Job Discussion Forums

[txmsk]

Hello everyone,

Well it's been nearly a year since I've been on here, and funnily enough, it's bringing me back to the UAE.

Well, I have recently been offered a position that's going to begin in just under a month. It's a year long contract with everything provided (housing, transport, airfare, insurance). The offer is approximately �32.5K/$47K, tax free of course. Teaching hours are equal to six 50 minute sessions each day, with an early rise required (but afternoons free after 2).

What concerns me are the following:
- learners are military cadets..
- housing is in a hotel (studio) in Dubai..
- almost an hour commute each way..
- vacation days equal about 20 days, plus one day off per month monthly
- the curriculum sounds dry (though I can do a lot to make it more motivating).

Anyway, any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated regarding the terms and benefits, as well as the merits of teaching military personnel!

I have taught Emirati girls and they could be a handful at times, though I've heard worse about Emirati guys.

Thanks,

TXMSK

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Indentured slavery...much...?

NCTBA

[veiledsentiments]

I suspect that it comes down to how badly you need the job. It looks to me like the contact hours are high... the commute horribly long... and vacation days extremely low.

And if you have an MA and Gulf experience, the pay is too low also.

But... it will get you a paycheck next month. (can't say anything about the cadets... heard varying opinions on that through the years)

VS

[Sheikh N Bake]

It sounds horrible. Starting pay well below average for someone with Gulf experience, contact hours well above average, commute is terrible, cadets? Haven't heard anything positive about Emirati cadets. As VS says, it depends how desperate you are. If it were me and I were desperate, I'd do it for a year and then look for something better.

[txmsk]

The thing is I don't have that much Gulf experience, and I am only just getting my MA.

My main concern is this: if i took this job for a year, would it look good on a CV? I'd like to go into academia, but many universities won't hire recent graduates.

My other concern is that the curriculum is DLI created...

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

O.K., an answer with some substance. I think that all who have weighed in here have pointed out how miserable this contract would be. But, really, you'd have to tell us more to determine if it would "look good" on a CV. Are you concerned about revealing the employer?

Emirati military are pretty much viewed as NOT fulfilling their contract stipulations, so I wouln't work for GHQ full stop. Emirati military types are what you will find in this region. Many of them are a kind of "on the military dole" so to speak. They're not attentive in class. Resent western teachers doing their jobs like taking attendance and checking if homework was done. They'll put you between a rock (their military training commander) and a hard place (your direct superior) in a heart beat. There are many, many, many, many places they'd prefer to be than in a classroom listen to you babble on...

DLI is brainless material that was written for foreign troops to study at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Therefore the material is dry, unappealing and uninteresting to these folk. You do the maths...

I guess the last thing I should say is, "Does this sound like it would look good on yer CV?" I'd think that a multi-year stint at a Chinese uni would be more appealing...but then again we know so little about your particular institution to really say so other that the hours, commute, and vacation suck. However, as I've pointed out, the students will be a pleasure, fer sure, to teach.

Good Luck!

NCTBA

[txmsk]

Thanks for the detailed response!

Here's the name of the company: Diplomatic Language Services. They're based out of Arlington, VA.

Regarding DLI materials, that's what I was afraid of.

Well, my only other options right now are to teach on a pre-sessional course in the UK and before that the CEPA challenge in Abu Dhabi.

For the long term, I'm also looking at Oman, at Dhofar, where they claim to offer $30K + $14K for a year's contract.

[Sheikh N Bake]

Dhofar in Oman sounds like a good way to get your experience under your belt, although $30K is lower than similar institutions paid in Saudi in 1994. What do you mean $30K + $14K? Fourteen thousand is the housing allowance or what?

[txmsk]

Yes, the other position was with Dhofar, and one other at Sohar in Oman. Unfortunately, they are particularly slow at responding to e-mails.

I am still awaiting responses from both of these places.

I am not sure what the extra $14K was, the advert didn't say anything other than it's an extra sum of money teachers would receive, and it was subject to a raise.

[veiledsentiments]

I figured that it was the DLS job that I saw advertised here. If your goal is to teach in Middle East universities once that MA is completed, I'd say that Dhofar or Sohar university would look better on the CV. (Id probably choose Sohar because of the location... but search them both up here for the pros and cons.) The more related the experience, the better. The pay in Oman is definitely lower that the rest of the Gulf, but the Omani students are surely easier to deal with than military students. (although I know people that enjoyed their students at MLI way back when, but that was an unusually well-run program until the military decided that they could do it themselves... they couldn't and it imploded)

I suspect that the 14K is their calculation of the value of the benefits? Tickets, housing, transport, gratuity...

VS