one's own language, but when it comes to explaining it, that�s something else.
So, I am working harder than them, am better qualified than them, and yet am paid lesser than them.
It simply does not make sense!
By the way, the place where I�m working is not a small institution. |
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The Barbarian
Joined: 03 May 2005
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 5:16 pm Post subject: |
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| In terms of salary - you could try Jubail but do avoid Jubail Industrial College (JIC). Salaries in Jubail range from 11,000 (basic) at the European Centre (with a masters) to a comparatively paltry 8000 - 12000 at the JIC. Note that to get 12,000 at JIC you need 10 years experience! Rather amusingly you need NO experience to get 11,000 at the European Centre and you earn a lot more when you take into account that overtime is paid at 100 SR per hour - so you're taking home 14,000SR and not feeling too tired at all - nice work! If you are non-Western perhaps avoid both places. The European Centre has a habit of sending non-whites to Riyadh fairly promptly. And frankly why on Earth non-whites would want to teach highly racist Arabs for such inadequate remuneration is beyond me entirely. Even South Africans, who may be white but are apparently 'white trash' in KSA are paid very little - I heard that IH Jubail is paying them 7,000SR - ouch! There are other players in Jubail - Elite and New Horizons for example but the best by far is the European Centre. |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124
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| Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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JIC starting salaries for direct hire now go up to SR12,800 including the transport allowance. For that you will need a Bachelors plus ten years full-time teaching experience or a Masters plus eight, if I remember correctly.
As Barbarian says some private institutions pay better if you don't have that much experience, though you need to check out the full remuneration including health care, holidays, and End of Service Bonus. Also if you are married there is the question of wife's airfare, health care and schooling for the kids.
This salary scale is for Westerners/Saudis however. |
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ESL_Teacher_Riyadh
Joined: 08 Apr 2005
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 4:41 am Post subject: |
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| This salary scale is for Westerners/Saudis however. |
Have Westerners and Saudis got the same salary scale? Huh! Surprising.
Read the article below:
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Does Merit Lie in the Color of Your Skin?
Arabnews
I had been recommended to work for a local organization in the capacity of consultant on a high-level assignment. The head hunter was an acquaintance of mine who had been impressed by my qualifications and range of experience. In spite of the fact that the chairman of the group had originally wanted to hire a Westerner, he managed to convince him that being Saudi and having had a Western education, I was a better choice. What I didn�t realize at the time was that this �push� had led to a grudging acceptance of me that would never be converted into any form of lasting recognition.
Excited at the prospect of making my mark on a venture of this nature, I went to great lengths to prove myself and my capabilities. I worked long hours, exhausted all my contacts internationally with frequent requests and strove to ensure that my work would culminate in a truly dynamic and world class endeavor. However, rather than being pleased with my efforts and considerable dedication with regards to the undertaking, I felt that my boss remained unconvinced vis-�-vis my aptitude. I was called to the chairman�s office for a �discussion� and addressed this issue with him directly. He fobbed me off for adopting such a paranoid approach.
�I was just thinking about you in fact,� he began in a conciliatory manner, �and I went over your CV. It was really very good. So much so that I think you may be overqualified for this job. You would be far better off working for our American partners. I am going to suggest that they hire you instead.�
�But I like working here,� I retorted. �I have no problem doing what I am doing!� I protested while entertaining a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I knew that I was about to get the boot because no matter what I did and how good I was, I could never become what he had originally wanted.
Such an attitude has quite an insidious effect. My commitment began to fade and the initial enthusiasm that I displayed diminished to a large degree. I once asked a friend of mine within the same institution half-jokingly and half-seriously: �Do you think they would look upon me more professionally if I sported a golden curly wig on top of my head scarf and a red leather miniskirt over my abaya?� We had both giggled at the mental image this created. Shortly after this, I received a call from our American counterparts requesting me to attend a meeting.
�We think you�re doing a great job,� commented the MD, �but it seems that they want to hire someone else. I would love to recruit you to represent our team, but the management insists that there should be a man in your position.�
I was suitably stunned by this revelation. After a couple of phone calls I was apprised of this fait accompli. There was indeed a flaxen-haired woman who had been appointed as my replacement. It came as no surprise that she didn�t even hold a degree, had been offered double my salary and was allowed to reside in an entirely different country altogether! Gentlemen really do prefer blondes it seems.
I suppose the aspect that upset me the most about this hideous episode is how as a nation we have no confidence in the ability of our own people. We have this innate belief that anyone of Caucasian descent must somehow be superior to us regardless of education, talent or intellect. Even if we possess some of the most brilliant minds in the world, we relegate the task of discovering and nurturing them to other countries. Many people disillusioned with this brand of arrogance and contempt for anything local have left the Kingdom seeking and receiving their due share of glory elsewhere.
I sat next to a Brit on a plane once as I was flying in from the UK. We struck up a cordial conversation and I asked him where he worked.
�I�m head of an electrical engineering department,� he sheepishly replied, evidently embarrassed at the grandiose title of his job.
�That�s really impressive,� I remarked. �Where did you study electrical engineering?� I casually enquired. I was shocked by his follow-up confession.
�You would not believe this. I used to be an electrician in Derby. When I applied for a similar job here, they made me head of the whole department! I told the guys that I wasn�t an engineer and that there were loads of Pakistanis and Indians under me who were more qualified to boot, but they�d have none of that.�
The frequent irony of the whole situation is that it is more often than not the Westerners themselves who are appalled by such behavior. They have a harder time fathoming this unwritten rule than we do. One of them had once asked me if I had been subjected to much racism while I lived in London. My response was, �I never encountered true racism until I arrived back.�
We are the first to vehemently complain while abroad when we feel discriminated against by others on account of the very policy that has become the bedrock of our own employment practices within the Kingdom. What we have to ask ourselves is why is it that the Western world is leaps and bounds ahead of us in all respects? Rather than shunning minorities, citizens in all fields are encouraged to become productive members of society. Such development not only advances and enhances the state of the individual, but also enriches the social order to which they belong. True progress is borne out of meritocracy, not the color of one�s skin, nor the origin of one�s passport.
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 11:21 am Post subject: |
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| Of course the Evil White Man always gets more ! It is time that these Honkies were banished from the Holy Land ! |
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usool
Joined: 11 May 2004
Posts: 147
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| Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 7:07 pm Post subject: Come on Scott |
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Scott
The issue here is not the White westerners, for they are doing nothing wrong. The issue is that non-white westerners are frequently discriminiated against by natives here.
As for the term honkies, man I haven't heard that in ages! Do American Asians also use this (highly racist) term to refer to whites 
Regards and best wishes |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 1:15 am Post subject: |
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Our man Scot is soooo old, that even his racist epithets are passe. 
VS |
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Gnocchiman
Joined: 23 Mar 2004
Posts: 68
Location: Limbo
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 7:37 am Post subject: |
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I believe the word they are using these days instead of "honky" is "cracker".
But that's okay Scot, just "keep on truckin'!" |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 11:55 am Post subject: cool hepcat man |
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| Bear in mind that where I am it is 1425. For someone living in the 15th centrury I think my language is pretty "hip" ! |
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 6:32 pm Post subject: Strong language! |
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| The insult of choice in the 15th century was "heretic." It wasn't a good time for cat-loving spinsters either. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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gasp...
VS |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 6:58 pm Post subject: |
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| As for the term honkies, man I haven't heard that in ages! Do American Asians also use this (highly racist) term to refer to whites |
The baseball coach at Oklahoma recently used honkie and the "n" word in front of some reporters. Needless to say that he no longer has a job despite leading Okalahoma to its only NCAA baseball championship. |
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