Job Discussion Forums

Alisha786 · Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 4 Location: Indian

Dear Sir,
I am 30th years old unmarried Muslim girl. I want to work in saudi�s university.
I did master in linguistic with master in Library and information science. I want to work there as a Librarian.
Can you please advice me can I work there as I am single young women.
Is it possible to get work permit if the university select me
How long time taken for visa after selection in interview ?

Best Regards

Alisha

Cleopatra · Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 10:43 am Post subject:

What do you want to teach?

As far as academic subjects are concerned, you are usually expected to have a PhD in the discipline, so a Master's in Linguistics - particularly if you have no teaching experience - might not be enough. If you're interested in teaching English, most employers look for MAs in Applied Linguistics or TESOL, preferably with some teaching experience. So again, an MA in Linguistics might not be enough to get you a job - at least not any job that would be worth having.

Alisha786 · Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 4 Location: Indian

Dear
Thanks for your quick and kind reply.
Apology for unclear details. Actually I did master in linguistic with master in Library and information science. I want to work there as a Librarian.
And my main concern is
is it possible to get work permit if the university select me
How long time taken for visa after selection in interview ?

Warm regards

Cleopatra · Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 11:06 am Post subject:

There aren't many positions for librarians in Saudi unis, and those that exist are often filled by Saudi staff. It is not a very well-paying job. Also, as I've said, employers tend to look for people with relevant experience, so being straight out of college, you might not have that.

Alisha786 · Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 4 Location: Indian

thanks for your kind answer
but my main concern is i am from pakistaan.
can any single women can do work alone in saudi in non teaching job at any university ?
or she will be refused for the reason single women.

regards

PoS2010 · Joined: 29 Mar 2010 Posts: 21 Location: rock n hard place

Cleopatra · Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 12:27 pm Post subject:

PoS2010 · Joined: 29 Mar 2010 Posts: 21 Location: rock n hard place

Cleopatra · Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:27 pm Post subject:

I know plenty of single Muslim women from India, Pakistan, Malaysia, South Africa and several other countries who are working in KSA. I don't think it's a big deal.

The Lathe of Heaven · Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 10:52 pm Post subject:

Dear Alisha786,

I used to know a nice guy from Egypt who was a librarian at King Faisal University in Al-Hassa. I would talk to him occasionally and listen to his account of the day he just spent at the library.

In the beginning he was of good humour and of sensible character. As the weeks passed I noticed something changing in his demeanour but his daily accounts were carbon copies of earlier stories. Basically he was telling me the same thing every time I saw him and this began to freak me out so I eventually avoided him. His accounts went like this. "I don't know why they need a librarian here?. I basically come here at 7:45 everyday and leave at 2:30. I open the doors, turn on the lights, boot up my computer, check for any new deliveries of books that need to be indexed and shelved, check in any returned books of which I know there won't be any, then sit around the rest of the day swatting flies. My supervisor gets in at around 9:30 and leaves after noon prayers. I rarely see him and when I do I tell him about the situation at the library and he just shrugs and says, 'soon we will have more students using the library and you wont be so bored'. I'm going to return to Egypt and finish my PHd so I don't have to wast away in a place like this".

I didn't even know where the library was, and as the stories kept repeating over and over I didn't want to.

This is a males' account of being a librarian. The moral of the story as I understood it was that Saudi teenagers don't have much use for books because it requires the boring task of reading and for this reason having a fully functioning library is like having hospitals with all the latest medical technology but no one there to use them.

I have a hard enough time getting my students interested in turning the page let alone reading a sentence. I truly hope this changes, but then again it's like waiting for heck to freeze over.

Regards

TLOH

Mia Xanthi · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 1:29 am Post subject:

Maybe the OP is looking in the wrong place. When I was working in the UAE, I found that a lot of universities were having trouble finding well-trained librarians who were willing to move overseas. ESL teachers expect to live overseas, but librarians are a bit more difficult to convince, and they always seemed to have difficulty finding them.

You seem to be an idea situation as you are not only a well-qualified librarian, but you are also bilingual at that. Plus, your second masters degree would help you develop sections of libraries that are needed to serve those who teach second languages or who work in teacher-training positions.

Don't let a couple of negative posts put you off. I think you might be able to find some outstanding jobs in the UAE or Qatar. When I was in the UAE, the librarians were considered administrators, and received excellent pay and upgraded benefits, including better housing. I hope something like this works out for you.

Alisha786 · Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 4 Location: Indian

dear all,
thanks for your valuable advice.
i am positive.

Warm Regards

The Lathe of Heaven · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 9:21 am Post subject:

Dar Mia,

You're right about my negative response. After all, I was commenting about Al-Hassa, in Eastern Province KSA where life is less conservative. It had nothing to do with other surrounding Gulf States. Since the poster was specific in her question, I remained on topic (unusual for me). Yes, I had no desire to go to the library and catch the dose of depression the unfortunate Egyptian was getting. He wasn't being innovative and frankly didn't motivate any interest in me to visit the library. Is this negative? Is this informative? Is this on topic?

Regards

TLOH

trapezius · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 12:06 pm Post subject:

Here is my experience:

When I started working at my college, the bookstore was inside the library, so at any given time there were many students inside the library buying books, usually for the few weeks of each semester.

Then they moved the bookstore to another location outside the library. The library is a ghost town now... at most 1 or 2 students are inside at any given time.

More than half of my students don't even buy the prescribed textbooks (because they are "too expensive"... they would gladly spend SR. 2,000 to SR. 3,000 of their parents' money on the latest phone, or SR. 100,000 to SR. 500,000 to buy the latest sports/luxury car, but spending SR. 1,000 per semester on books is haram for them). So as you can see, they have no use for the library.

Mia Xanthi · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 7:46 pm Post subject: