Agree with all of the above: Check your spam, call HR. I was hired mid January and have received and sent documents via Fed Ex and will hopefully be sending my background check (police report) in soon. Housing and tech have been in contact as well. Depending on what country you are currently in, some things can take a very long time.

While much of what Nomad68 rings true, I'd like to add a second opinion on a few points. A single person's rent is $6,000 and then the rent increases by the size of the house. At times, a person might have to live in a bigger villa if one is not available for their family size. The employee will never have to pay more than 25% of his/her salary to rent.

I am not sure what Nomad68 meant about the two worlds of KAUST, the university & facility and community, but I find it great. There are opportunities within the university for us and a large group of people to socialize with that aren't in the school (not that the teachers are not fun to socialize with ;))

I think the students are quite similar to students I taught in the US, Brazil, and Hungary, parents as well. I have never felt that any of the stay at home wives (Arab or not), complain any more that in any other place as well. I feel fortunate to be sharing a campus with many Arabs (not only Saudi); this provides many opportunities for us. It is true that we need to be respectful of the host country (ie, no short shorts or spaghetti straps), but isn't that true of any country we choose to be visitors in?

As far as turnover, I think there are 6 teachers leaving this year. As far as working hard and big brother watching...hasn't felt any different than any other school I have worked at.

Like I said, this is just another opinion.

Agree with the above. Get contact numbers. I had to find a former principal through her daughter on FB.

I agree with DeeDee, sid, and Heytech,

I beilieve Heytech's lesson is worth repeating "...never accept a position you aren't 100% sure of, to the extent that you're still looking around." Before I left for the London Fair, the biggest piece of advice my very experienced friends gave to me was "It is okay to leave the fair without a job. There is plenty of time." Yes, it was hard to accept, but I know it was great advice.

My pleasure.

Any information on how it is for expat kids? Will they have many playmates? Are there many American kids that attend KAUST?

Around 65% of the kids are expats. There are plenty of playmates, especially for the younger ones. There are 10 sections of 3, 4, 5, and 6 year old classrooms. 2nd-5th grade has 5-7 sections of each grade. Smaller amounts in the secondary, but many friends to be had. Plenty to do 2 recreation centers that offer clubs & such, a beach with water activities, movies, bowling...


How long do people typically stay?

This is KAUST's 5th year and there are people who are staying for number 6, and people who have left after 2. Doesn't seem different than other places I have worked.

How is the shopping for foods can we get some staple items from home?

You can get most things. Some things, fresh berries, will cost you. After all, they come from half way around the world. The salary more than compensates for that.

Does shipping cover all items that we ship?

Depends on what you bring. You don't need much (furnished housing and all). Many people can ship all their things.

Do women have drivers for leaving the compound?
Women and men who don't drive need to arrange for taxi's when they want to leave campus. You have to plan a bit ahead to make sure one is available.

How is the education? PYP, MYP, DP

Congratulations schoolcounselor. I will respond to this post for others who have the same question...

If your dog is part of your family, like schoolcounselor and me, be upfront about it from the first minute. It is a deal breaker, and don't waste your or anyone else's time.

For example, I was super excited to have a handful of interview requests in my folder when I got to the Search London Fair last week, only to have to go to 7 tables and politely decline simply because they have 6 month quarantines for dogs upon arrival in their countries.

At interview tables, I ask about housing straight away. I have been told by admin that they respect the fact that I respect their time and check this out in advance. I even had a previous post bend the housing rules for me since I was up front with them from the beginning and we could get a head start on paperwork and housing issues.

Good luck to everyone who has chosen to make their pet a priority; my pooch is off to his 5th country in July ;)

I did get responses. A few before I signed up for a fair and more after I signed up for a fair (just days before the fair).

I guess I will chime in my fair experience as well, even though it isn't over for me yet. Taking the evening to do that extra bit of research and comparisons of the offers I received and will decide tomorrow.

This is my fourth fair and I was very disappointed by the interview sign up area. There was at most three meters of space between two rows of tables so it was very difficult for people to form lines or maintain them with people also trying to simply walk by. I was fortunate to have some invites, so I could skip some lines, but you could tell how frustrated people were.

I agree with the comment that people were very upbeat on the interview days, sharing experiences and discussing decisions to be made. It was nice that Search gave us a list of candidates and what country we were living in. I had several people contact me with questions about where I live. It was good to be able to give them the pros and cons from an "outsiders" viewpoint.

Good fair, good people. Now just to make that final decision....

I am envious of you BlueJay. I am just heading to the airport now. Red eye to London...Hope not to be too Red eyed for Day 1. Good Luck.

PsychBean, I think I sent you a pm...I am new at this message board. If you didn't get it, PM me with questions.

I am feeling the same way as I see positions of interested getting filled. I keep reminding myself that the person filling that position might be opening one up that could also be of interested to me. Some schools in Europe don't need to turn their contracts in until late January or February, so there are more possibilities. It is my fourth job fair, and I still get this anxious feeling watching positions come and go. I guess it is the excitement of it all.

Oops forgot to comment about the car. The campus is quite small, so most people ride bikes or scooters to get around. If you are male, you might want to get a car to drive to Jeddah or take trips in the Kingdom.

The housing is quite nice overall, but there have been cases of mold and pipes leaking here and there. Then you need to bug the housing department to get repairs done. Rents are about: 1 bedroom USD$550, 2 bedroom $660ish, 3 bedroom $800ish. As of now, utilities are free, that may change in the future. The school has a many ESL students, so you will need to be skilled in differentiation. I don't have exact figures on nationalities, but it somewhere about 45% Saudis, 10% N. Americans....This is difficult. I believe we have over 70 nationalities represented. Hope this helps.

The base salary for 2013-2014 is a decrease from the first four years.