Ladislav--I'd like to get more information

[gmm567]

on your experience in Kuwait. I am curious about jobs and the salaries available. Is the pay really good in the Gulf? Do you have to speak arabic to live and work there?

If you know of any good job sites please let me know.


thanks!

Geoff

[ladislav]

on your experience in Kuwait. I am curious about jobs and the salaries available. Is the pay really good in the Gulf? Do you have to speak arabic to live and work there?

If you know of any good job sites please let me know.


thanks!

Geoff

Depends on your profession. I would recommend you buy a book on "Jobs in the Middle East" or "Jobs in thd Gulf"- order from Amazon.com. I went there as an English teacher. My salary was very low at that time ( year 2000)- it was only USD 2200 a month but the apartment was free and so was the food at times and transportation. So I was able to save a bit. Now in Saudi my salary is close to $5000 a month. Some jobs in Kuwait for (ESL teachers) pay $3700 a month ( tax free, apartment provided) . No Arabic required.

But there are only certain jobs that are needed at this point. What do you do for a living? What is your education in?

Job sites are aplenty- just google "Jobs in the Middle East". But in what capacity will you go there?

[Hero]

Hey, since I'm in the D.C. area, it may pay off for me to actually visit the embassies of some Middle Eastern countries and inquire about jobs. What do you think?

[ladislav]

Hey, since I'm in the D.C. area, it may pay off for me to actually visit the embassies of some Middle Eastern countries and inquire about jobs. What do you think?

It might help although they may not have a clue about how to help you. Their job is to give visas. They may help with some general advice though. Googling "middle east jobs" will be of much better use.

But again, in what capacity will you guys go there? As oil engineers?

There are jobs on ships, by the way- US based. These pay quite good and provide room and board.

[Hero]

But again, in what capacity will you guys go there? As oil engineers?

Well, I have experience both as a college math teacher and as an actuary. I'm sure those skills are useful wherever you go.

[Mr S]

How do you find the jobs paying that much in Saudi? When I hunt around I seem to find most jobs advertise there for around $3000 a month. Are you getting leads through word of mouth or inside information? They willing to pay you more because of your previous middle eastern experience?

I've got a masters in education with a specialization in reading and literacy and about halfway done with a masters in humanities. I'm also working on getting teacher certification in the state I officially reside in. I wouldn't mind going to Saudi to pay off some debts but I'm afraid they might confiscate some of my books that I need to finish my degree as I'm doing it online. Are they really anal about what books you can bring there to read? I tend to like spiritual, sociological and philosophical books so I would probably be on their shit list coming in I presume.

I figure I'll try to tough things out till 2010 in PI and see what opportunities pop up then.

Are the advertisements on eslcafe just low balling people for the most part?

Is there a plan for foreigners to get out of there if the shit hits the fan like the Monarchy there falls or Iran shoots their missiles at the country or something like that?

I tend to sport a longish hair style, would they try to make me cut it short to teach there?

[Winston]

I don't think they would care if you brought in general spiritual or New Age type books, as long as they don't say the word "Christian" on them.

[ladislav]

ESL teaching jobs here normally require 2 years experience + a DELTA, CELTA or some other TEFL certificate. The 5K a month job did not come easy- took me 10 years of working here. For beginners 2600-3200 jobs are more likely and I would start in Oman/Qatar and then go Saudi.
If you have teaching credentials, try international schools and http://www.joyjobs.com- this lists all the good jobs for credentialed teachers. These pay quite well. http://www.tefl.com is better than ESL cafe although I did get some good jobs through the latter as well.

There are also recruiters that have jobs lined up all the time and they advertise sometimes on http://www.tefl.com

As far as books go, I do not think you will have problems bringing those in unless they have stars of David or Cricifixes on them. Long hair? hmmm. May be a bit of a problem. But then one has to sacrifice a bit.

As far as work goes,Saudi is relaxing and enjoyable. Kind of like a working resort. It s also far less strict now than 10-15 years ago.

Count on being able to save 15-20K a year. I have taken long vacations, took long breaks in contracts, went all around the world, sent MANY girls to school and enjoyed good times with many more, so my savings rate has been roughly 11,000 a year since 1998 but I have been spending a lot and not denying myself much.

