Hi fredxo8,

Thanks for the information, well done with the job hope it goes well for you.

Its great that there are opportunities for women there as you said, as for the abaya i have a couple already and would happily wear hijab as im half tunisian, so i have a good idea of what ksa is like.

All the Best.

Latifa

Hi Fred,

It's great that you will be closer to visit your mother. I don't know anything about visas in Saudi but I would check that it is legal to work on a business Visa.I'm sure it is but no harm in checking.

I'm sure you'll have a great experience. Good luck!

Amy

Hi Amy,

Thank you. i think i am expecting a starting date BTW 20th and 25th of his month and they want me to be on the ground by mid October. in my mind a set myself a tentative departure date falling on 15 or 16 October. i should have the visa by Tuesday next week and then i will have to notify the agent on order to proceed with the flight booking. so i am really looking at 10 to 11 days before i fly and i get this feeling it is going to come very quickly.

i was thinking a lot about the lesson plans and teaching materials i will need and you are right i will ask the head teacher there which is by the way is the university of kind Saud. i do want to make sure that i am prepared and be feeling confident with what i am going to teach.

it looks like i am going on a government visit visa which is fast and eliminates the need to produce a degree upon applying for a visa...God must have had pity on me; he has removed that obstacle for me. it was them who asked me if i agree to come on such a visa and a very big smile engulfed my face saying to myself'yeah baby,that's just fine by me'.lol...no degree, no problem this time.

it really is a miracle Amy, this trip means a lot to me; it will bring me to a place where i will be 2 hours away from my mother. she lives in a nursery in Lebanon and is really on her last legs. she suffered a stroke a few years back and i want so much to spend some precious time with her before it is too late. i haven't seen her for 30 years.

i welcome any advice from you and if it is ok i can email you the preliminary contract for to have look at.

i will keep you posted here and when i get to saudi; i am sure i will have a few pictures to share with you.

take care

Fred

Hi Fred,

Congratulations! That is fantastic news. When do you start? I eould check to see what materials and resources the school has before you try packing your bag with everything under the sun! At least you know the age group of your students so you can target the materials you take for that level. make sure you send me an update when you get there and let me know how you're getting on. Make sure you pack the sunscreen-it will be extremely hot there. Good luck Fred!

Amy

Hi Fred,

Well done on the interview! Dont worry too much about the visa, but just be ready to start organsing everything in case they want you to leave soon. If you have more questions maybe have them ready to ask when you get your next call. Its very exciting! Keep me updated.

Regards,

Amy

Oops, sorry to scare you she replied for the typing mistake. she apologised and said that they will refer and support my application to their client.

Would you know what usually happens afterwards? would i be expecting an email with a contract attached to it? or should i expect a phone call from the employer that is if they decided to hire me? I am a little nervous because the job starts on 18 september according to the ad:  http://www.tesolanz.org.nz/Site/Noticeboard/Jobs.aspx#H48051-12 and i;m not sure how long the visa will take to get and so on and etc... so many questions bombarding my mind, lol

Hi AmyO.

I am not sure if you are able to see my journal entry about Saudi AArabia but in case you can't I thought to let you what happened today:

Just as I was losing hope in getting any further contact, today I am happy to tell you that I had my first ever video call interview through Skype! Hooray! and the good thing is that it all went better than I excpected. The interview lasted for 15 minutes and surprisingly it only felt like 5. Hopefully that's a good sign.

I was interviewed by a woman from Plan-it Productions 2 and most questions were more about why I became a TEFL teacher,my feelings about working in Saudi Arabia and my commitments at home.

The recruitmant officer then told me that I will get another phone call but this one will be a brief one and then the wait for a green light I hope.

I'll keep you posted as I am keeping my fingers crossed...

Have a good day

Hi Fred,

Great news about the interview! Each interview can be different but phone interviews can be good becuase you can have your CV and some notes on hand-as long as you dont sound like you are reading straight from the notes! I have been asked grammar q's in some interviews so it might be useful to have some sentence structures on hand if you are asked. They may also ask you 'situation' q's like "what would be the first 3 things you would do in a class of beginner students" etc You should also know your skills and attributes so you can demonstrate why you would be an excellent English teacher.

Good luck Fred - let me know how it goes!

Amy

Hi AmyO,

Thanks for your feedback. In a way I am glad that you too never came across this QTS certificate as I thought it may sounded like a stupid question to ask. Anyway I also did some googling and found out that it usually applies to the UK and US; a license that allows you to teach in public schools but as I digged deaper into it, I got lost in translation... Anyway, I am happy to let you know that after applying for a teaching job in Saudi Arabia last Friday, I received a phone call from a recruitment specialist and although he caught me a little off guard, he said to expect a second call from a company called Bell for a second and final interview.

As you can imagine I am very excited about it all and honestly for the past2 nights I haven't slept very well, ha. I was wondering if you can give me some advice on what to expect from a phone interview like what questions I should expect or maybe if there is a site where i can go to that will help me better prepare myself.

I am sorry to be asking you constantly for advice; I have started a new journal entry as I thought my comments would be viewed by everybody. I feel bad if I know it's only I am bothering

Thanks again for your advice

Fred

Hi Fred,

I have never heard of this QTS certificate before but I googled it and it appears it is an English thing. Follow this link for some more info on it: http://www.gtce.org.uk/registration/obtaining_qts/qts_faqs/

I would also contact an education board to ask if Australia has an equivilent to this certifcation. I would also request more information from the school in Taiwan about it.

Good luck!