Job Discussion Forums

[easy21]

Hi All
I am a 4 yr trained Primary/Secondary teacher who specialises in Health and Phys ED and junior Technology. My wife and i are looking to move OS to UAE to work next August. I am trying to find out as much info as possible. My Wife is a Paediatric Occupational Therapist. I would oike to kow the best places to work, where to hand in my CV, eg agencies, job fares etc, what the salaray and benefits are like. I currently work in a great P - 12 private college in Brisbane Queensland, but would love to make some money and gain new experiences OS. This is my 3rd year teaching. Any help would be great!!!!
Thanks
Easy21

[younggeorge]

OK, not an easy one but since no-one else has said anything, I'll give it a try.

1. When you say "next August", do you mean Aug 2005 (in which case you're a bit late but might still pick up soma late vacancies) or Aug 2006? It's too early to start applying for Aug 2006 - they won't be recruiting till at least January.

2. Few, if any, schools use recruiting agencies so they're not worth your time. You need to contact schools directly. I've posted this link a couple of times and I'm not sure if it's been updated with a bunch of new schools due to open this August/September, but it's probably a good starting point.

http://www.theemiratesnetwork.com/dir/Education/Schools/

The Gems group has several schools here, including a coupleof new ones opening this year, so give them a try.

http://www.gemseducation.com/server.php?show=nav.001002

3. Don't count on making a pot of money. I think you'll find the sinking dollar (to which the UAE currency is tied) has had as bad an effect on the Aussie-buck as it has on other currencies. Check out salaries and conversion rates carefully before you sign anything and remember that the UAE, especially Dubai, has a high cost of living. You need an interest in travel and experience, not just money, to benefit from moving here.

Well, you've been warned, but don't give up - check it out and, if you can get an offer that's at least comparable to your salary at home, give it a try. Good luck!

[easy21]

Cheers for the heads up
I meant Aug 06. I do have a great interest in travelling and thought that UAE would be close to quite a lot of other countries. Could you give me a clue of other places i should try that i could gain valuable teaching experience and also earn a bit of money????
Cheers
Easy21

[younggeorge]

As you're not in ESL, your options are a bit different from most of the users of this forum. Your best bet would be to try to get into the International School circuit. Unfortunately, I don't know much about how you'd do that, though the Gems link I posted before would be a start. Other contributors might know of more.

If you can get a job in a decent international school, salaries should be pretty much comparable whatever country you go to. The Gulf area is, indeed, a good base for travelling around. Check out those UAE links, then have a look at Oman, Qatar, Bahrain - they'd alll be good places to live and give you travel opportunities.

[QatarChic]

I have always found that this site is very useful- in fact its probably one of the best around:

http://www.joyjobs.com

You have to pay for it to use it (around $50 per year) but there are many reputable international schools on there (a lot of which are in the UAE) Also tells you where there's going to be a job fair etc

Good luck

[easy21]

Cheers all for the help
One last question, does anyone know of a list serve that i could join that might have members that teach other then ESL/EFL????
Cheers again
Easy21