Jimmy B

scrubbedexpat141

You'll have to set up some sort of sticky in the forum with how this thing works. I'm clueless...

mikewot

Talk about stating the bleedin obvious.

Aero

I think the answer must be in this document somewhere :

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...05/rdr3_1_.pdf

It's a long read but I will look into it.

Ribbon461

Mr MM...when did you start applying for jobs?

MrMM

Hey,

I started looking for jobs from September to be honest... I was checking the TES International website almost daily and there were always jobs going! I had my first interview in October and got a job in the first week of December. I'd say most international schools do their recruiting between December and February.

Ribbon461

Oh okay so pretty soon...were you able to negotiate a good package?

Sorry for millions of questions...what do you teach and did your number of years teaching impact salary etc?

MrMM

Hey, please don't apologise... Ask me anything and hopefully I know the answer haha - I was very grateful for the help of a lot of people when I was looking for jobs
I'm a secondary music teacher here in the UK, but in Dubai I'm going to be Head of Performing Arts.
I didnt really negotiate anything. I got a job with a big chain of international schools, so I don't think they really allow for too much negotiation. I can imagine it's smaller chains or independent schools. However there was one aspect I negotiated - Ive just finished my fifth year of teaching in the UK, and they had me starting in September on their pay scale 5. I argued that it should be 6 and they amended it etc...
So that probably answers your other question as well... Each school or organisation often had its own pay scale that works adjacent to the UK one. So if you were M3, you should be starting on their pay-scale 4.

Ribbon461

Thank you so much for your replies they have been very helpful!

Next month ill start my 3rd year as a qualified teacher and be on m4...I also secured ks3 coordinator position starting in September and have been in a small pastoral role this year, which means from Sept I get paid m4, and two different trls one is a 2b and the other fixed £1500.

I'm hoping that although I haven't been teaching that long my responsibility posts will be helpful when applying, I'm a maths teacher btw in London.

Would it be possible to run through the process from applying to going out there (I presume you are there now) ie things like interviews (face to face or Skype, how many rounds), document checking and attestment, contracts etc.

Also when you applied did you have time to consider accepting or rejecting...as you know here in the UK they call you on the same day and you are expected to accept on decline pretty much straight away, if this is the case it may prevent me from shopping around, I've researched some of the schools I'd like to work at but need to wait til they begin advertising.

Again thank you so much for all your input, I really appreciate it ☺

MrMM

Certainly, your leadership experience in the UK will be really helpful in acquiring a good job abroad.

Of course, anything. So, absolutely, unlike here you do have time to accept or reject, yes. I was sent a 'Letter of offer' which included the whole package: salary, leadership bonus, accommodation, flights, shipping, healthcare etc... And I had to sign that to confirm I agreed with everything. It took me a week to do this because I wanted to check things and as mentioned earlier, I queried the pay scale I was on. Once that's signed, you will then get your official contract. That can be days or weeks after you sign the letter of offer.

As for applying, I found it very straight forward. First of all, a recruitment agent phoned me about 3 days after I applied to conduct a 'feasibility' interview. It's basically general questions about your suitability and whether they think you're available to actually move abroad and are aware of the expectations etc... I can imagine most people pass this because they wouldn't be applying if it wasn't feasible for them. After that, I had an interview in London with a headteacher of another school (they don't all fly to the UK). That was fab... And then usually you would have a Skype interview with the headteacher of your school if you didn't get to meet them and go from there. For me, I had that Skype interview but after three weeks I hadn't heard anything but then got an email to attend another interview in London for a different job. They'd decided I was better suited to a different post elsewhere... So I went to London and met the head of my school. 25 minute interview which was more him talking to me and probably just having a last minute check that I was right for the job... And then 5 days after that, I got it. I can imagine it's much the same for most people.

As for the process... There was quite a lot to do early on. I got my QTS certificate, PGCE and Undergraduate Bachelor certificates all attested. Had to have like 26 passport photos taken... But it's all fine. Some other people starting with me paid an agency to organise the attestation and stuff but it's such a waste of money! They paid loads more than me. Yeah it was a little bit more work, but it was only a matter of posting documents which the agency would do instead of you. It was all fine

Ribbon461

Mr MM...Thank you so much for your prompt, detailed and insightful replies. They have definitely been very helpful and I have understood the whole process much better now.

Sorry, I do have some more questions and feel free to PM instead...I saw in your initial post your offer was for 13500...I just wanted to ask was that your basic salary or was that including your leadership bonus? Also in regards to accommodation, are they providing you with a place, if so is it furnished or unfurnished? Or will they give you an accommodation allowance? Sorry one more question regarding the package, how much was allocated for relocation and was that an upfront payment or will you be reimbursed.

I am extremely sorry for all the questions, I am a typical 'deposit saver' person, so would like to work out would it realistic for me to save money out there.

