Job Discussion Forums

[Englishteach]

Hmmm.. where to start.. Many years ago, I worked for this place when it was called Berlitz. The original poster's comments sounded rather close to my own experience with some exceptions, in which those differences could have easily have been improved on. The owner was not easy to work with, but I think he could recognize an asset to his teaching staff/team. Many backpackers passed through the doors, I did witness staff problems, they were pushed to the limits sometimes by the owner and some of the teachers. I never needed any accommodation but was offered some extra money for that and heard about accommodation problems from others. It was my first experience in teaching, and I benefited from it in numerous ways.. including meeting some excellent people: staff, students, and other TEFL'rs.
This industry is not an easy one to be in and I am sure that all of the language centers have problems. No place is perfect. Just saying..

[Seetheworld]

I worked at NYS for over 2 years (starting first with Berlitz and then transitioning to the new name) and it's clear that the person who wrote the original post is either someone from HR or someone who just started working there. I'm not going to completely bad mouth the company - I worked there for 2 years so obviously there was something to recommend BUT I will tell the truth instead of all of misleading rainbows and butterflies malarchy.
There are good things about the company namely, free housing/housing allowance, competitive salaries and they're one of the few places who actually give their teachers work permits and they do all of the legal paperwork for you. They also have a guaranteed minimum. All of this is worth its weight in gold.
That being said, they treat you like a slave. If they inform you at 2:00 that they want to meet with you at 4:00 to have some petty, 5 minute conversation, then the expectation is that you will drop your life and go running. If you don't, it's a serious problem. If they try to assign you a class and you don't want to take it even if you are over the minimum number of units, they will drop you to part-time (if you live in their housing, this means you have to move out).
Classes are assigned based on how much the scheduler and the sales staff likes you. Ok, no problem. Get in with the scheduler and you're golden right? Wrong. The place is a revolving door. In the time that I was there, there were 5 different schedulers and 4 different HR managers. To say that the owner is difficult to work with is a massive understatement. People were regularly in tears after speaking with this man. Still, as a teacher, you don't have many dealings with him so he doesn't have to affect you adversely if you stay out of his way.
Now to salaries. This is why I know with absolute certainty that whoever wrote the original, glowing review was either a member of staff or someone who has been teaching there for less than 2 or 3 months. As Berlitz, there were few problems with payment. I will give them that. As New York Studio, literally not a single month went by that all salaries were paid on time and in full. It could be that I received my salary but there were always others who hadn't. It's always blamed on a banking problem. I've never seen one company have so many problems with a bank which is made even more strange when one considers the fact that they forced everyone to open accounts at their bank to avoid paying fees. There was also the month that we were all paid half of our salary with no explanation whatsoever and had to wait a week for the rest of it. The poster said that "it was only a few days late" as though that's not an issue. I didn't show up for my classes a few hours late or a few days late. I showed up on time and did my job. They should have paid me on time for doing that job. People have bills, responsibilities and plans. Why should anyone have to wait even an extra day for the money that they earned? Why should you have to go to HR like a begger every month asking for your own money? Why should you be put in a position where the teachers have to text each other every pay day asking "did you get paid yet?" just so you can ascertain if you've been chosen for the banking problems line that month or if the company just didn't have the money to pay? The new pay date - 6 days later than the old one - is a direct result of the fact that they were paying late every month and not just a day or two. I was paid as many as 10 days late.
If you are coming to Istanbul and you want to have a place to stay to get yourself established, then maybe you can try this company. If you have gotten the sack and need a quick leg up maybe you can try this company. Outside of those 2 situations, I would stay away. There are wonderful people who work there among both the teachers and the staff but everyone is leaving. The place is falling into ruin, to management you are nothing but an entirely replaceable commodity and it's not worth it to waste your time there unless you're in a truly desperate situation.

[Englishteach]

Yeap.. sounds like that place is not in very good shape these days.. It actually had potential at one time..

[coldcucumber]

The only leg up this particular company needs is a leg up into bankruptcy.
Insolvency generally solves one of those major problems of a bad school
staying open.

[TigersShadow]

This is to comment on the all the posts in here, the very first post is a total complete LIE, whoever wrote it is an employee of the company and not a teacher.
The rest of the comments get all my respect, the endless lies and cheats of this company go on until this very day.

To ALL the Teachers, beware of this company, they will simply humiliate you every time you are asking for your salary which is your total hard earned money. They will try to delay you as much as they can and make it appear that it's your fault.

They will ask of you a lot and never be thankful, you are replaceable and they will make you feel that on a daily basis.

Even the staff is constantly changing, so how much more the replaceable teachers?

As much as is written about the FILTH of this company it's NEVER enough.

JUST BEWARE...

