Job Discussion Forums

[scooby]

Hello

I'm in a bit of a pickle. I've recently finished my first year as an EFL teacher. I was working in Indonesia for English First. The only qualification I have is an EF TEFL certificate.

After finishing my year there I put my CV on a few websites to see what I would get. A few days later I got a job offer from a place called the Al-Awasim Institute of Health Sciences in Jeddah. It's a new institute that's opening soon where the students will learn medical sciences, and they need one English teacher. My contact there said I was the first foreigner they had approached to work there.

The package offered is:

- Monthly Salary SR5000 (Tax Free)
- Housing allowance= 3 months salary= SR1250 per month
- Transportation allowance= SR300 per month.
- 30 days paid holidays plus Muslim's Eids holidays.
- yearly ticket to and from home country

Now I know that's not very good...but considering I have only an EF certificate and one year experience, is it still bad?

On the plus side they are medical students, so are probably going to be quite motivated to learn and not disruptive. And since I will be the only English teacher I'm thinking that they wont have some pre-prepared ideology they want me to follow, and will let me do my own thing on the teaching side.

Also, I am a Muslim from England, so I'm not going there entirely for the money but to get an experience of life in an Arab country. I can do Hajj easily and learn some Arabic while I'm there which I've wanted to do for ages.

So do you think I should accept it? At first I thought I was lucky to get an offer like this, but now I'm not so sure.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[crashartist1]

I am not even in the Kingdom yet, but I can tell you that the money is very, very poor. The rest of it is pretty standard stuff. I have been told that it can be expensive in Jeddah, so that money not go that far, but hopefully you will get a more informed opinion from some of these other guys and girls here.

[Bebsi]

It's not a bad package....it's a dreadful one. OK, if you want to go to KSA for religious reasons, and money isn't important to you, go. There's no point in asking for help in making your decision in this forum if money/conditions aren't a factor at all. However, since you ARE here, I presume they are.

You must, first of all, be aware that being a Muslim will not protect you from being ripped-off and exploited by unscruplulous organisations. Indeed, I would venture so far as to say that with certain operators currently in the Kingdom, the opposite applies!

The package on offer is laughable, if you want my honest opinion. I wouldn't even go to the trouble of taking out a map of Saudi Arabia, for the package on offer. In Jeddah, for SAR 1250, you wouldn't get a shed to live in, never mind a decent apt. The transport allowance would need to be at least 500 if you were taking taxis to work each day (assuming within the city of Jeddah). You certainly wouldn't run a car or anything of the sort on that money!

The salary itself is a joke. I have seen people in this forum asking if they should accept jobs paying around 8,000 a month, and my advice has been a very cautious "it's pretty bad but if you REEEEALLLY want to just get a foot in the door, take it". For 5K, my advice would be don't even think about it. It's utter exploitation...but then, so is most of EFL. Of all industries, it appears to have the greatest number of commercially-and-economically naive people.

Normally, people go to KSA to make money, and for teachers, we are talking about a salary of at least 10-11 K p.m. to make it worthwhile, and even then, other factors such as accom, overtime opportunities and length of holidays each year must also be factored in.

This is the worst KSA package I've ever seen, frankly. I hope that anyone thinking of taking it, reads this posting, and the other postings that I am certain will also appear.

Ditch the idea!! Get more experience elsewhere, then think about KSA for substantially more money in a few years.

[scot47]

The remuneration package is what a non-native speaker from the Subcontinent would expect.

[grahamb]

There's no mention of an end-of-contract bonus.
No doubt the working hours are horrendous.
A decent package would include 60 days' leave and three return tickets per annum.
Bebsi's advice is good.

[scooby]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to my post, its been very useful.

I think I will take Bebsi's advice and get some experience at other places, then come back for a better package in the future.

Thanks again.

[Cleopatra]

Obviously the package is pretty rubbish compared to those offered by the third level institutions. But then, is that really relevant? The OP only has an "EFL certificate" (whatever that is) and one year's experience, so it's highly unlikely he'd get one of the better jobs in KSA. Also, strange though it may sound to us pampered Gulfies, this package is actually much better than what's on offer for a person with the OP's credentials in most of Europe, or indeed, much of the rest of the world.

So, maybe it's not all that bad of a deal, in the bigger scheme of things?

There's no mention of an end-of-contract bonus.

Aren't all Saudi employers legally obliged to pay one?

[Mark100]

Give it a big miss.

Saudi is not a bed or roses and there is no point going there if you are not going to get properly remunerated.

You would do better in any Asian country really and have a better time.
If you really want to go to Saudi , get a degree and post grad quals and then think about going over but even then pick a decent employer.

10,000 riyals a month plus all the usual benefits is the bottom i think anyone should accept for Saudi.