Job Discussion Forums

[disregardedknowledge]

Can anyone tell me about TATI?

Contact hours, discipline problems, expected pay?

Also, in terms of rental costs for accomodation, how much does it cost for a decent one bedroom-one bath. Also, how much can one expect to pay if furniture must be bought?

Any housing and furniture cost info for housing near the following locations would be helpful:

1. Nizwa College of Technology
2. Al Musanna College of Technology
3. Ibra College of Technology
4. Ibri College of Technology

Also, with regard to the 4 colleges above, which is/are the best to work at? Any info on working environment and monthly accommodation/furniture costs would be greatly appreciated.

Feel free to PM.

[Crimson]

Dear Disregarded Knowledge, I need the same information, but I can't find any replies to your post. I can't PM yet, so could you help me as I am going through the process of interviewing for Ibri College of Technology. ASAP if poss? Or anyone else out there with info, please advise. Thanks! [quote="disregardedknowledge"]Can anyone tell me about TATI?

Contact hours, discipline problems, expected pay?

Also, in terms of rental costs for accomodation, how much does it cost for a decent one bedroom-one bath. Also, how much can one expect to pay if furniture must be bought?

Any housing and furniture cost info for housing near the following locations would be helpful:

1. Nizwa College of Technology
2. Al Musanna College of Technology
3. Ibra College of Technology
4. Ibri College of Technology

Also, with regard to the 4 colleges above, which is/are the best to work at? Any info on working environment and monthly accommodation/furniture costs would be greatly appreciated.

Feel free to PM.[/quote]

[passionateteacher]

Yes any information of this school would be greatly appreciated. They asked for my information to continue with the hiring process.

[jdl]

Although you will be hired by TATI which is only one of several recruiters, you will be in fact working for one of the colleges listed and be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Manpower. Conditions vary and the answers to all you questions are on the boards but hidden in the threads for each college.

Salary:

Between 750 and 1000 Rial per month depending on qualification. As a Head Of section you can expect a few extra Rial and as a Director you can pull down as much as 1300 in base salary. It is best to ask your contractor about any contract questions. You may be able to negotiate a bit so if you are used to buying used cars go for it.

Housing:

May be either provided or in lieu an allowance will be paid. The standard allownace is 250 Rial. Housing costs vary from 100 to 600 Rial per month and also vary from location to location. Provided housing is usually furnished minimally. Your own housing may or may not be furnished depending on how well you negotiate

Contact Hours:

You are generally contracted for 40 hours per week with a maximum of 20 of those to be contact hours. Contact hours may vary depending on whther the college is at full staff or not. Some colleges let you wander off campus but generally you are expected to be on campus 40 hours per week. This varies from College to College and Director to Director as well.

Best College?

You will have to decide that for yourself by reading the boards. The working conditions are generally the same but do vary from College to college depending on the disposition/nature of the staff. Students are fine. Geography and your free time are also a big considerations. In what type of area do you want to live and play? What do you want to play at? Where you decide to live will greatly affect your experience; 'it is all good' but for different reasons. If you are one who calls home wherever you hang your hat...anywhere will be fine. If you 'need' certain things to be in place before you can call anyplace home you will need to do a little research. Each location has its unique perks.

If you tell us all a little more about what you expect or are used to, we may be able to point you in one direction or another.

Good luck and enjoy the adventure.

P.S.
Wherever you end up you will find fellow instructors on different contracts with different recruiters with many employees thinking the 'other guy' got a better deal. All the packages are roughly the same as far as bottom line cash value to the contractor is concerned with different configurations. Some recruiters/contractors will pay for dependent travel while others may offer a higher salary. Select the contractor/recruiter which best suits your needs.