[Commodore2015]

My review of my experiences thus far at New York Studio School of Languages-
Some of the reviews on this forum and others are from 2-3 years ago. I would like to provide you with an update on the current situation at this school.
Before traveling here I was most worried about accommodation. I didn’t know what to expect or what type of amenities I would have. When I arrived I was picked up from the airport and brought my apartment which is conveniently located near the school. In my apartment I found basic standards for living, hot water, good water pressure, a couch in the living room, dishes, a comfortable twin size bed (albeit the bedding provided I believe was designed for women, not a problem for me). The wifi worked, although it was sometimes inconsistent. I informed the school and it was eventually solved after about a month, however, I attribute this delay to the bureaucracy of working with Turkcell in Istanbul. In summary, amenities are basic, you have everything you need. During my stay here, one teacher came and left after he discovered the school would not provide him a larger bed and a TV… maybe it’s these kinds of people leaving absurd reviews.
To continue in bullet points…
- I have never received a paycheck more than one day late
- I am required to travel offsite often, 75% of the time the school driver will take you. 25% of the time I take a taxi and I am reimbursed every Monday, no questions asked.
- Working hours can be irregular; it’s a private school that caters to the needs of students and their companies. Weekends are the busiest; you’re working for a school who is primarily teaching adults who work 45 hours a week Monday through Friday, busy weekends are logical.
- I have one day off a week, however, some days I have two lessons in the morning and finish at one P.M. Working hours are irregular but in no way am I “overworked.”
- I found the majority of the staff to be friendly, even those staff members who speak little English often offer me a smile
- Lastly, the school has an incentive program for teachers. If you receive many good reviews from your students, you can be considered for a raise. If you work for more than one contract length you are eligible for a raise. They reward teachers who are valuable to their company. If you’re a traveler and don’t express an interest in your work, you’re going to be treated as exactly what you are, a person who places travelling over their students.
I would be happy to answer any questions as well as prove my authenticity of being an actual teacher and not a staff member

[sixthchild]

Hi Commodore, you paint a picture that conflicts with the reality of working at one of these establishments, let us cut to the chase.
I have more than 2 decades of living and teaching in this country,I have never worked in one of these places,have met a number who have though.
These are the people who have invested a lot of their life into teaching in this country,most have stayed and even married and have families,dont know any who have talked about their time there in positive and glowing terms, all of them have no pension to look forward to because the places they worked at did not pay thir contributions as required by law,think about that.
If you have long term plans and aspirations about teaching in this country get out of Language schools, there are slave camps.
Go for a school, a k12 school, that pays a monthly salary on time,that offers a midday meal, subsidzed accomodation, flight tickets to your home country,takes care of the paperwork and pays your social security and has a private health scheme, then you will be working for a REAL school and not one of these Mickey Mouse fly by night cowboy schools that Mr Erdogan seem hell bent on closing down,quite right too!

[Jechaca]

I've been offered a Skype interview with New York Studio.

Is Turkey a country in which it's possible to work and save money? Not quite sure if it's Europe or Asia, so to speak, in terms of pay.

[svenhassel]

You can save money in Turkey if you don't pay rent and don't have a social life. A uni job in a remote part of Istanbul would be ideal for this. Bear in the mind the exchange rate is terrible at the moment and the economy is very shaky.

Private language schools are poorly paid and this one has, in addition, a bad reputation. See the FB blacklist for further info.

[Seetheworld]

The director of New York Studio was sending around emails to hand picked past employees asking them to write review of in this forum because of the bad press so the seemingly glowing (and I would say somewhat misleading) posts are no surprise. I worked there for some time and, honestly, I don't know who these people are. It's not the worst place to work in Istanbul - you will find that a great majority of the language schools here are plagued by the same problems - but it's not the amazing place that people are speaking of. Accommodation - they do offer it which can be beneficial but the apartments (at least on the European side) leave something to be desired with the the possible exception being Bahcelievler. The ones in Cihangir are old and crumbling. They've flooded multiple times, they're riddled with mold, and the bathroom in one of them is so bad that you would freak out if you accidentally brushed the wall. When they are moving another person in, they give virtually no notice and once I woke up to see a strange woman just standing in the hallway.
Paying on time? Again, I stopped working there about a year ago but we didn't always get paid on time (on time being around 6pm). They had to move the payday because they were paying so late without notice. The contract even says that they can pay you up to 10 days late and the date that you are paid is so far into the month that they always have a month of your salary in their hands. I was never paid the bonus that I was promised and, when I left, they never paid my last months salary.
Their guaranteed minimum is a farce. if there is a month that you don't work the minimum number of hours through no fault of your own, just because the schedule planner doesn't give you enough classes/have enough classes to give, they will keep a tally and deduct those hours from your salary at the end of your contract or demand that you teach classes for free.
You can't trust anything that they tell you and you always have to watch your back. The good things about working there, however, is that they do your paperwork for you and the students are great.
Again, not the worst place to work but FAR, FAR from the best. The standard of a good employer shouldn't be "they've never payed me more than 1 day late."

