Hi,
I'm new to the forum and my wife and I are are both experienced heads of department teaching A level in the UK with 20+ years experience running outstanding teams.
We are looking at a few years in say the UAE with the view to earning a large tax free salary to pay off our mortgages and put a bit aside for the future, we also genuinely enjoy teaching and with children growing up off to university, it would be exciting to work abroad again.
A few questions:
What would a good monthly salary in the UAE be? for an ordinary teacher and a head of subject or other middle management role?
How do ministry jobs compare to International schools? (In terms of cash,benefits, role and lifestyle?)
Any other suggestions other than UAE?
UAE What sort of salary should I expect?
Response
To start your 20+ years experience doesnt equal very much in terms of comp. The vast majority of ISs have entry caps, lower tier ISs are around 5 years, and upper tier ISs are around 10 years.
Well salary ranges in the UAE go from zero to lower 6 figures. There are volunteer "opportunities" that pay nothing, and essentially you pay for the experience. On the other end of the spectrum Tutors had two vacancies for a matched appointment that paid £150K and £180K a year in coin.
I would put the mode around £50K/yr plus a standard OSH package as comp. BSs tend to pay less coin than ASs, but there more outlier BSs that beat the average AS. Middle management appointments tend to be harder to come by as the IS is likely to only want locals in any type of management position outside of the truly international ISs. Of those that do mid management is typically something you have to work into internally. ISs will hire externally for executive leadership (HOS) positions, but anything with assistant/associate/vice/deputy in the leadership appointment is typically a local or an internal advancement, or your just being scammed and lied too. There are ITs who had contracts for leadership appointments who got to their IS and found out it was a classroom IT appointment and they are stuck holding the bag if they leave.
Ministry appointments suck, Ive never met anyone whos enthusiasm was anything more than I would describe as "tepid" most of the descriptions involve a certain degree of hostility and crying. What works for ministry positions is the coin is usually disproportionately larger than what the ITs marketability is, which is attractive to those who would otherwise be LHs anyway, but the working environment and conditions are somewhere between horrendous and horrific. To give you an idea, these are students with wasta who have and can have ITs arrested, jailed and afterwards PNGd out of the region on little more than their say so (or their parents say so).
OSH packages run the spectrum, but the devil is in the details, its easy to say that you will receive a housing benefit, and are likely to be pitched that the accommodations are sufficient to western standards, but that can mean anything or nothing. You may very well have superior housing to what you have now, or whats described as modern could be a dump, or the allowance will get you buy while everyone around you is living in flats that would significantly require expenditure from salary to maintain. Even minor benefits like "lunch" might be ina private dining room with table service, or they could be the same dishes the students eat, or they could be worse and if you want to eat better you have to pay your own coin. Ive heard of ITs whose free lunch was a flat bread, rice and a small amount of a chicken dish, while their students were eating far better.
The typival OSH package will be:
Flights: These often come with strings, provisos, restrictions and other limitations. It is rare for an IS in the ME including the UAE to outright buy the tickets, usually its on a reimbursement basis and then all kinds of shenanigans are attached to it, usually that your reimbursement isnt going to happen until later, and sometimes MUCH later (end of year end of contract). Even the relaxed and liberal ISs will give you a story about waiting at least a month to process the reimbursement.
Housing: Generally new ITs are provided housing and its only after a certain number of years of service that the option (if at all) for a housing allowance becomes available. Employers of foreigners are essentially responsible for their employees, if a foreigner IT bails on the lease for the flat the property owner will go after the IS. By the IS providing the flat they can keep them in continuous circulation without catastrophic expense, it also makes it easier to get rid of the IT if its not a good fit.
Tuition Placements: Wont be an issue with you s your children are off at uni, but tuition places usually arent an issue, as most ISs are well enough below to capacity to absorb them.
Relocation allowances: A generic category of shipping, shopping, settling in allowances and bonuses. Its difficult to get shopping instead of shipping allowances. Settling in allowances are generally not available. Essentially ISs are very weary of providing coin benefits at the start/beginning of a contract. They are much more likely and willing to provide end of term and contract bonuses or gratuities.
