Job Discussion Forums

[vre]

Having spoken to people in different areas of TEFL in Turkey and thinking about FGT's recent post on $$$$, and Ghost's horror headline news, and lots of other comments from you lovely posters (I really like reading OUR forum) I have made some very accurate conclusions.

FGT is right. If you want to earn a good salary (around $2000 p.m including great accom or up to 800 million TL p.m given to allow for that, flights, private health insurance and meals is normal) you have to take a kolej or Uni prep school where discipline is incredibly bad and grades are subject to changes so that parents don't take their little Mustafas elsewhere and management priority is students and money before their teachers.

And to get willing, motivated students, who will and can do group work maturely, will speak in English and will respond and be on task for the most part, then you need to scrape by on the basic salaries given with few perks.

So, why have I stayed with the former system for three years and will go on to yet another of the same, but different city? Am I a money driven biatch? I don't think so, I just don't really wanna struggle so much anymore! I'm tired of always being poor ya!

Degil mi?

[Mike_2003]

Teach privately and get the best of both worlds!

- Earn as much as you want.
- Take time off whenever you want.
- Teach in any way you want.
- Always be paid on time.
- Always have interested and motivated students.
- 100% teaching, 0% admin and other BS.
- No "babysitting" or "entertaining".
- No travel expenses.
- Students often bring breakfast/lunch and the occassional gift.
- Very low stress (no brats, back-stabbing co-workers or evil bosses).



A couple of cons:

- Salary fluctuates.
- No benefits.
- Not so great for your social life.



Mike

[FGT]

Each to his own, say I. Well put vre, and Mike, thanks for the input, but what about the downside - work permission, students who don't turn up?

[Mike_2003]

Hi FGT,

Students not turning up can be frustrating, but it's something you just have to write into the equation. I've been keeping careful records of all my students' attendance for several years. Monthly attendance (taking into account holidays, bayrams, bad weather, and business trips) is almost invariably between 65-75% every month. Sometimes one student cancels two lessons, but at the same time another will manage to make it to all of them, but the monthly average has never dropped below 65%. Winter and summer tend to be at the lower end of this scale (bayrams and bad weather in winter, holidays in summer) whereas spring and autumn are generally better.

So, once you know this, you can load your program accordingly. It's simple mathematics. If you wanted to earn �1500/month and you charged �30/hour, in order to guarantee this figure you would need to have a full attendance sum of �2300/month. At �30/hour that would mean 18 hours a week. As most students take a two-hour lesson you would have to find 9 students. In this way, you can be sure to earn between �1500-1700 per month assuming a couple of cancellations each week.

Work permission is obviously a difficult issue. You can, of course, do the three-month border run. Another way would be to find a few hours at a school. There are quite a few smaller schools which would be more than happy to have a native-speaker on their staff without the hassle of having to find him/her full-time employment and showering him/her with benefits. It would also give you the chance to keep your hand in with the group lessons, which is not a bad thing. It's also not a bad idea to ensure you are not keeping all your yumurta in one sepet...

Mike

[dmb]

I've got the best of both worlds. I work with a company that only deals with private groups and 1-1s. I'M on a decent salary and when the students cancel I still get paid. Last week I only taught 10 hours

[yaramaz]

Again with the oooo oooo oooos! dmb, can I work there too? Admittedly, much of this year I worked far less than 18 hrs with free housing etc but I had to live in Kayseri to do it. I wanna do it in the Bul! With micro brews and thai food! Yeah!

[ghost]

Yaramaz should get a contract job first with a school, and then, somewhere down the road, get a few privates here and there....not the other way round, which is too risky...

[yaramaz]

Ghost, I already have a contract. I think I mentioned it a few times already in posts. In fact, I was hired for it last year for this job but just kinda delayed on the uptake...

Dont really want privates anyway unless pressed for money (which I am not). I value my free time too much.

[richard ame]

Hi Mike

You mentioned an hourly rate of 30 euros which is well in excess of 55 million tl, I would have thought that was more than most students were willing or able to pay . Do you go through any dry spells charging that much?
I know Istanbul is a wealthier city than Izmir,the most I ever charged for a private was 40 dollars ,do you think I undercharged ?

[Mike_2003]

Hi Richard,

That's the top end of the market. I charge much less than that these days because I prefer to have lots of students paying less. I find that it provides a more stable monthly amount as each cancellation is a smaller percentage of the total. I do know/have known people to charge that much.

The Istanbul elite won't flinch at 30�. Also, it depends what kind of students you want. If you are willing to travel and don't mind teaching those kinds of students (unreliable, arrogant, and brattish for the most part), you can ask for that sort of money. 40mTL/hour is quite normal for in-house business tuition.

I had a famous footballer as a private student once who was more than happy to pay more than that, but he was lazy and unreliable and I soon got fed up of teaching him. I much prefer the students I can get by offering lower prices. If you want to earn that amount, then you have to be prepared for the kind of student you will attract.

I wouldn't recommend it to those making a full-time living out of tutoring, but it's fine for someone who has another job and just wants to make a little extra, who can put up with cancellations and unreliability.

You definitely weren't undercharging with $40 (I assume you mean hourly). That would be the top end, although I've known people to charge $50.

I never have dry spells. I have periods (eg. Ramazan) where attendance drops for a few weeks, but I always make enough to pay everything, enjoy a few luxuries, take a few holidays, and normally put a few hundred aside. Knowing when attendances will drop means you can prepare in advance. Those times are also good times to take a trip yourself.

Regards,
Mike