[James G]

You don’t have to know Arabic to work in the Middle East – sure it helps but you will pick it up when you get there

There are basically 2 types of jobs in the Middle East –

Civilian Contractor Jobs working with the US military – these tend to be the easiest to get hired on with and also pay really good. I was a civilian contractor for over 7 years all over the Middle East. Just google civilian contractor jobs�

The other types are usually in the oil industry or as a teacher - I don’t know allot about those types of gigs but I have seen some on montserjobs.com

[Winston]

Wow James, is that your blog? TheProfessionalAdventurer.com? It looks neat. If you like, you can tell us about it in another thread, and what we can learn from it, either here or in the Asia board (since you talk about Thai women on it) or in the website recommendation board.

I like the pic of the hot Thai girl on your current page. Wow she is hot!

[Jackal]

Well, I have experience both as a college math teacher and as an actuary. I'm sure those skills are useful wherever you go.

You should try going to China. They worship mathematicians there. When the Fields Medal ceremony was held there, the Chinese president presented the medals himself and the mathematicians at the event got free subway passes.

I think many math teachers fantasize about teaching math in exchange for sex. In China, it might actually be possible.

[ladislav]

Well, I have experience both as a college math teacher and as an actuary. I'm sure those skills are useful wherever you go.

You should try going to China. They worship mathematicians there. When the Fields Medal ceremony was held there, the Chinese president presented the medals himself and the mathematicians at the event got free subway passes.

I think many math teachers fantasize about teaching math in exchange for sex. In China, it might actually be possible.

And the average salary would be?


Here is another thing I would recommend- become a certified IELTS examiner- contact the British Council main office- google them andn you will be employed all around the world. They pay as much as USD 500 per exam proctored and you can give 2 per week.

Just contact them and find out if you can qualify for the training course/exam.

[momopi]

http://www.ielts.org/general_pages/medi ... llion.aspx

IELTS tests over one million candidates in a year

ENGLISH LANGUAGE CERTIFICATIONS BREAK THROUGH ONE MILLION MARK IN YEAR -
TAGALOG SPEAKERS AND GERMANS SCORE BEST

For the first time ever in a single 12 month period, more than one million people around the world (or two every minute) have gained certification in the worlds most popular English language test for immigration and higher education - The International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Topping the results league table were those whose first language was Tagalog - spoken in the Philippines - with an overall score of 6.571 across the four papers (listening, reading, writing and speaking). They were closely followed by Spanish, Malay, Hindi and Tamil (spoken widely in Southern India and Sri Lanka) speakers. From a country perspective Germany tops the list - its residents scored an average of 7.16 - followed by Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia and Hong Kong.

Results also show that female candidates have the slight edge on their male counterparts with an overall score of 5.94 across the papers compared with 5.74 for men.

Just over half of those taking the test (51%) do so because they wish to enter higher education in a foreign country. An increasing number of these candidates are doing so to study in the USA with more than 1,700 universities and colleges (including Harvard and Yale) accepting IELTS scores.

Beryl Meiron, Executive Director of IELTS International in the USA said: This is the first year that IELTS has reached the one million mark and the number of candidates taking the test has more than doubled in the last three years. We believe this is a direct reflection of the fact that it gives a well rounded picture of how well a person really knows English. It covers the speaking, writing, reading and listening abilities in a way that is relevant to the real world. Its not just about giving our students a piece of paper saying they can speak English but its about proving that they have the language skills they need to operate in a work or study environment in their country of choice.

IELTS is offered in over 500 locations in 121 countries with the greatest number of tests taken in China, India, Australia, UK and Pakistan, making IELTS the most popular international English language test of its kind in the world.

IELTS is jointly managed by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

[ladislav]

By the way I have just applied to become an IELTS examiner and went for an interview. I failed it and they did not accept me into the program. Lol

[Winston]

Why do you have to take an examine to give out examines? I thought you would just hand out paper tests, pencils, erasers, and explain how to bubble in your answer. lol

What kind of questions did they ask you?