Social Insurance: Probably not going to be there long enough to collect any type of pension or make any significant contributions.
Health/Medical Insurance: Health care is relatively good for anything thats western, a western IS will have a plan or agreement with a local medical provider for routine care and a policy to cover major hospitalization. Though be warned that any injury or medical condition that is going to take you out of the classroom for any significant period of time is likely going to result in your dismissal and subsequent loss of medical health coverage (dont get hit by a car).
Documents: You want an IS that pays the cost of medical examinations and procuring the visa and permit. They arent trivial.
Transportation: Some form of shuttle service is typically provided to and from the IT apartments and the IS several times a day.
The last benefit are things like car/vehicle loans or borrowing programs which arent uncommon, as is a laptop for your professional and personal use. Occasionally a mobile is provided.
If coin is the focus, The Kingdom. I mean there are worse places to go than the UAE, but if coin is the focus unless you can get into Switzerland than the ME is where the high 5 and low 6 figure salaries are. Although for the same mid 5 salary range you could probably do as well in China.
Well salary ranges in the UAE go from zero to lower 6 figures. There are volunteer "opportunities" that pay nothing, and essentially you pay for the experience. On the other end of the spectrum Tutors had two vacancies for a matched appointment that paid £150K and £180K a year in coin.
I would put the mode around £50K/yr plus a standard OSH package as comp. BSs tend to pay less coin than ASs, but there more outlier BSs that beat the average AS. Middle management appointments tend to be harder to come by as the IS is likely to only want locals in any type of management position outside of the truly international ISs. Of those that do mid management is typically something you have to work into internally. ISs will hire externally for executive leadership (HOS) positions, but anything with assistant/associate/vice/deputy in the leadership appointment is typically a local or an internal advancement, or your just being scammed and lied too. There are ITs who had contracts for leadership appointments who got to their IS and found out it was a classroom IT appointment and they are stuck holding the bag if they leave.
Ministry appointments suck, Ive never met anyone whos enthusiasm was anything more than I would describe as "tepid" most of the descriptions involve a certain degree of hostility and crying. What works for ministry positions is the coin is usually disproportionately larger than what the ITs marketability is, which is attractive to those who would otherwise be LHs anyway, but the working environment and conditions are somewhere between horrendous and horrific. To give you an idea, these are students with wasta who have and can have ITs arrested, jailed and afterwards PNGd out of the region on little more than their say so (or their parents say so).
OSH packages run the spectrum, but the devil is in the details, its easy to say that you will receive a housing benefit, and are likely to be pitched that the accommodations are sufficient to western standards, but that can mean anything or nothing. You may very well have superior housing to what you have now, or whats described as modern could be a dump, or the allowance will get you buy while everyone around you is living in flats that would significantly require expenditure from salary to maintain. Even minor benefits like "lunch" might be ina private dining room with table service, or they could be the same dishes the students eat, or they could be worse and if you want to eat better you have to pay your own coin. Ive heard of ITs whose free lunch was a flat bread, rice and a small amount of a chicken dish, while their students were eating far better.
The typival OSH package will be:
Flights: These often come with strings, provisos, restrictions and other limitations. It is rare for an IS in the ME including the UAE to outright buy the tickets, usually its on a reimbursement basis and then all kinds of shenanigans are attached to it, usually that your reimbursement isnt going to happen until later, and sometimes MUCH later (end of year end of contract). Even the relaxed and liberal ISs will give you a story about waiting at least a month to process the reimbursement.
Housing: Generally new ITs are provided housing and its only after a certain number of years of service that the option (if at all) for a housing allowance becomes available. Employers of foreigners are essentially responsible for their employees, if a foreigner IT bails on the lease for the flat the property owner will go after the IS. By the IS providing the flat they can keep them in continuous circulation without catastrophic expense, it also makes it easier to get rid of the IT if its not a good fit.
Tuition Placements: Wont be an issue with you s your children are off at uni, but tuition places usually arent an issue, as most ISs are well enough below to capacity to absorb them.
