Job Discussion Forums

[flutterbayou]

I have become fairly well-acquainted with the agents in Oman, and have most recently been offered a position through Global Business Network LLC, an agency I have never heard being mentioned on this forum.

What causes me to write about this group today is that the agent offers only a letter of employment - not a contract.

A letter of offer is sometimes used when certain disclaimers are applied, which would not be in a contract - and this letter contains a disclaimer that releases the agency from any obligation if the contract is not signed after the lecturer arrives in Oman.

I suspect, theoretically, that someone could arrive in Oman without the Ministry of Higher Education having officially approved the applicant. Some of these agents really want you "on that plane tomorrow."

I pass this information on to newbie readers, who might be misled into accepting the Letter as a binding agreement, and I suggest that they insist upon a signed contract that is delivered by Express mail or by scan with an official seal, embossed. Faxed contracts are not binding.

At best, this organization's Letter of Offer is a definite maybe.

[veiledsentiments]

In 15 years in the Gulf at 4 different universities, never once did I see a contract before I arrived in country. Letters of intent were, and from what I read here on the board still are, the norm and never once was there any problem with the conditions stated in the contract being different from those in the letter of intent.

BUT... I always did direct hire with a university and avoided all positions and employers that used agents.

The thing is that you might insist on a copy of the contract, but I doubt that you will get one if that is not their normal procedure.

VS

[flutterbayou]

VS, I believe the trend has changed since you last worked in Oman.

From first-hand experience, I can attest that the agents we often see mentioned here in threads, along with the Ministry of Manpower, and The Ministry of Higher Education all forward explicit contracts vis-a-vis email, and attach their signatures to them, electronically.

The offers that have been extended to me by clearly reputable organizations also contain a clause that the application has been officially approved in advance by the related Ministry.

However, the particular group mentioned in my OP has NOT included this clause, which raises a few pertinent questions as to the stability and firmness of the offer.

Again, I suggest that procedures might have changed since you last worked in Oman, particularly since so many Colleges and Universities now rely on agencies to handle recruitment.

Happy Holidays to you.

[veiledsentiments]

So... one tiny step forward in providing a contract beforehand and one HUGE step backwards in the use of agents who are thus able to siphon off part of what should be teacher salaries and do a very poor job of vetting.

One thing about the changes in the last 5 or 6 years is that few of them are positive. Sadly for Oman and the Omani students...

VS

[mishmumkin]

The problem w/ contracts in the UAE, for example, is that if they send you one in English, it's likely not the same contract that you'll sign later (the legal and binding on in English and Arabic). In a nutshell, the 'contracts' i signed in advance that were sent through the mail meant nothing in a UAE court. I've never known any employer to send the "real" Arabic/English contract before the employee arrives, but I'd be curious to hear if that's changed.