Job Discussion Forums

sixthchild · Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Posts: 298 Location: East of Eden

There was a time not so long ago, when schools would dangle all sorts of extra perks and goodies to get the foreign teachers recruited, free accomodation, above average salary, flights home, yearly bonus, trips away on school expense, etc, etc, nowadays you are hard pushed to find anywhere that will offer more than the monthly salary and a daily attack on your digestive system in the form of their unappetising and tasteless excuse for food.

So does the place you work at offer anything in the way of incentives/perks/extras, call them what you will in the vain hope it may make you stay just a bit longer until they can find more fresh, naive, meat to take your place!

sixthchild · Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Posts: 298 Location: East of Eden

Totally amazing! After 50+ views no-one has anything to report, clearly the situation is worse than I thought, clearly we are under selling our selves or we don't think we are worth very much!

Don't see how we can preach any kind of professionalism if we don't think we are worthy of a good employment package.

lucia79 · Joined: 18 Jun 2011 Posts: 156

Does glassfuls of tea and biscuits count? Laughing

delal · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 251 Location: N Turkey

Forget incentives-I've just discovered that teachers at two schools are earning 1000 tl more than me a month (for the same job and hours) and that one at another, who isn't even qualified to teach, is getting 500 tl more a month Mad

Guess who's going to change schools at the end of this academic year...

sixthchild · Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Posts: 298 Location: East of Eden

Well yeah, that happens--- a lot, and its either because you didn't sell yourself very well or they didn't think you were worth more, same thing basically, just different perseptives. I work with two young ladies who are native speakers and they (imho) have a more challenging task to face on a daily basis, yet they earn half my salary, subcontracted by a language school and getting royally seen to.
Now if we hop over to the job page and hey-presto something is on offer at of all places good ole Giziantep and just look at those incentives, paid in dollars, accomodation, meals, flights,transportation, now that is a job worth applying for. Only problem they don't answer the e-mails I sent em!!!!

delal · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 251 Location: N Turkey

When I calmed down, I crunched the numbers and realised that although one is earning more than 1,000 tl more than me, one school is well known for managing to pay the minimum social security payments, and that the extra pay most probably also includes overtime in both cases. One of them is also paying at least 500 tl a month in school-related child expenses (which I don't have at my place for my kid as it's a different set up). Plus my basic work hours are actually less than theirs. Plus I actually enjoy working at my place. Swings and roundabouts.

So the bottom line is now: are an employer who pays full social security and job satisfaction (really) incentives? Laughing

PS There was a TED Koleji opening in Hatay. Surely they must be offering a bells and whistles package for foreign teachers

delal · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Posts: 251 Location: N Turkey

Got a pay rise todat-now that's an incentive! Razz

paul2key · Joined: 23 Mar 2010 Posts: 13 Location: İzmir, Turkey

Although I'm told it is standard for ALL employees in Turkey (so maybe not a perk for foreign teachers), my university serves a free lunch. Although some complain about the food being mundane, I like it. They always have a two entrees to choose from: a vegetarian option and something with a bit of "meat" or chicken. I think it's a plus!

sixthchild · Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Posts: 298 Location: East of Eden

oh my, you poor deluded soul, haven't you ever heard the expression "theres no such thing as a free lunch"!

Qaaolchoura · Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:38 am Post subject:

My school gives all employees (foreign and native) a food card that can be used at a large number of restaurants. (I assume they get some sort of discount or they'd just give us the cash, but my base salary is slightly above the going rate even without the food card.) The problem is that my favorite restaurants don't accept it, and even some of those that do will sometimes ask me to pay in cash and make a big fuss if I try to use the food card. As such, despite being in food-obsessed Antep, I usually end up eating at Matmah, a Turkish fast-food chain that accepts the card without whining and making faces.

On the other hand, some great restaurants in other Turkish cities do accept it, and it's a nice bonus that I basically get a free lunch every day, and not from a school cafeteria, even if the variety is somewhat limited by my willingness to attempt to argue in Turkish.

~Q