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[Need a Full-time job]

Hi everyone,
I read through all the posts, and couldn't find anything specifically on teaching English in the United Arab Emirates, but I hope some of you can help me. I'm a Canadian who just finished a PH.D. in English last term, and I'm now applying for "real" full-time jobs. I'm scared, of course, of not getting anything! Although I had great adjunct experience at three solid universities (American and Canadian), including a big-ten school, I don't have much in the way of publications (one piece of fiction in a respected academic online journal). I know I have to get cracking on that; I'm late as it is.
Anyway, I had applied to a university in the UAE, and just received an emailed request for a videoconferenced interview. I was so happy to get it; I happened to visit a Canadian friend working in Dubai last year, and was completely surprised by the Western feel of the city. It seems completely open, as opposed to what I think Saudi Arabia might be like.
So my question is about what I should expect in the interview. Besides the novelty of the videoconferencing, and the overseas position, this will be my first REAL interview. I wonder how many applicants they bother to interview? At this stage, will it be more dependent on my personality, how I am to get along with/work with? I mean, they already have my CV (with its unimpressive publication). Is it possible I have a shot at a job with a real salary??
Another question I had was about salary--on the application form, I was forced to put down a number, and I'm afraid I might have undershot it. Can I pretend it was a typo (if it comes up)? I think I might have put in US$ 35 thousand--any suggestion as to the rightness or wrongness of that number? Now, I'm thinking I should have made it $40,000. Then again, the tax-free thing, with paid accomodation, etc., will make it worth it for me. Well, any full-time job is worth it for me!
Anyway, I have so many questions coming to mind. If anyone happens to have had some experience with UAE interviewing, or even teaching English in a uni there, please write. I would appreciate any help you can give me.
Thank you so much.
Wanna-be Full-Timer

[David]

Full-Timer (you will be):

I haven't worked in the UAE, but I have been 5 years down the road in Oman. Just to comment on a couple of things - yes, you probably undershot what they would pay you (though benefits are usually very good, as you seem to know). Oman is cheap by comparison. I started as a low-level Asst. Prof at about $25000 US Dollars a year, plus benefits. The word I hear is that UAE is usually 50% higher than here. So...well, I think you could have gone for 40. Maybe I'm pushing it.

I think your odds are very good. They need people around here, and I'm sure your background is fine. Interview: just be yourself. That's good enough.

Yes, you are right. UAE is not Saudi Arabia. It can be surprisingly wild I've heard.

I have some other friends up there. If you would like, I might be able to get someone to talk to you more specifically about it. In any case, best wishes.

David

[iamwithyou]

I need your help, please.  Can you tell me anything good or bad about working at Dhofar University in Oman?  Is it a "good"  (a relative word, I know) place to work?  Is the community "good?"  Would you enjoy working and living there?  Would my wife be comfortable there--we lived in Saudi Arabia for 2 years?

[poincare]

Hello,

I can't comment on UAE or Oman, but in 2005 my wife and I were working in the Mideast in Amman, Jordan. Several of our friends were "international" and we all had varying experiences. However, I would say once you ventured outside the city walls, life became very hostile towards foreigners (Caucasians). Jordanians tended to think of themselves as "liberal," for a Muslim country, but I found the situation much different. We ended up leaving because of the US diplomat that was shot dead, and I can sincerely say we don't regret it.

Perhaps in a different time we might have appreciated the region better, but all this post-9/11 era put a kink into a lot of things.

If you are non-political, relatively interested in the Mideast, and know some Arabic you might be successful and find it an interesting place to live.  If you are married, your wife might not enjoy living in such a country because almost all of her friends will be ex-pats and there is not much opportunity for her to explore or work in the sense-of-freedom that she would have in Europe or the USA.

Just my thoughts.

[abuflletcher]

Personally, I'd take Oman as a place to live over the UAE any day!  But I suppose that depends on the individual.  I spend most of my free time in Oman photographing the interesting people, wadi-bashing, camping in the beach, and hiking in the mountains.  But if what you prefer to do is shop, lounge at "beach clubs" and go out for a drink, the UAE is generally a better option.

But even there it depends on where.  If you happen to end up in Al-Ain on the UAE/Oman border it'll be an hour drive into all of that "entertainment."  Al-Ain itself is pretty dull and the only thing to really recommend it is its proximity to destinations in Oman.  Abu Dhabi is pretty sterile.  Dubai is where the action is but traffic is now horrendous and housing costs are reportedly outstripping housing allowances.

I spend 12 years in the Gulf and honestly the only place I'd want to be going back to at this point is Oman.

[promotion]

I moved out of UAE last September. Traffic is horrible. Inflation is sky-rising. Laws and policies arent getting favorable for expats. $40000 is good if you live on campus.

[abuflletcher]

The UAE is also currently being flooded with applications from expats (or expat wannabes) who no long see Saudi as a safe option.  That makes it a buyers market. 

Not most employers in the UAE see a job in Saudi as cause for rejection since Saudi has over the years gained a reputation (perhaps unfairly, perhaps not) as a place for "losers."  Certainly spending more than a year or so in Saudi can brand you forever in the world of Gulf employment.