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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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 Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 4:20 pm Post subject: Salary |
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| What can one earn if they are willing to work their tale off in the Middle East? I mean if you are willing to teach classes during vacation or are there no classes during the breaks? I have an M.A. and when I finish my contract in Korea I will have two years university teaching in grad school plus one year university level teaching in South Korea. Any advice? |
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crashartist1
Joined: 06 Jun 2004
Posts: 164
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| Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 4:28 pm Post subject: salary |
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From what I have read from previous posts, you could earn close to $50,000 a year and of course that includes the full package of living health care, blah, and blah, blah. I think there are a couple schools those starts even mid $50,000 but I do not know which ones, I think I can remember reading some advert's about it last winter.
But if you also work for a private language course at night, with you degree and experience, you could make easily $80,000 a year, without total exhaustion.
I am sure most people know better then I do so�
poorESLteacher |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Sounds good but I would have to make sure I land in a city where there are other schools. Also is working for a second employer legal? and if not, how can you send the money home if it is illegal? |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124
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| Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 6:02 pm Post subject: |
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Where does the figure of $80,000 come from?
With a Masters but only three years experience you would probably get between SR9,000 to SR12,000 salary. The higher salary would be with a contractor in a company, so there wouldn't be long vacations to earn extra money in.
If you worked in a school you might be able to make good money with private tuition, but that is a bit of a lottery. On the other hand salaries offered by schools are at the lower end of the market.
You could moonlight in Jeddah or Riyach, but I doubt if you could anywhere else. You could probably pick up around SR100-120 an hour. If you did ten hours a week then you could pick up an extra $10,000 or so over the year.
There is also the possibility of overtime at the place you work. This only happens though if they are incompetent at matching the numbers of staff to the numbers of students (which is not at all uncommon) and is thus highly unpredictable. Also what they might pay you would vary a lot.
Working for a second employer or doing privates is illegal. I've never known of any action taken against anybody for it. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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| For 9000SR I should just stay in Korea and teach at a college there. Some Korean universities pay that much. You have less vacation in Korea but more freedom. |
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crashartist1
Joined: 06 Jun 2004
Posts: 164
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| Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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| I came up with the $80,000 a year if you added working for a University that pays well and a private language school. Didn't know it was illegal though, although why is it illegal? All it is I assume is submitting extra paperwork to the Ministry by your current employer and the other party that wishes to employ you. The biggest problem is finding not one but two schools that are willing to share you, that is where the problem arises. Most contracts have a clause in them that say you may not work for another school or company or anything like that. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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| I hope that when I decide to head to Saudi Arabia that I can get at least $50,000. For anything less I do not know that it is worth it. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:11 am Post subject: |
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You can have 4 wives but only one employer.
Not many here earn $50,000 a year. British Aersopace and some of the US military - but see other posts about the problems with DIFA for example.
$80,000 a yaer is impossible - even if you had two jobs which is not only illegal but does not happen. You might manage one job with some (illegal) part-time work elsewhere.
You should come here for the rich cultutal experience - not for the money. |
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crashartist1
Joined: 06 Jun 2004
Posts: 164
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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Show me where it is says having two employeers is illegal, and I mean besides on your contract. If I am high on my $$$ figure then so be it, but people do not go to Saudi for the "rich cultural experience".
poorESLteacher |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 4:59 pm Post subject: |
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Some employers might turn a blind eye to you moonlighting but that does not mean it is legal !
The crack about 'rich cultural experience' was meant as a joke.
If you want to beleive in fairies at the bottom of your garden, or in working here for $80,000 a year, that is okay by me. Working in the Middle East helps you get used to being with people who have strange beliefs.
Last edited by scot47 on Thu Dec 01, 2005 4:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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ootii
Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Posts: 124
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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| scot47 wrote: |
| $80,000 a yaer is impossible - even if you had two jobs which is not only illegal but does not happen. You might manage one job with some (illegal) part-time work elsewhere. |
I once worked two jobs legally on "secondment" to a government ministry while actually being paid by a US law firm. Neither the ministry nor the lawyers knew who I really worked for so it was kind of a doss. I spent a lot of time watching TV and drinking tea on the top floor. Useful for visas and such.
