Job Discussion Forums

[Wigwam]

I have tried four times now to get an interview at the PI but have had no luck. Has anyone got any ideas about how to get a job there? Heard the accommodation allowance just went up and that the salary level is still reasonable. They have got rid of some teachers this year for dubious reasons so my contact tells me but he/she can not help in my job hunting. Has anyone got any ideas about how to get a foot in the door?

[veiledsentiments]

Unless you personally have a friend already there who is close to the powers in admin, who is willing to fight for you in the system...

the fact that they have ignored your applications means that they are not interested.

That is true most everywhere... such is life...

VS

[Manny2]

Agree with VS, but I am suprised that your friend who works there has not told you that unless you have a Masters you will not be considered , and If I am correct from your previous posts - you do not have one ?.
In the past it was possible to get in without one but since the regime change (coup) a Masters is a minimun even for Foundations. Additionally they have done all the hiring for this academic year and now they are probably overstaffed !! So my advice is do an MA or even better a Phd and if you are really really lucky you may get considered for an interview......unless you have connections to the man who makes all the decisions ....or are married to someone working there.. then you may get a foot in the back door....oh and I forgot to say that if you are already working in the Gulf then that is also against you ....unless as I said before you have connections........

[Wigwam]

Manny2
I do not have an MA though my contact told me there were many at the PI who do not have one. I am going to study for my MA over the next year and try to finish it by next year to be available. Does the PI not do adjuncts like at HCT or summer school and then take you on if you impress?

[Manny2]

Yes Wigwam it is true that there are many at the PI without Masters and even some course coordinators without them but as is usual in this part of the world most are NOT English teachers but in subjects like Maths and Computing. Even the HCT does not require a Masters to teach Math.... but there are so many English teachers with Masters that employers do tend to go for the highest qualification they can get.

It is now policy at PI that Masters is a minimum and even a Phd will not guarantee you an interview. PI does not really need adjuncts and again you need to be sponsored to do this type of work, like I siad they have hired alot of new staff probably plenty to cover the incoming student numbers. There is a summer programme but the person over that is not the one you need to impress to get hired !!! only a Phd from Harvard and the like , in Science or engineering ( not English ) hundreds of research papers published in 'real journals' and maybe a Nobel prize might do the job so you have alot of work to do in the next year !

[veiledsentiments]

Wigwam

You can't really compare PI and HCT. PI is one smallish educational institution whereas HCT has branches all over the country and many times the number of students and teachers.

I know a number of people with MAs and extensive experience, and they even knew people at PI and they never even made it to the interview stage. (people who had been accepted by both ZU and HCT in previous years, but for personal or professional reasons they accepted other positions in other Gulf countries)

If I were you, I would complete the MA, get a few years experience after it, and then when looking for a job, apply again to PI along with other places. And the reality is that you probably still won't get hired. Just don't take it personally.

VS

[TABING]

HCT is only looking at masters, or workining on masters in Math from what I heard recently.

[Wigwam]

Perhaps I am looking at getting into the PI from the wrong angle. I could do an MA in Educational IT and apply that way. My teaching experience and qualifications would then give me the 'best of both worlds' and make my application to the PI a lot more attractive. The PI is the place to work - it would pay for my kids education, I think they pay for three kids, and their housing allowance would get me a villa.

[Manny2]

Perhaps Wigwam you need to get over your obsession with getting into the PI and may I suggest you refrain from posting about what a 'wonderful' place it seems to be if you don't want everyone and their mother to apply for any future openings - which will be a while given the numbers of English teachers hired this year. Another way to make your application more attractive is to retrain in a subject other than English, as I do not folow your logic in thinking that an MA in Educational IT would give you an edge ?

[Wigwam]

Manny2
I was trying to say that if I get an Educational MA in IT instead of an MA in TESOL, I could get an interview to teach computing instead. Why not have a goal of joining an institution which is argued to be the best in the Middle East. What are the downsides to the PI? I know I sound rather 'rose tinted' in my obsession with the PI but it is the best in the UAE in terms of conditions and benefits. No-one seems to say anything really bad about the PI, even yourself.

[veiledsentiments]

Considering how often places in the ME tend to self-destruct or hire a bad manager or be taken over by another oddball management organization (local or foreign)... by the time you have received this degree, they may have some other hurdle that you haven't crossed... like requiring X number of years of experience *after* the MA.

I too find your fixation on PI to be odd... and considering their hiring over the last few years, I'd still say that your chances will still probably be slim...

Besides there have been negative posts about PI, it may be one of the best of the lot or even the best, but not everyone has been happy there either.

VS

[Wigwam]

VS and Manny2
Thanks for your thoughts and opinions

[Odilo]

The PI can go on hiring friends of people who work there... but you get exactly what you hired... people who are good are making themselves look good but at mediocre at best.... the PI hired a MLI coordinator that was fired by HCT... that says it all....

[veiledsentiments]

Hardly all...

HCT has fired some very good people through the years...

It is only one detail about one person, which may or may not mean anything.

VS

[Wigwam]

Heard that the PI is now overstaffed with too many teachers and not enough students. But also told that the quality of teachers was quite high.