ELT World Discussion

[mishmumkin]

I’ve come across a lot of questions from CELTA and cert TESOL holders seeking work in the UAE. The UAE is no longer an undesirable country in which to work. Gone are the days of little to do and see. Dubai, in particular, has assumed the role as the Hong Kong of the Middle East. As the high-end hotels, restaurants, and active nightlife have emerged, employers in the Gulf no longer need to tempt prospective employees as much as they once had to. Furthermore, since more qualified candidates are interested in working in the UAE, the general scene is more competitive.

Is there academy work there?
Very little. Berlitz tends to hire locally as opposed to paying to bring employees over. This saves them a lot of money on labour cards, visa sponsorship, airline tickets, and accommodation. I interviewed with them when I was still living in Dubai. They could not afford to offer me more than 7000 dirhams/month, and no accommodation allowance would be provided. If you are planning to survive in the UAE, you MUST have an accommodation allowance or an actually flat/villa provided.

You might also see jobs posted for The Princeton Review aka Score Plus aka Linguarama. Score Plus is the local name for the Princeton Review. Linguarama is another business of the same owner. Last time I checked, these jobs did not include actual accommodation-simply an allowance (which was not enough to find a decent flat in Dubai at the current rise of housing rental costs). Teachers who’ve worked for this operation have complained of being exploited-forced to work extremely long work weeks on contracts that were seemingly contradictory to UAE labour laws.

There are other small language academies, but almost none of them seek employees from overseas. As I mentioned with Berlitz, it’s cheaper to hire the individual already sponsored by a spouse. Unless your spouse already has a contract in Dubai, I would strongly discourage anyone from just buying a ticket to the UAE and hoping to land work once there.

Where can I work if I want to teach K-12?
Since there is so little academy work that one might find in other countries, that leaves only a few opportunities. Most decent K-12 teaching opportunities go to the qualified teachers. If you are interested in teaching K-12, there are a handful of schools that will hire. Choueifat (SABIS), with five locations in the Emirates, targets non-qualified teachers, with or without a CELTA and/or experience. Their packages run around $18,500 USA/year and include annual airfare, shared accommodation (often on the school campus), and summer salary. I’m not going to sugar-coat this system: teachers are overworked, unappreciated, and generally not trusted. It is, however, likely to be the best paying package for someone seeking a K-12 position without the proper qualifications.

An alternative to Choueifat might be Al-Itihad School(s). The School for Research Science has also hired non-qualified teachers in the past, but typically looks for experienced teachers. Dubai American Scientific School is another one to try, as are the Dubai National School(s). I interviewed w/ Dubai National School a few years ago at TESOL Arabia and found them to be unprofessional and restrictive. Partway through the interview they handed me a list of rules, asking me to take a few moments to read over the rules before deciding if it was a good fit. Clearly, it was not!

I would expect most of these schools’ salaries to fall in the range of what Choueifat offers. Liveable? Well, if your accommodation is provided, then yes, it is liveable. If you love the nightlife and fine food, this salary won’t yield much in the way of savings, but this all depends on which emirate you end up in. Dubai is really the easiest place to burn your cash. If you end up in Ras Al Khamaih, Fujeirah, Sharjah, or Al Ain, I would venture to say that you can actually save a bit of cash each month if you don’t drink away your paycheck each weekend.

University positions for ESOL teachers?
There has been much criticism of Abu Dhabi University and IAT (Institute of Applied Technology) who have both hired candidates w/o the MA TESOL.

Aside from the above-mentioned, almost all university positions (Higher Colleges of Technology, UAEU, Zayed U, American University of Sharjah, American University of Dubai, etc.) go to MA TESOL/Applied Linguistic holders or perhaps some DELTA holders w/ a good bit of EAP experience. I have heard of the random cert holder with LOADS of relevant experience landing a lower paid position with the Higher Colleges of Technology (multiple campuses around the UAE), but this is not the norm. I have seen this demand for the MA ebb and flow over the past 5 years, depending on supply and demand. Loads of experience and the DELTA night yield a job offer if the climate is right.

If you really want to gain experience in EAP at the university level, I would suggest nearby Oman. The money for MOHE (ministry of higher education) contracts goes much further, and Oman is such a culturally rich country in comparison to her neighbours.

I’m sure I’ve left out some employers here and there, so let this be a work in progress.

[Sheikh Inal Ovar]

I can assure you that one of the Uni's above hasn't accepted anyone without an MA for more than 5 years ... they were even requesting that those whose MA was not directly related ... either take the required courses to get up to scratch ... or take their hook and sling it ...

[mishmumkin]

[Sheikh Inal Ovar]

UAEU ... my info comes from having worked there and from people who are still there ...

I too was surprised to hear a regular female poster to that other forum informing folk that they would have a chance of a job without an MA at some of the other places ... why get people's hopes up when there is none ...

Of course, HCT has taken people without an MA ... but that's HCT ...

[mishmumkin]

Yeah...I spoke w/ someone from UAEU at TESOL Arabia a few years ago. She said if the MA wasn't in hand, there was no point in applying.

I don't think HCT makes a regular practice of it with their expatriate hires, but teaching couples in which one candidate is really exceptional means they might loosen the requirements a bit for the spouse. I wouldn't tell anyone to expect that as the norm, but I've heard of a handful of exceptions over the last few years. Those living in the UAE on their spouse's sponsorship might pick up class-by-class work, and the requirements for those tend to be a bit more relaxed, as well.