Job Discussion Forums

kona · Joined: 17 Sep 2011 Posts: 188 Location: USA

Hi everyone,

Wanted to thank everyone for their informative posts, it really gives me a strong picture of what it looks like in the ME and the pitfalls that teachers can run into.

I was wondering if anyone thinks there are decent job opportunities for someone with a fresh MA TESOL (not online) degree in the ME. I do not have very much ESL experience (just 6 months in Mexico) but do have one year as a SPED ecology teacher (but no k-12 certification, tricky how I pulled that off), one year as a school counselor, and one year as a juvenile parole officer.

I figure the JPO experience and counselor experience don't count for much if anything at all, but I'm wondering with a year and a half of education experience and a MA TESOL, might I get my foot in the door without having to work for an absolutely terrible employer?

It seems the best positions are in the Gulf States, with UAE and Qatar being the best, Oman being good but not very high pay, Bahrain having a small market, and Kuwait having a derth of horrible employers.

I've also considered KSA and Kurdistan, but judging from the posts on this forum, I have a feeling that its hard to find a decent employer in these countries as well, especially with limited field experience.

Finally, I am trying to get rid of some student loan debt, part of my reason for doing this. So my other option would be to go to Korea and get my exp there.

What do you guys things?

johnslat · Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 7:06 pm Post subject:

Dear kona,

"Kuwait having a derth of horrible employers. "

I think you may have meant a "plethora" rather than a dearth.

Regards,
John

kona · Joined: 17 Sep 2011 Posts: 188 Location: USA

John,

You are absolutely right, I definitely meant there was a plethora, abundant, or a great deal of bad employers in Kuwait, at least from what I've read on the Kuwait forums.

Probably should have previewed that post before sending it out Embarassed

johnslat · Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 7:14 pm Post subject:

Dear kona,

I've done the same so many times.

Wouldn't it be great, though, to find a country with just such a dearth?

Regards,
John

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

If I were you, I would try to get a job in Korea teaching university level students... as much Academic English... especially writing... that you can find. You should make enough to cover your loan payments and put a couple years of useful experience on your CV. Then you will be ready to apply to the more dependable employers in the Gulf.

VS

cmp45 · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 1475 Location: KSA

kona · Joined: 17 Sep 2011 Posts: 188 Location: USA

@ John, yea if only there was a place like that. It would be the shangri-la of efl posts!

@VS and CMP, thanks for the feedback, its good to know that Middle East employers accept university experience in other parts of Asia (I was worried that they only accepted experience from the west and MENA). I was going to shoot for Egypt but with the visa situation so confusing there I think its probably not a good bet (but who knows, it might clear up in a year).

Thanks again everyone for your input!

kona