Again many thanks for all your helpful replies!! :-)

driftingaway

Hey there. You sound similar to where I was 2 years ago. Two 'deposit savers', no kids.

We're in Abu Dhabi, but know many who have taught in both Dubai and AD and say the process is pretty much the same.

My wife's interview process sounds a bit more straightforward than Mr MM's - she had one Skype interview then was offered the job in January. Then we didn't hear from them for months, until early June! The package is AED 15k / month base salary / AED 90k / year accommodation / flights / medical insurance / £750 shipping allowance (which didn't go far) and AED 12k furniture allowance upon arrival. My wife was a 2nd in dept. in UK but dropped down to 'just a teacher' as that's what was on offer - so no leadership bonus but still not bad as teacher salaries out here go.

We were initially offered 2 bed furnished accommodation but that was changed to an allowance due to a shortage of school-owned apartments. The allowance was not nearly enough to cover a 2-bed place but we are in a huge one bed in a great spot so no complaints.

Attestation is a pain but you can do it yourself without too much drama. The hardest part was getting a fresh police check / CRB - we were asked for a 'recent CRB', so provided the most recent one my wife had been issued when she started her previous job 2 years ago. We paid over £100 to get it attested and posted to UAE, then were told we needed one less than 2 months old, so had to request a new one (the UK Gov/CRB dept itself wouldn't help at all, said you only get one when starting a new job in the UK. We had to go to Disclosure Scotland for one). Then we had to pay for the attestation again!

Different schools are better at communication and processes. My wife's school was pretty terrible, sadly, so she and her colleagues faced an uphill battle for information and it took until the end of November for her visa to come through. Others, I've heard, are far more efficient, but be prepared!

MrMM

No problem.

So, the AED13,500 is including the leadership bonus. It was around AED12,000 a month without the leadership. There are schools offering much better salaries than that, but I guess it's all about experience. I wanted to work in a new school which I could build my department in my way, and an organisation with vast amounts of experience and schools throughout the world which could open doors for me in the future, if that makes sense? So 1k AED a month less doesn't matter that much to me. Also, I can imagine I will negotiate in future for an increase in the leadership allowance... but at the moment, there is no GCSE or A level, so the pressure of examinations and results is not quite there yet. Also, there's only one other member in my department at the moment, whereas in future this will obviously get better.

Yep, they provide us with accommodation. The actual amount equates to around AED70,000 a year for a one-bed apartment or AED100,000 a year if more than one of you are coming, but given that an apartment was provided we don't see the money. I see this as better than taking the monetary value. Yeah, it's fully furnished... with everything from beds, sofas, dining tables, kitchen utensils, cooker... everything really. Like being a student again!

People use the UAE experience to save all the time. It's possible to save a lot as long as you don't need to live an overly-extravagant lifestyle. Also, don't forget that most schools offer a gratuity at the end of fulfilling their contract. So for me, as long as I complete my two year contract, I'll get gratuity at the end of it.

As for the post from driftingaway above, you'll see that different schools offer such different packages. I've noticed a difference in salary offers for Abu Dhabi compared with Dubai as well... but that may be just coincidence. As for the CRB check, my school requested a CRB within 6 months of the start date. However, the CRB system in the UK changed this year and now EMPLOYERS have to request them, not the member of staff. There is a smaller CRB process called 'DBS Scotland' (but it's available for the rest of the UK even though it's called that), which cost about £20/25 and the school approved that fine... I didn't need it attested either.

driftingaway

Yep, that's the place we used, sorry - Disclosure Scotland = DBS Scotland

I too have been told salaries are (slightly) higher in Abu Dhabi. Which is funny cos there's not half as much to spend it on

As for saving, it obviously helps if your partner has a job - we've been able to survive on my wife's aforementioned package and pocket everything I earn, just about (with the exception of buying a car etc). The set up costs were more than we expected (that 12k furniture allowance didn't go very far) but as MrMM says, we hope we'll recoup that with the completion gratuity. We're on track to have a very reasonable deposit for our first house in the UK by this time next year, I think.

Ribbon461

Wow thank you both your responses.

Mr MM..I can totally understand setting up your own department, sounds really good!! I also agree having the choice of a given accommodation is probably easier. Are you out there alone? Have you moved now?

Drifting away...thank you also for your detailed response, I will also look into jobs in AD. My fiancée (we will marry before we move) currently works for the NHS in an administrative role, I worry he will not find well paid roles out there as he didn't go to university, I really want him to secure a job before we go too but I am not if it will be as simple as that. He has experience in various sectors from travel agencies to security work and being a police officer but I'm worried about what he can do out there. I understand if you don't secure a job before going you have fierce competition from people from other nations with degrees accepting jobs for very little.

Similar to your situation if I can secure a decent package which as good as your wife's then we should use my fiancée pay etc as pocket money too. What are you currently doing out there if you don't mind me asking? Also well done on saving for your first house...something I totally admire as we work towards the same goal.

Really appreciate everyone advice and input :-)