Job Discussion Forums

[fatamorgana]

Hi everyone

I'm planning to get into EFL teaching after many years of mainstream teaching in the UK. I have a PGCE and will soon be taking a CELTA (and may do an MA TEFL after that). I'm thinking of moving to Istanbul and have a couple of questions:

Firstly, I'm looking to be located on the European side of the city because I have friends there - is that a good location in terms of teaching opportunities?

And, is it possible to work part-time? How flexible are the schools out there?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[oipivo]

Hello there,

The European side is a great place to live. Taksim, cihangir,and Nisantasi are all nice places to live.

As far as jobs go, most schools will hire you part time. The only downside is that they won't get you a residence permit (although it is easier to do it yourself now). There are quite a few schools with varying pros and cons. I've worked at English Time for almost two years now, it's not as horrible as everyone says. Don't expect the schools to be like British schools!! The bottom line is always money here, they don't really care about education. I've seen so many foreigners struggle with this.

Good luck!
-Sean

[fatamorgana]

Thanks very much for that Sean (and sorry, I've been offline for a while)

My friends live in the Sariyer district and I'd like to be nearby if possible. Within the overall Sariyer district they mentioned places such as Sariyer, Yenikoy, Tarabya, Kirecburnu, Istinye, Emirgan. Does anyone know about schools in these areas?

Thanks in advance for any ideas...

[Otterman Ollie]

I feel that its time to clear up a few misconceptions and half truths about working in this country as a tefler. I would like to point out to the people who come to this forum and expect to find employment at any school with little or no experience, qualifications, work permit, or want to work part-time that those days are coming to a close.

The first fact is that as all academic instuitions are been made more accountable about who they hire, they have to be a lot more selective. You are not going to walk in somewhere without proper papers, if you have no work permit you will have to leave the country after 3 months to get another extension on your tourist visa, but you have to stay out of the country for 90 days, effectively putting you out of work! No place is going to give you part -time because of the same reason, unless you happen to have Turkish citizenship, so sorry but you need to think working full time only. Your qualies are ok, some might say you are overqualified, unless you fancy working in a uni, plenty of them in Istanbul, good payers too.

[fatamorgana]

Thanks Ollie, that's useful to know. I'm glad to hear that school regulations have been tightened up. I'd be interested to hear more about taeching in universities in Istanbul, and if anyone knows about any schools in the Sariyer district.

[JohnRambo]