[Cosmixed]

I worked for NYS for a year, my contracted with them ended this past June. This is my opinion having worked with them recently.

Good points: they provide housing and handle your res permit and work visa. This is ideal if this is your first time coming to Istanbul.

But like the last poster said, the apartments in Cihangir (an awesome location) are falling apart (I've lived in both). One has a view of the Bosporus, but it is just disgusting. They've recently vacated the other completely and are trying to sell it. It was a true dump. I nicknamed it "the crack house." When I lived in the crack house the electricity went out (just in the apartment) and I lived with no electricity or hot water for over a week. This was during my first month in the country. Also, they make it a point to enter your house whenever they like "to check on things."

The day before I left (they were informed of when I was flying out/moving out) they moved all of my things from my room without my permission because a new teacher was arriving in a couple of days. Some of my stuff like my laptop ended up in the living room, the majority of my stuff was thrown into the spare bedroom, including my passport and other super important personal stuff.

I am critiquing the housing situation as it's the only benefit besides the work permit and residence visa. There is nothing else even remotely positive about this company. They lie to you as a matter of course even regarding matters of no consequence whatsoever. It seems pathological. They do not always pay on time and sometimes you will have to basically beg for your pay, so leave your pride at home. The scheduler (whoever they have at the time, they don't last long) will harass you on a consistent basis, and send you to classes that don't exist or on the wrong day, make you come into the office for BS reasons, etc. They will send you on sales calls. They will take your classes you've had for months and enjoy and give them to new teachers, and then send you to a class that takes two hours to reach. If you are ill they will come to your apartment, using their key, and verify this for themselves. You will have classes most definitely morning, noon, and night, with each class possibly being at different ends of Istanbul.

Use this school for the apartment and legal help, but keep your expectations very, very low. Istanbul is a great city, but NYS is a crappy employer.

[Enteacher]

I worked for this company for two years. In my opinion it does not deserve the scathing reviews which I have just been reading.
I am a professional international teacher. I became such, because I enjoy adventure and travel. I did not want to be stuck for forty years behind a classroom desk. The thing is, is my chosen career. It is not just some passing fancy or a way of filling in time between proper jobs.
The work at New York Studio is what YOU make of it. The basic teaching materials are good enough to start with, in fact I still use them with my Arab students. Accommodation is provided and it is survivable. It is not meant to be Hilton hotel or even Billy Butlin, but it is free and it does allow you the chance to save and travel in what is a not so cheap tourist city.
The back room admin staff are amazing, they organize all the paperwork for you ensuring you are kept legal.
Yes, the wages do arrive late. It is their culture, not ours. Currently I teach in Saudi Arabia, and every month without fail I have to beg. But, I have to say New York Studio did always pay, and always correctly if not promptly. Again it is a cultural thing. But if you have urgent credit card payments to make it can be inconvenient. Perhaps if you carry so much debt, maybe then this is not the job for you.
Again I believe some of the comments mentioned earlier are a little exaggerated. In my experience, if you behave in a professional way then most companies including New York studio treat you with equal respect.

Currently I am working full time as an online English Teacher, teaching to Saudi Arabian students from my current home in Bulgaria. As a consequence I assure you I have nothing to gain from defending New York Studio. It is not the best ever, but it sure is a long way from being the worst.

[EFL Educator]

"Most men live lives of quiet desperation"...and then there are EFL teachers who live on wages of desperation in Turkey"...

[Enteacher]

I think that is the life of the itinerant EFL teacher while gaining experience of teaching and life in general. I was lucky, from what I heard at the time from colleagues. New York Studio paid reasonable wages for the work done. In comparison with others in Turkey. Sometimes the wages were paid a week late, but I have since discovered that is part of the Middle East culture. The experience I gained has been invaluable and continues to be so.

On the subject of pay. I said before the idea of paying late by anything up to a week was a new concept for me. When I arrived in Turkey I had just completed three years in teaching in China, before that several years in the U.K. Now, in China, they paid exactly on the due date and sometimes earlier because the considered it a great loss of face to pay a worker late. However in Turkey and now especially in Saudi Arabia it seems to be a bit of a game to see how long both sides can hold out. What is your experience of these matters?

[rustyrockets]

I've recently been contacted by this company for an interview, I've been reading people's reviews here and they are so mixed that I am extremely confused about them and if I should go ahead with the process.

Can anyone give me some information regarding the state of affairs in there at the moment? I know that many of these reviews are over two years old and things could have changed by now.

Any information is appreciated.