Relocation allowances: A generic category of shipping, shopping, settling in allowances and bonuses. Its difficult to get shopping instead of shipping allowances. Settling in allowances are generally not available. Essentially ISs are very weary of providing coin benefits at the start/beginning of a contract. They are much more likely and willing to provide end of term and contract bonuses or gratuities.
Social Insurance: Probably not going to be there long enough to collect any type of pension or make any significant contributions.
Health/Medical Insurance: Health care is relatively good for anything thats western, a western IS will have a plan or agreement with a local medical provider for routine care and a policy to cover major hospitalization. Though be warned that any injury or medical condition that is going to take you out of the classroom for any significant period of time is likely going to result in your dismissal and subsequent loss of medical health coverage (dont get hit by a car).
Documents: You want an IS that pays the cost of medical examinations and procuring the visa and permit. They arent trivial.
Transportation: Some form of shuttle service is typically provided to and from the IT apartments and the IS several times a day.
The last benefit are things like car/vehicle loans or borrowing programs which arent uncommon, as is a laptop for your professional and personal use. Occasionally a mobile is provided.
If coin is the focus, The Kingdom. I mean there are worse places to go than the UAE, but if coin is the focus unless you can get into Switzerland than the ME is where the high 5 and low 6 figure salaries are. Although for the same mid 5 salary range you could probably do as well in China.
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Physicsisfun
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2018 6:50 am
Re: UAE What sort of salary should I expect?
Many thanks for your help.
Sounds a bit Wild West...
I worked in Egypt and Hungary 1989-91 but I have probably got a bit soft and tend to believe what I'm told and think the best of people. Might be worth re evaluating that approach from what you say.
Can you clarify what you mean by the below? entry caps ? comp?
"To start your 20+ years experience doesnt equal very much in terms of comp. The vast majority of ISs have entry caps, lower tier ISs are around 5 years, and upper tier ISs are around 10 years."
and what are Lh's
In my defense it is my first post on the forum and I guessed the other abbreviations.
Any further advice on UAE or KSA appreciated.
Sounds a bit Wild West...
I worked in Egypt and Hungary 1989-91 but I have probably got a bit soft and tend to believe what I'm told and think the best of people. Might be worth re evaluating that approach from what you say.
Can you clarify what you mean by the below? entry caps ? comp?
"To start your 20+ years experience doesnt equal very much in terms of comp. The vast majority of ISs have entry caps, lower tier ISs are around 5 years, and upper tier ISs are around 10 years."
and what are Lh's
In my defense it is my first post on the forum and I guessed the other abbreviations.
Any further advice on UAE or KSA appreciated.
Re: UAE What sort of salary should I expect?
Schools have step levels for what your salary will be. Even though you have 20 years of teaching experience, they will enter you at a lower level on their pay scale. For example my partner and I have 9 years of teaching experience, but with our move we entered at a year 7 pay step.
Reply
@mignash
IE has really exploded in the last 25 years, its not like it was back in the early 90s where recruiting was done remotely by recruiters for reclusive boarding DSs and embassy ISs. Now an IS is little more than an independent/private DS for locals with coin who want a western edu. There is little if any regulation and what regulation there is can be extremely difficult for ITs to enforce.
Comp = Compensation, the sum of salary and benefits.
ISs have two types of comp, salary scales closed and open. In brief a closed scale is unpublished, usually kept secret from staff with various warnings about discussing your comp with other staff. In these systems their are guidelines for salary offers but leadership and recruiters and incentivized to get an IT to an appointment for the least amount of coin they think they can get. Open scales are generally published or at least available to the IT to examine. They are divided into a grip or spreadsheet with two predominate factors: Step or years of credible experience and Band or academic degree level. Thats the basic format, some ISs have the equivalent of an MPS and a UPS. Some have seniority steps or discretionary steps. Some have only bands for Bachelors and Advance degrees some break it down into less than bachelors, bachelors, masters, doctorate. Some have a band for credentialed and un-credentialed. Some define step as a year some as two years. Some offer TLR, some do not.