Normally, no one knows what is legal or not in Saudi Arabia, and people just do whatever they want until someone stops you. An employer might tolerate you working for an outside party, only to use it to control you later or as an excuse to get rid of you.
The university I work for once threatened people who work outside with "immediate termination and loss of benefits" - which probably means end of service benefits, but they would only enforce it as part of the usual petty office politics.
As always, who you are is important, and more important is who you know.
I know it sounds cynical, but I'm not judging anyone.
A student today told me his name was Karaadiis. "That's not Arabic!" I said. He looked surprised. "No! We're Bedu!"
I said, "That's a French name! Karaadiis, as in "cawaaliis" (coulisses, - backstage, it is used in Arabic with the same meaning).
"No!" He laughed.
"You're obviously descended from Crusaders who wandered here from Palestine or Egypt."
His friends started poking fun at him as he protested his Bedouin ancestry.
They're nice people, when you get to know them. The history of states and governments here began within living memory, so we can excuse them for their sometimes peculiar view of law. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Well interesting story. I don't know whether i am any further than when I began. The only thing I don't understand is why people work in Saudi for $3,000 or less. I mean if you have 10 years experience, I think you could make more somewhere else. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 4:25 am Post subject: |
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The question is not how much you earn but how much disposable income you have.
Out of that US$3,000 it should be possible to save two thirds without any hardship.
Could you do that elsewhere ? I think not. |
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Van Norden
Joined: 23 Oct 2004
Posts: 409
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| Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 8:28 am Post subject: |
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| $80,000 a year is impossible? You mean for Jzer specifically or there aren't any jobs paying that? |
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ootii
Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Posts: 124
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 8:36 am Post subject: |
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| scot47 wrote: |
The question is not how much you earn but how much disposable income you have.
Out of that US$3,000 it should be possible to save two thirds without any hardship.
Could you do that elsewhere ? I think not. |
Three-thousand dollars a month is about 135k SR per annum. This is near the base rate salary of Western passport holding expat teachers in Saudi universities, holding an MA and with about five years experience.
You can add to that a housing benefit of 17,500 SR per annum and a maximum education allowance of 25,000 SR per year. New contractees get a furnishing allowance equal to one or two months salary, depending on their contract. We get four return tickets home every year. What these are worth depends on where you go. If you take cash you get 50% of the face value of the ticket. Tickets are issued full fare on Saudia. My address of record is in a Western state and my cash back value is around 25,000 SR.
We have a maximum load of 18 hours per week. In the fall term we usually work that much. In the spring it is almost always less - last spring I worked only 9 hours a week. We have two terms of 15 weeks each. When we are not teaching, we are expected to be around, but most people are just "on call" at home - aren't mobile phones great. Outside this we have two months paid holiday in the summer. Nearly three weeks at the end of Ramadan, almost as much again for Hajj, and a mid term break of about three weeks.
I have a household of seven and am the only regular wage earner. I have three children in private school. The school costs me more than the education allowance, so I pay about 2000 SR, ($500) a month in school fees for the three kids combined. Monthly utility bills are about $125 (phone, electricity, water), I pay about $40 a month for gasoline driving about 300 miles a week. I live in employer supplied housing - a large appartment in a compound downtown and pay no rent. I spend about 2700 SR a month on groceries and incidentals ($700), so my disposable income is probably around 70%.
I have no tax liabiliby because my total income is below the threshold.
It is important to take account of benefits, including holidays, as well as salaries and working hours when making comparisons. I have seen job offers from Asia - Japan and Korea - that stipulate only one ticket at the beginning of the contract and one at the end. You are responsible for your family's fares, if you want them to come with you, and for your own if you want a home visit. I have not seen anything about help with school fees, although if they refuse to pay air fares for dependents, they are also likely to refuse to pay for schools. You may be able to use local schools, and then again, you may not. And I do not recall seeing anything over $3000 per month there, never even near it. Asian contracts are often capped at five years maximum, renewable annually. Working hours are longer, and holidays are less.
I have not seen anything about housing or furnishing allowances, but sometimes medical insurance is mentioned.
All in all, the Gulf is a good place to work and Westerners are respected and treated well. There are a lot of people here who have been here for ages and wouldn't work anywhere else.
But speculating about why people work here when they could just as easily work in Korea or Japan does not really belong here. That is a personal choice. |
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