A question about available work

Welcome on board 

I think this can be a  useful thread to give tips and advices for everyone who is on the job hunting,
Maybe its practical to know in what kind of field you are looking for?

Oh, thank you for replying, and it feels very nice to be welcomed.

And the field can be viewed either as indefinite or as very much open. The truth is, I am open to all suggestions and to all fields - but I understand that I don't possess the necessary qualifications to work as a neurosurgeon or a nuclear physicist. So I would say that I am in search of a position - and I am not limiting myself strictly to a field - that wouldn't require an enormous amount of prior knowledge. That is to say, I rely on my learning abilities and expect to learn all the necessary things quickly at the place of work itself. So basically, any field where such a scenario is possible will do.

I am afraid all my previous experience - I was studying to be a historian - won't do much good, so I am willing to start from a clean slate, so to speak, But such a tabula rasa of experience and knowledge makes it hard to form any definite strategies and methods to find anything, as I am now convinced.

So, advice is something I am in need of very much now, and I am very grateful to anyone who is willing to give it.

Hi there. I'm in an even worse position. TEFL Trained to teach English. Can manage to get a few Skype interviews. But they want an in person interview. Can't get a work visa without a job offer and can't risk traveling over to Cairo on a tourist visa as I can't afford to go over, come back to Ireland and travel over again. Anyone have any suggestions. Willing to try anything. Really need to get to Cairo. There's a woman there who I want to marry.

how is the job hunting going for you buddy.

I have a few half offers. But can't risk renting out my house to travel over for an interview that isn't 80-90% guaranteed. Plus I'm due to marry a lady there in February so under pressure to get things organised. Egyptian official lines are very hard to understand.

Well, I am not sure that I can advise anyone in such a matter seeing as I am rather unsuccessful myself, but I got the feeling that it was very possible for a TEFL-certified person to get a job - at least offers posted here convinced me so. There are high chances that the personal interview will be successful - though as I understood, the main difficulty lies in the fact that one can't take any risks.

To tell the truth, so far I haven't reached the interview stage, so I don't know. I would feel optimistic about the interview, but maybe that is my insouciant, happy-go-lucky nature.

I think the chances of being hired in such a situation - native speaker, TEFL - are high, but then again, I am not an expert. Sorry for not being helpful.

My advice would be don't get disappointed and keep searching. It is a struggle we all go through here. The Job market in Egypt is a bit tough, since the supply of potential candidates far exceeds the demand. Also, who you know and who can vouch for you makes a huge  difference here. There are a lot of vacancies that are not advertised and people are hired through connection. So I would suggest you try to network and build connections on sites like LinkedIn.

If you don't speak Arabic, it would be a bit harder to get jobs  here. But, try aiming for multi-nationals, which usually conduct their business in English. Or, You can use your language skills as an advantage, for example in English Call centers (such as vodafone UK call center based in Egypt) Or maybe teaching English.

Best of Luck to you ...

Thank you very much for the helpful advice. And I am far from being disappointed or discouraged, it is just I came to conclusion that the methods I had chosen weren't effective, and that I needed to change them.

And yes, connections truly make a difference. So I will have to make them now, I guess.

And thank you for your help once again.

Well I am British and been here for over 4 years now in Cairo along with working in Hurghada and Luxor prior to that.
I am actually about to give up and leave.
Even as a very qualified and skilled person, we are not often appreciated and certainly, with Egyptian employers, they will pay the minimum amount.
Also, bear in mind, that now the Government are clamping down on foreign workers without work permits. You will rarely find an Egyptian employee willing to pay the 300LE for the first year of a work permit...and unless you are willing to pay this yourself, be careful. It is also a lengthy process to complete.
Many language centres (and small schools) are happy to take Native English speakers (not always needing TEFL or an equivalent ) but again, very small salary.

Yes, it seems like the situation is not very good. In my present state, though, I would be happy to work without a work permit and for a very small salary - but no, seems like I am not fit for any work, after all. But I guess if people possessing necessary skills and qualifications have troubles, that is only to be expected. It is rather sad, though.

And thank you for your reply, it is very much appreciated.

You are welcome dear.
But try a few of the small language schools and Adult language centres.
Are you a Native English speaker?
If so, I can give you a number to call for a language centre in Dokki I worked for.
They are nice and maybe if you dont have TEFL but can teach some lessons (they provide books)., they
may be interested as they need teachers now.

Let me know

Tracy

No, sadly, I am not a native English speaker.

Still, thank you for your help. Your kindness is very much appreciated.

You are more than welcome my friend

Hi Tracy. Is that place reach out. I'm doing some training with them at the moment and hopefully I'll be able to work with them. They seem like a great group of people.

Oh, I am committing a grave sin of bumping my own topic!

But there are some updates. I actually got some experience, and the result was very good.
So now I don't have doubts whether I can teach English – it was empirically shown that I can.
As for the connections, I didn't get much of them – I don't know many people.
I am thinking that there are a lot of places where I could work, only I am ignorant about them.
So yes, any advice on how to proceed would be much appreciated. Sorry about my selfishness.

Im from the us and when i came to egypt i found a very high paying job, im actually the manager there now and i cant express how happy i am. Both of my siblings are very respected teachers in the top schools in egypt and they constantly tell me how the school is looking for foreign teachers. Whoever said foreigners get paid small wages in egypt just fell for their bullshit. You guys just let them push u around, they know exactly what theyre doing. This is a great country only when you understand it. Anyways i wouldnt mind helping you out!