Entry cap means that there is a maximum limit or step on experience that an IS will count towards salary for a new "entering" IT. If an IS has a cap at step 5 then any years of experience regardless of how many beyond 5 places the IT at step 5 on the step scale. In your case with an IS at step 5 your 20+ years experience is the same salary as an IT with 5 years of experience.
LH = Local Hire, generally the comp package will be salary and medical/health plus social insurance, and perhaps a tuition place in the IS.
IE has really exploded in the last 25 years, its not like it was back in the early 90s where recruiting was done remotely by recruiters for reclusive boarding DSs and embassy ISs. Now an IS is little more than an independent/private DS for locals with coin who want a western edu. There is little if any regulation and what regulation there is can be extremely difficult for ITs to enforce.
Comp = Compensation, the sum of salary and benefits.
ISs have two types of comp, salary scales closed and open. In brief a closed scale is unpublished, usually kept secret from staff with various warnings about discussing your comp with other staff. In these systems their are guidelines for salary offers but leadership and recruiters and incentivized to get an IT to an appointment for the least amount of coin they think they can get. Open scales are generally published or at least available to the IT to examine. They are divided into a grip or spreadsheet with two predominate factors: Step or years of credible experience and Band or academic degree level. Thats the basic format, some ISs have the equivalent of an MPS and a UPS. Some have seniority steps or discretionary steps. Some have only bands for Bachelors and Advance degrees some break it down into less than bachelors, bachelors, masters, doctorate. Some have a band for credentialed and un-credentialed. Some define step as a year some as two years. Some offer TLR, some do not.
Entry cap means that there is a maximum limit or step on experience that an IS will count towards salary for a new "entering" IT. If an IS has a cap at step 5 then any years of experience regardless of how many beyond 5 places the IT at step 5 on the step scale. In your case with an IS at step 5 your 20+ years experience is the same salary as an IT with 5 years of experience.
LH = Local Hire, generally the comp package will be salary and medical/health plus social insurance, and perhaps a tuition place in the IS.
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Physicsisfun
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2018 6:50 am
Re: UAE What sort of salary should I expect?
I really appreciate you taking the time to explain. I'm on a steep learning curve
Thank you once again.
I'm considering a cluster leader post with the ministry. The post has a list of responsibilities as long as my arm- multiplied by ten schools. I expect to work hard and earn my salary, but on the other hand I wouldn't want to spend every day stuck in traffic and every night writing reports trying to cover the work of two people. Sounds like I need to do my background research thoroughly and be very sharp on what is promised vs what turns up on the contract.
Thank you once again.
I'm considering a cluster leader post with the ministry. The post has a list of responsibilities as long as my arm- multiplied by ten schools. I expect to work hard and earn my salary, but on the other hand I wouldn't want to spend every day stuck in traffic and every night writing reports trying to cover the work of two people. Sounds like I need to do my background research thoroughly and be very sharp on what is promised vs what turns up on the contract.
Discussion
@Physicsisfun
More importantly you need to have an exit strategy. Job specs for ministry appointments tend to be a collection of every task compiled over years, decades of rewrites. It could be a soulless never ending grind where you spend a quarter (or more) of your time writing status updates and documenting why youre behind on a task list that is simply the job for two (or more people) and youre simply the designated blame pawn for every and all failure (blame the foreigner). On the other side of the coin it could be an appointment thats a massive dawdle, you read some emails, you write some emails, you approve a few documents and spend the rest of the day drinking tea and watching cat videos, because youre really just the token foreigner in leadership who has no authority and no real tasks that are important to anyone, when you realize all the things youre supposed to do, is really just busy work to give you something to do (mouse meet wheel).
