Accepted a job at King Khalid University (KKU) any advice?

The university is awesome....a lot of fun and very laid back. The students are mostly Saudi and vary from extremely beginners (like...little to no English) to advanced students.

You'll have to teach English majors and non English majors....Of course, the english majors are more motivated and have a higher competency level.

Ummm....there's the LEP (Language Enhancement Program)...its sort of a place for students to hang out and practice their skills...or just chit chat...ask question...etc...

Thank you for your message. Can i ask, are you still there? Know anything about living etc.

Yes, I'm still here.

What exactly about living do you wish to know....

I have spoken to another expat and they say it is difficult to find a furnished apartment for 12months?
Are the quality of the apartments good?
what are the price ranges? sorry, i understand you're not an estate agent though it is difficult to find information on these stuff.
I am a single male on my own, so not looking for anything big.
Lastly, are there certain areas i should aim for and any i should avoid?

It's not difficult...you pretty much have to be in "the know". Everything here for the most part works word of mouth.

There are many furnished apts here, the only issue would be summer vacation. The rent is tripled in the summer due to the increase of tourists.

Price range...you really get what you pay for. LOL...you can find something to suit your needs starting at least round 15,000SR for the year, which would be covered by the university.

Ummmm...neighborhoods here vary...I can't tell you any of the names of "bad neighborhoods", but its better to stay close to the university, at least until your situate transportation.

I know a few nice spot in my neighborhood looking to rent, but my neighborhood is kind of pricey.

Its worth it though, because I have kids. The neighborhood I live in is very quiet, as many parks and many classes at the local Masjid (if you're interested in studying Islam)...

The name of the neighborhood is Al Mansak. Check it out when you arrive...its one of the best here, but its very family oriented. Saudi is very family oriented for the most part..LOL.

Cheaper neighborhoods are noisy, dirty, you run the risk of theft...typical poor neighborhood things I guess....

Whats your price range...

Hi,

Last year while I was in Saudi KKU offered me a job of lecturer on MOHE letter pad in their computer science department. I was quite happy to start off a new work life at ABHA. I returned to my home country on final exit having accepted their offer but they didn't send me VISA yet. They just betrayed/decieved me. I mailed them so many times for following up and called them for many times from here  but NO RESPONSE. It is not FAIR.

I saw a bunch of your posts.  I was set to be hired in the fall, but I now am set for January.  I wonder if I could contact you when I get here to introduce me to somebody who could help me get set up, possibly a reliable taxi driver who could help me look for places to live, rent a car, and simply show me around a little.

Note I have tried to take a "If God wills attitude" so I was not surprised when I did not get hired in the fall.  I understood that it might take longer, and have tried to be patient,.

I will be an assistant professor of linguistics.

Thanks,
Bruce Josephson

@leopard50 hey I was interviewed in the month of Oct 2022 for the post assistant professor. I got initial offer letter that time but since then I haven't received any other communication from them. How much time do they usually take for hiring process?

Hello Sheikhz,

Welcome to expat.com!

Kindly note that the member leopard50 has been inactive since the past 7 years.

In case you have any questions, you can ask them on the Saudi Arabia forum for more visibility.

Cheers,

Yoginee

Expat.com team

@aa1990 advice I was given as a young professional and I live by it.

If you sign the contract that means you have accepted ALL terms. All salary.

So when you get there and you hear others are making more or living better, you can't say anything.

If you don't like the contract. Don't sign it.

Everywhere you go will be a challenge. Depending on who you are is how you will handle it.

Someone from a poor African country who gets a teaching job in Saudi may think it's the greatest opportunity

in their life. And it very may well be.

Someone from the West may think, bullocks this sucks. And it very may well.

All depends on your life history and tolerance level. Do you want to live somewhere you can 'tolerate'?  Or do you

want to live somewhere you can thrive intellectually and emotionally?

If you can live in a limited box with no sides, Saudi may be for you.

If you can't ....you can't.

@Sheikhz Hi I checked your message. I'm glad to know you are also moving to a public university in KSA.

My application is also under process in a public university in Riyadh since October. In my case the HR staff is saying because the public university can't directly hire foreign faculty. First the univ needs to get approval from MoHE and ministry of social development and HR to check and get approval if their is no qualified saudi for the open position. Once they have the approval the rest is easy although visa processing may take some time.

For my case the univ is trying to obtain approval from MoHE and ministry of social developmentand HR. I heard these approvals may take 6 to 12 months.

@aa1990 hello are u still working there?

@??? ???? Hey r u still living in saudi arabia?

@johnchen1894 did you get anything from them yet?

@Sheikhz Still waiting. I asked again few days back. The university replied they are waiting for approvals from ministries before proceeding to work visa. They replied in past these approvals took 6 to 18 months.