Job Discussion Forums

[Yorks Lad]

Does anyone have any views on Bilkent? Just seen an ad for them and it seems like an interesting option.

[Sirens of Cyprus]

The phone interview I had with them a few years ago was absurd. They basically asked me to deliver a lecture over the phone. This was before the Islamists gained power, and the university was still promoting secularism, and my assigned topic was something like the importance of the separation of church and state. I think this was a test to see whether you could stimulate students to write essays. They did their best to make me feel awkward about it, and I was.

[Yorks Lad]

Oh dear! That does sound odd...!

Thanks.

[sedaa91]

at the uni? prep school? private schools? which one

[Yorks Lad]

The advert I saw was for the university.

[JohnRambo]

[parnett]

Years ago, I applied for a job at Bilkent, and was turned down (perhaps because I was over qualified). I was also asked to conduct a grammar lesson over the phone. My topic was the first conditional. The inteviewer told me I would have 30 minutes to prepare the lesson, and they would call back. I told them I did't need the time as I had taught the lesson countless times before. That was the end of the interview.
Years later, I had the opportunity to work in Ankara for 8 months. I enjoyed my time immensely as I was able to live in the nicest part of town (Gaziosmanpasa) in a beautiful furnished flat. There were plenty of small cafes and restaurants nearby to occupy my spare time at. I would say that if you are looking for a party, Ankara should not be number one on your list.

[parnett]

Years ago, I applied for a job at Bilkent, and was turned down (perhaps because I was over qualified). I was also asked to conduct a grammar lesson over the phone. My topic was the first conditional. The inteviewer told me I would have 30 minutes to prepare the lesson, and they would call back. I told them I didn't need the time as I had taught the lesson countless times before. That was the end of the interview.
Years later, I had the opportunity to work in Ankara for 8 months. I enjoyed my time immensely as I was able to live in the nicest part of town (Gaziosmanpasa) in a beautiful furnished flat. There were plenty of small cafes and restaurants nearby to spend my spare time at. I would say that if you are looking for a party, Ankara should not be number one on your list.

[JohnRambo]

It seems like a good institution from what I could gather.

[bilalbill]

I would carefully consider your options here. Ankara is an ok city, there are reasonable travel options, the basic package (accommodation, visa, flight etc) is good, but there are considerable "professional challenges". Especially in the preparatory school.

If you get an interview, you might want to ask what are the difficulties that new and experienced teachers report are the most challenging and what percentage of staff leave their contract early.

It might be just the job for you, so long as you know what type of environment you will be working in.

All the best,
Bill

[Sirens of Cyprus]

Come on, Bill. What are these challenging difficulties?

[bilalbill]

Hi Sirens,

I think that a search through these forums would be sufficient. Some of the writers are perhaps a little too emotive in their writing style, but when you put a number of the posts together they paint a fairly clear picture of the type of issues in the workplace.