IT Jane needs 600 colored pencils for map work and has submitted her request in triplicate which has been returned by the business office several times as lacking the proper order number and a need by date that was before listed as "ASAP" and then "NOW" but now has a proper date. One of your many job tasks is to review and either approve or deny the request which will then go to a senior member of leadership for approval or denial, you review the request and approve it, and walk down the hall to the senior leadership members receptionist and drop it off, a week later the IT writes you an email asking how the students are supposed to do quality map work without colored pencils as the request is denied, which you have no answer too except to apologize, as you know nothing. Many months later you learn that all faculty initiated requests are denied, and the reason is simple, if ITs really need it they will spend their own coin or they will change the lesson, and both solutions are cheaper than buying the materials. Your job is insulation, a sound and irritation dampening barrier with a face, whose real purpose is to contend with the annoyances that would otherwise bother the leadership that really matter. Such a job may be frustrating until you discover that the job is much easier and actually enjoyable if you simply stop caring, and perfect a shrug of indifference. A lot of ITs would like that job, since cat videos and drinking tea pays the same coin as doing the impossibly long list of tasks no one cares about.
So exit strategy.
More importantly you need to have an exit strategy. Job specs for ministry appointments tend to be a collection of every task compiled over years, decades of rewrites. It could be a soulless never ending grind where you spend a quarter (or more) of your time writing status updates and documenting why youre behind on a task list that is simply the job for two (or more people) and youre simply the designated blame pawn for every and all failure (blame the foreigner). On the other side of the coin it could be an appointment thats a massive dawdle, you read some emails, you write some emails, you approve a few documents and spend the rest of the day drinking tea and watching cat videos, because youre really just the token foreigner in leadership who has no authority and no real tasks that are important to anyone, when you realize all the things youre supposed to do, is really just busy work to give you something to do (mouse meet wheel).
IT Jane needs 600 colored pencils for map work and has submitted her request in triplicate which has been returned by the business office several times as lacking the proper order number and a need by date that was before listed as "ASAP" and then "NOW" but now has a proper date. One of your many job tasks is to review and either approve or deny the request which will then go to a senior member of leadership for approval or denial, you review the request and approve it, and walk down the hall to the senior leadership members receptionist and drop it off, a week later the IT writes you an email asking how the students are supposed to do quality map work without colored pencils as the request is denied, which you have no answer too except to apologize, as you know nothing. Many months later you learn that all faculty initiated requests are denied, and the reason is simple, if ITs really need it they will spend their own coin or they will change the lesson, and both solutions are cheaper than buying the materials. Your job is insulation, a sound and irritation dampening barrier with a face, whose real purpose is to contend with the annoyances that would otherwise bother the leadership that really matter. Such a job may be frustrating until you discover that the job is much easier and actually enjoyable if you simply stop caring, and perfect a shrug of indifference. A lot of ITs would like that job, since cat videos and drinking tea pays the same coin as doing the impossibly long list of tasks no one cares about.
So exit strategy.
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Physicsisfun
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2018 6:50 am
Re: UAE What sort of salary should I expect?
With my experience of Egyptian ministries/civil service....That thought had occurred to me.
Though not as eloquently ....
I can do cat videos for a year but I think even with the coin it could start to drag..:-)
I need to find an expat who is actually doing it.
Though not as eloquently ....
I can do cat videos for a year but I think even with the coin it could start to drag..:-)
I need to find an expat who is actually doing it.
Reply
@Physicsisfun
Well then you make a little pet project initiative for yourself, like libraries in classrooms, you create a little resource nook with books from the library on the relevant teaching topic for that unit for all your classrooms, and monitor and cycle the books as topics change, while tracking what gets used and what doesnt (the tracking is super easy, no one will use it, youll fit a whole years worth of lending school wide on a single page of A4), then you write up a nice little paper on it at the end of the year with some graphs, and give it a bullet point on your resume. Or you could do maths or reading across the curriculum, or a little study on health and nutrition in the canteen. Some little pet project initiative.
After cat videos its building ships in bottles.
Well then you make a little pet project initiative for yourself, like libraries in classrooms, you create a little resource nook with books from the library on the relevant teaching topic for that unit for all your classrooms, and monitor and cycle the books as topics change, while tracking what gets used and what doesnt (the tracking is super easy, no one will use it, youll fit a whole years worth of lending school wide on a single page of A4), then you write up a nice little paper on it at the end of the year with some graphs, and give it a bullet point on your resume. Or you could do maths or reading across the curriculum, or a little study on health and nutrition in the canteen. Some little pet project initiative.
After cat videos its building ships in bottles.