Saudi Arabia - Advice.?

Question

Hello,

Could anyone out there please give me some clear, consice advice about Saudi Arabia? I have tried various forums but have been left with frustrating answers surrounding religion and politics. I am looking and applying for several jobs in Saudi Arabia for the next academic year, I am a trained and qualified Primary School Teacher from the UK, I have been living in Turkey for nearly 3 years and I feel now is the time for a real step into the Islamic world. I have a few questions that I would answered and any other general info/experience you could offer about the country and life there.

1. Where is the best place and time to look for jobs in Saudi?
2. Which city would be the best for me? I have lived in Istanbul/Turkey for 3 years so I am relatively used to living amongst Muslims and Islam
3. How are the living compounds for foreigners?
4. Where are the good schools? Which cities? International schools?
5. How would I be expected to dress as a foreign woman? What can and can't I do?
6. How safe is it for women to live in Saudi?
7. working permts and residencies? easy to obtain?
8. general living info...

Answer 1

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i'm answering but i only have limited knowledge but my friend used to live there so i know quite a bit about it and ive watched a few documentarys, there is one called "inside the saudi kingdom" on youtube which is good.

1. Where is the best place and time to look for jobs in Saudi?
my friends lived in khobar which seemed pretty modern so wouldn't be too strict with rules. but other places like Haile are more conservative.

2. Which city would be the best for me? I have lived in Istanbul/Turkey for 3 years so I am relatively
used to living amongst Muslims and Islam
same as above

3. How are the living compounds for foreigners?
they loved the compound they lived in in khobar and they have like swimming pools are stuff where u dont have to cover up

4. Where are the good schools? Which cities? International schools?
international (private) schools in most places especially cities like Jeddah, Khobar and Riyadh

5. How would I be expected to dress as a foreign woman? What can and can't I do?
wear abaya but not cover your head, my friend told me that girls had to wear them unless they were going to school and always travel with another woman or a mahram (a man who is related to u, who looks after u).

6. How safe is it for women to live in Saudi?
really safe i think, very little crime

7. working permts and residencies? easy to obtain?
my friend's dad worked as a doctor and he had 5 kids and a wife so i think its easy aslong as u are coming in to work as something useful which u are.

8. general living info...

islamic country, strict rules

jamilla :)

Answer 2

before I would go into any answering.. You cannot come to SAudi Alone as a single (I mean without escort) woman.. You would need to have a spouse accompany you.. YOu might get a sponsorship from a larger corporate school and would be housed in something like a dormatory with other woman teachers etc.. But singly you could not. cause legally Saudi cannot rent to woman on their own. you cannot get a hotel, rent an apartment or a villa alone.. All the foreign english teachers I know have came into the country with their families.
Ok. now having said this..
Jeddah, Riyadh or Khobar are all 3 excellent places to look for jobs for english teachers.
times? any time.
compounds are excellent for foreigners (but then again, you have to come as a family unit)
I only know the school in Khobar. and any private school is excellent. Dhahran academy, Rahema academy, Aramco schools, British international school, Dhahran Ahliya, Saad school, Azaziyah school, Al-Bayan school, Al-Fasaliyah school.. and many more..
as a foreign woman, you dress any way you please in your own home and compound. and outside, you can wear within reason what you want as long as you wear the traditional black cover cloak called an abaya over your normal dress.. while in school woman teachers were pretty much anything from normal western dresses, slacks, suits, long dresses. etc..
you cannot wear reveiling see through material, nothing skin tight form fitting, no spagetti straps, no mini skirts/shorts/dresses..
it is extremely safe here in saudi.. your more likely to get mugged in chicago or N. york than you ever would here..
working permits and residencies are time consuming to obtain
general living info.. can get extremely boring compared to a western way of life.. no bars, clubs, discos, theaters, etc.. but some private compounds have recreation halls and bowling alleys, and little private theaters.. You cannot swim amongst the public in swim suits. you can in private compounds though..
if you are an outgoing lady and can make friends quickly and socialize a lot, you'll be comfortable. woman do get together for coffees, teas, have art and craft bizarres (little craft shows), have little social parties like tupperware and other goods they sell and therefore you wouldnt be bored that way.

Answer 3

There is nothing like best place or time to for job if you have skills than you can find th job any where. so better not to think of time as far as place its depends on you if you like to Visit the holy place regularly then you can see for a job in Jeddah, Mecca or Medinah it all depends on you and the weather its very hot place but you will be in the air-condition only most of the time. if you want co;ld place then you can go Abha or its near by places.it all depends on you to select the city if you want to know each and every cites details you can information by searching it on google.Compound are good for foreigners until you people are bad i am not telling to specific to you but most people come here and over stay, so they will face the problem doing any thing wrong is wrong am i right Right ... good school are in whole kingdom so please you need to select the school and the city.when ever you are out of the house you will have to wear a Hijab and that's so called Abhaya.
see you can do everything you use to do in your daily life (good things) Not the bad ones
I think in the whole world saudi arab is the safest place for a women to live.regarding residence till you work you have residence permit .yeah easy to obtain if you are qualified.You don't need to worry about Food , Cloths, Entertainment etc. if you want a 2 bedroom flat you will get it for APPROX.15000SR/PA. overall KSA is a nice place to stay Hope you like my answer..BEST OF LUCK

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