ESL Without Degree

Hello Frendz,

Welcome to EB,

There are a lot of female English Language Teachers on this forum and I am sure they will give you an input based on their experience.

From your message I gather you are in the middle of a BA or  (BSc in case it is Economics or similar field)  Degree course in Ireland and thinking of having a break to start a carrier in Saudi Arabia.

My suggestion is that you must complete your degree first along with the other popular certifications ( in addition to CELTA, there have been numerous threads on this subject in the recent past and you can read the comments by using the search option on the top).

i hear that it is possible but usually not at UNI level. Try language centers.

Thank you for your reply riazcdki but as I said I can not complete the degree this year. I have searched previous forums and all of them seem to be people advising to get a degree or search previous forums, hence my post here...

Thank you Rareshine! I will look into language centers now, thank you very much!

Frendz,

You may explore two more options:

a) A UK  degree with 'distance learning' , There are a few known British Universities which offer these courses and their transcript does not specify if the course was taken as a full time or mostly on-line.

b) You may get your self enrolled at a Saudi University while you are teaching in the same city, I believe our friend Rareshine was once considering taking such course, she could be your best advisor on this option.

Thank you but I am only one semester away from obtaining my degree. I do not want to start again and I am not in a position to go back for the semester just yet. My question only relates to working here while taking a one year leave of absence from my university.

Holy smokes! OP mentioned twice that it's not possible to go back and finish the degree and here you are recommending other options

Reading owns a lot of people on EB!

riazcdki wrote:

Frendz,

You may explore two more options:

a) A UK  degree with 'distance learning' , There are a few known British Universities which offer these courses and their transcript does not specify if the course was taken as a full time or mostly on-line.

b) You may get your self enrolled at a Saudi University while you are teaching in the same city, I believe our friend Rareshine was once considering taking such course, she could be your best advisor on this option.

Brother Hamudi,

Please note that Frendz is studying for a degree in Ireland and the two options I had suggested are theoretically possible while she is working and living in Saudi Arabia.

I had insisted on completing the degree because in my experience ( of dozens of friends and family members) , once the education was discontinued, it was never completed.

It is Frendz's choice how she wants to prioritize her decisions in life!

Don't worry, I will go back in one year to finish my degree there was no question about that but thanks for the advice anyway! I want to finish it from an Irish college.

I see you suggest finishing it while working but my how do I work without it?

riazcdki wrote:

Brother Hamudi,

Please note that Frendz is studying for a degree in Ireland and the two options I had suggested are theoretically possible while she is working and living in Saudi Arabia.

I had insisted on completing the degree because in my experience ( of dozens of friends and family members) , once the education was discontinued, it was never completed.

It is Frendz's choice how she wants to prioritize her decisions in life!

Word brother!

Didn't know OP was female...time to send her PM and give her my email 

if you do follow the good sir - riazcdki - he likes to post in a manner that is setup up like an essay; intro, body, conclusion. lol.  you have to read the end of the post in order to get the answer.  just my observation.

frendz - do not do anything online. the saudi government doesn't want online degrees.

rareshine wrote:

if you do follow the good sir - riazcdki - he likes to post in a manner that is setup up like an essay; intro, body, conclusion. lol.  you have to read the end of the post in order to get the answer.  just my observation.

frendz - do not do anything online. the saudi government doesn't want online degrees.

Aah ok, so he is one of those coffee sipping, finger cracking, word effective, forum nerd who goes an extra mile to help out.

Will watch out for your novels

Ok thank you everyone but can you please stop advising me about degrees to do. I don't intend on starting a new one my question relates to WORKING WITHOUT A DEGREE.

frendz wrote:

Ok thank you everyone but can you please stop advising me about degrees to do. I don't intend on starting a new one my question relates to WORKING WITHOUT A DEGREE.

If the company is desperate, they might hire you or they can use that "degree" clause against you....I hired my colleague who was in exact case as yours but he had 5 years experience. So to justify that to my management was a breeze and he finally completed his degree.

Bottom line is it all depends on the institutions, how much of a "wasta" they have in the government should there be a need to transfer your Iqama from your father's sponsorship to theirs. Because a certified degree is required speed up the transfer process...

I don't think these days anyone is allowing female expats to work under their father or husbands sponsorship.

So, to answer your questions, yes/no it's a grey area.

Now go back and finish that degree....

haha Okay than you. If I'm lucky, I might be able to submit one or two essays in the next few weeks and then I'll be finished. I wouldn't go back to Ireland to finish in that case and I don't want to be sitting here all day doing nothing for 3 more months because of one or two class credits. I'll try and sort it out with the employer (as I do have the experience and CELTA cert).


Ok thanks. Case closed. Please stop telling me to go back to college, I'll just roll my eyes, make a silly voice and groan "I knnooowww"

Thanks a lot, Hamudi  and Rareshine for your observation and kind remarks. Loved it

(By the way I won 1st Prize in Essay Writing  (Commonwealth 2009) UK, but that was in Urdu) if some body has the patience to read 10 pages, I will send you the link for its english version)

I love reading original work. I hope it's a title to my taste :p send it on

hamudi wrote:

Bottom line is it all depends on the institutions, how much of a "wasta" they have in the government should there be a need to transfer your Iqama from your father's sponsorship to theirs. Because a certified degree is required speed up the transfer process...

So are you saying it would be possible to transfer my iqama without the degree. I just found out from my uni that I can in fact just submit two essays throughout the academic semester. Do you think I can get an iqama transfer in that case? I read some things about the "occupation" on the iqama but it made no sense to me...

frendz wrote:

hamudi wrote:

Bottom line is it all depends on the institutions, how much of a "wasta" they have in the government should there be a need to transfer your Iqama from your father's sponsorship to theirs. Because a certified degree is required speed up the transfer process...

So are you saying it would be possible to transfer my iqama without the degree. I just found out from my uni that I can in fact just submit two essays throughout the academic semester. Do you think I can get an iqama transfer in that case? I read some things about the "occupation" on the iqama but it made no sense to me...

During the Amnesty period it was very easy, to transfer Iqama without any degree as it was not required by MOL. I know someone who did it after that as well without a degree. However, it all depends on your employer if they let you work with or without a degree.

Berlitz would probably be a good choice.  Another one would be the Saudi Cultural Center, if you  can track them down.  They seem to have moved.  If you do find them, please send me the contact info, too.

Hai  I saw your older post ,
Have you started on job hunting and is it successful ? . I am bothered because my wife needs to join me and the only option left is teaching