[Mojoski]

The view from Nizwa: I'm at NCT, and I like it. There's always plenty to complain about for people who can't hack some inconveniences, but anyone teaching EFL can't sweat the small stuff and be happy. And there's plenty to be happy about. I like the work atmosphere with many many nice and helpful colleagues. Pay is good and workload is fine. It's not a garden spot, but in the winter, the weather is probably the best in the world. And we can leave for two of the hottest months. Three colleges in the area, so lots of expat teachers in the community. You start to meet and intermingle after a time. Muscat is 90 minutes away. After pre-arrival researching, the expectations I brought were pretty much spot on. Having no knowledge of the other sites mentioned, I give NCT a thumbs up on its own merit.

[Arabian Hawk]

Muscat is the best place to teach in Oman. Oman is a wonderful country and the salaries for ESL teachers are excellent. Bahwan Cybertek is one of the best recruiters in Oman to work for.

[johnslat]

Dear ArabianHawk,

"Bahwan Cybertek is one of the best recruiters in Oman to work for."

I'm a bit confused. Do EFLers work for a recruiter or for an educational institution?

Regards,
John

[Mojoski]

[jdl]

ArabianHawk,

Now, you have gone and done it! I await instructors from Sur, Nizwa, Al Musanna, Ibra, Ibri, etc. and especially Salalah to weigh in here.

Glad you enjoy Muscat. It is a beautiful city! Enjoy on!

[jdl]

John, Mojoski,
Perhaps I can help with the �direct hire� discussion at least as it applies to the MoM colleges.
Most if not all recent hires (last 5 years) have been through contractors (outsourced head hunters such as Educonsult. Bahwan, TATI, etc.). The direct hires that remain on staff are on very different civil service contracts depending on:

� The need/demand for instructors in a particular year
� The availability/supply of instructors from certain foreign economies
� Nationality (Omani/ GCC / Other Arab/middle East)
� Qualification and experience criteria set for a particular year.

As in every civil service there are a variety of �grades� of pay and employment, so even employees on direct contract are paid very differently depending on their placement on the grid as determined at least in part by the bullets above.. The variation in pay is not limited to direct hire vs. recruit hire.

There are recruited employees who make much more than some direct hires, some direct hires who make much more than other direct hires and some direct hires that make more than some recruited employees. Omani Nationals have a higher rate of pay generally because of their placement on the civil service grade grid. Omani nationals are rarely hired through recruiters although this has been done to circumvent the rather time intensive civil service hiring process. These nationals are turned over to civil service contracts as time goes on. Believe it or not there is more uniformity of pay among recruited employees than there is among the �direct hires�.

The civil service does have a very well defined salary grid system; the mystery is how one has been placed in a particular grade. I did not figure it out and felt it was best to observe rather than question. The whole differentiated pay situation was always a topic of quiet water cooler discussion with everyone trying to figure out who got paid how much and why?

In the colleges I worked at, the trend was to hire through recruiter and extinguish as many high grade civil service contracts for non nationals as possible. It was a challenge and a point of unease since many of the non national employees on direct hire had no intention of getting off the �gravy train�.
As you say Mojoski it is confusing but certainly entertaining.

[johnslat]

Dear jdl,
Thanks for that very informative post.
Regards,
John

[Duffy]

As of this post, English language teachers employees with a basic BA,contracted to CfBT are earning more than those working direct from the MoHE.

Duffy

[Arabian Hawk]

Bahwan Cybertek is recruiting for jobs all over Oman. English teachers are in demand and salaries and benefits are excellent. Muscat is a wonderful city and the Omanis are very hospitable and friendly people! Oman offers the opportunity for ESL teachers to experience the true Arabian culture while teaching the friendliest students in the world

[With Malice Toward None]

[hellionzap]

Dear jdl,
This has always been a mystery to me. Thanks so much for explaining that to me. I'm not sure I've digested it all yet but it's less murky. Definitely water cooler conversation. I'm one of the direct hires and happy here in Nizwa. Arabian Hawk is sure a happy chappie:-) And nice to hear that Mojoski has fitted in so well. Glad it all worked out for you:-)