Job Discussion Forums

[littleoldlady]

Hi
I have applied for a post teaching in Oman with CFBT and have met the "officials" who came over from Oman to talk about the positions etc. They seemed very genuine and organised. However I read so many negative posts about CFBT that I am beginning to have serious doubts. If anyone is currently working for them in Oman, please would you advise on how it really is.
Thanks

[Beachee]

I am a little surprised to hear that CfBT are interviewing people to teach in Oman as they have no guarantee or confirmation as yet of having a contract renewal.

[littleoldlady]

Yes I know.. They said they are waiting for vacancies to come in around mid May. It wasn't very clear but they seemed confident they would need people so some paperwork is being fast-tracked in advance.

[Sleepwalker]

There is a great shortage of experienced teachers in Oman - and a recruiter always takes a cut.

Why not apply direct to some of the institutions and colleges? You can ask to be put into contact with current staff.

[BOBBYSUE]

Hi

I work with CfBT in Brunei, which is great. I was amazed to read all the negative comments about CfBT in Abu Dhabi, so I ended up reading through pretty much all of them (yes I know, I should get out more). If you do this you'll notice that there are two people who admit they have been fired by CfBT who are writing negative comments at every opportunity. They then write things like "if you read all the negative comments about CfBT, you'll see..." even though it was they who wrote them.

I am not suggesting they don't have a reason to be angry. Maybe they do. But they also seem to have an agenda to give CfBT a bad name and make it appear as though there are many more of them than there are in reality. I have worked for a number of organisations overseas and I find CfBT to be a caring and efficient organisation. At least they were honest about when the contracts would come around...another organisation I worked for used to give people contracts with something in tiny writing hidden in there, basically saying that if they didn't get the contract with their client you wouldn't get the job - they never bothered pointing it out and occasionally would let people down just before they were about to fly out!

Good luck.

B

[littleoldlady]

Thanks very much. You have confirmed what I was thinking. The Brunei jobs seemed amazing. Lucky you.

[veiledsentiments]

CfBt has always seemed to have a good reputation in Asia... while their reputation in the Gulf has been negative for many many years both in the Emirates and Oman. I would be very very careful about taking a job with them right now because these problems have led to the current situation where they don't even know if they have a contract... but they are interviewing anyway???

littleoldlady... I suggest that you apply directly to Sultan Qaboos University. That way you won't have to give such a large chunk of your salary away to a shady recruiter.

VS

[Beachee]

Recruiters vary country to country. CfBT used to have a bad reputation in Oman. Then a new country manager came along and the company improved considerably. That manager moved on and a new manager came in and sadly the reputation has fallen again. There has been a lot of negative feedback with people employed by CfBT, not all of it posted on this forum and a lot of it comes from people still employed by them but sadly disollusioned.

I don't work for them, but would be wary because they are holding interviews with out any contract. Many people hope / don't think they will get a new contract - who knows. Don't burn all your bridges - just in case.

[cherubino]

Just wanted to reply to Beachee's comment. First, I'd like to give my creds for giving any info on this or any other thread--I've been in Oman several years, and worked for two different agencies, and currently have close friends who have worked for both publics and privates, MOHE and MOM, two of whom are in positions to hire teachers. According to those in the know, there is and has been a hiring freeze at the Min. of Manpower since last Nov. or so. The agencies have not yet been given any quotas, so, picking out Cfbt as not having a contract next year may be irrelevant. This, along with the two-three? threads on falsified qualifications paint a murky picture for next year's hiring, or, as one TEFLer posted from SQU--it could just be business as usual--no one knows exactly what's going on!!

[lodzubelieveit]

CfBT in Oman were disorganised when I was there last year. Their job is to get a body to the school and then leave you there, washing their hands of you. They took my passport for weeks with no indication of when or if I would get it back. There were errors in the salary each month. There was extremely intermittent communication when I had any question, and the contact person lied about when things would be done. They made no effort to get us residence cards. They put us in accommodation that they know is targetted by local thieves. The managers didn't speak to each other, so I had to repeat everything from scratch when I spoke to someone different. And all that's on top of misleadingly advertising their teaching positions as being in something like colleges of further education or universities, when it was more like doing voluntary charity work with extremely badly behaved uneducated 18-year old children in the middle of nowhere in "schools" that are a complete shambles. Avoid like the plague.

[zx20]

well said! like a decaying fish this organisation rots from the head down!

[Tiffany Spangles]

C$BT is INdeed the IN place to be : at management level, INsensitive and INdifferent; at administrative level, INefficient and INnumerate and at local level, INdolent and INcompetent.

[Pikgitina]

INcredible!

Great screen name, Tiffany Spangles.

[Tiffany Spangles]

Here's hoping the newly appointed Operations guy that the Country Manager was crowing about in her latest email will INject a bit of sparkle into this flagging organization and glister like a spangle!

Tiff

[Sleepwalker]

I wouldn't hold your breath - I suspect Tim was a jewel amongst the dross.