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Saturday, May 18, 2013

The Interview

     Today was the day that I have been waiting for, the in person interview with the Abu Dhabi Education Council.  I was up before the 5:30 alarm and I got dressed so quickly.  I left the house at 6:15 even though I knew that I only had to be at the hotel for 8 am.  I was so afraid that something would go wrong.  What if the subway broke down?  What if I couldn't find the hotel.  I figured that being early was better than being late.
     I made it to the hotel by 7:25, so I had plenty of time to spare.  I had some juice , I refused to eat food because I was too nervous for that.  I waited in the hotel lobby, to see if I saw anyone else that looked like they were hear for the interview also. My recruiter recognized me. There were 7 of us that were interviewing that day. Five were interviewing for primary positions and two (including me) were interviewing for middle school positions.  I was interviewing for middle school Science and the other girl was interviewing for middle school English.
   I was happy to see that there was one other black girl, her story is that she has already taught in Abu Dhabi with ADEC but decided to come back to Canada after her two years. Since being back she has realized that there wasn't anything going on in Canada so she wants to go back to Abu Dhabi. She said that she loved living in Abu Dhabi and the scariest thing about Abi Dhabi was the driving. It is not unusual for people to go 170 km/hr there. She said the work/life balance is amazing and you have so much time to travel, you have money to shop and time to relax.
    Before the group briefing my recruiter from Teachanywhere collected my documents and I chatted with the other teachers.  Two of them were newly certified teachers and they were worried that they may not be taken for that reason (ADEC wants teachers who preferable have two years of experience). As we chatted I could tell that I was extremely prepared because some of them were asking questions that I knew the answers to, such as how our yearly flight home was going to be issued (cash). This made me feel good.
   I was going to be interviewed second to last. The group briefing done by members of ADEC as well as two school principals (one Emeriti and the other Canadian) the briefing was extremely informative. I learned that there is a 6 month probation period and that if we were not happy we could come home in those six months without too much trouble. They also told us that we have to bring enough money with us to last until we get paid around Sept. 25th. There is a posibility of an adbance on our forst pay , but it doesn't always occur. I did the math and I should bring at least 2000$ to be safe and closer to 3000$ would be even better. We also learned that if we are located more than an hour away from our school, we will be bused to school with the other teachers in the area.
   The briefing lasted about 40 minutes, then it was time for the personal interviews. When my turn finally came, I was interview by two members of ADEC, one was from Australia and the other was from England I think.  The asked me so many Science questions, I was a bit surprised. I thought I would be asked more classroom management questions or situational questions. Here are a few things I was asked:

  • How would you set up a science unit?
  • Describe a successful science class?
  • Have you taught in a lab? What precautions would you take when teaching in ascience lab
  • Tell us about how you use technology in the class room?
  • How would you assess students at the end of the unit? In the lab?
  • Why do you want to go to Abu Dhabi? (Recruiter told us NOT to answer, "for adventure")
These are the questions that I can remember. They were really impressed because a the end they said, "I think you should start researching Abu Dhabi!" I was ecstatic. I also saw them write 'yes' on my application. 
   The recruiter told me that we would know by 9 pm if we would be recommended for the position.   I checked my email and low and behold I got an email congratulating me! I was so happy. I now have to get my teaching certificate and B.Ed authenticated.  First I have to get them notarized (luckily I have a friend who is a lawyer and can do this for me, thanks E!) and then I am going to take a trip to  Ottawa and visit the Department of Defence and the UAE embassy. When that is done I just wait for my ticket, should be leaving in mid-August.  Three months to get ready!

6 comments:

  1. Yayyyy, so happy for you. I can't wait to read about your new adventure. Congrats.

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  2. Thanks Dee! Nervous, but excited!

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  3. OMG congrats I knew you would get it!!! I'm so excited for your new experience :)

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  4. Congratulations!! This sounds so exciting. I wish I could go with. I can't wait to here all about this new experience in your life. Again, congrats!

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  5. Your interview experience sounds very similar to mine. I too was second to last and very nervous but when he asked about my teaching style and how I would teach a unit I lit up like a Christmas tree. I was so caught up in describing my favorite lesson I forgot I was in an interview! lol

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  6. I am also going as a middle school science teacher..... how exciting!

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