Job Discussion Forums

CaseLThor · Joined: 06 Jun 2012 Posts: 19

Hi everyone,

As the title says, Bahcesehir Uni made me a job offer. It's 24 contact hours for 3,750 TL a month. No housing or housing allowance offered. Currently I'm teaching in Bilkent with free housing, so obviously this is a cut in my pay, but it seems worth it to me to get out of Ankara.

However, is this a standard salary for Bahcesehir's prep school. I have three years of full time experience, one of those years being in Bilkent's prep school. I also have an MA in TESOL. If I didn't have student loans to pay off, I wouldn't gripe about this offer.

What do you think though?

mm1978 · Joined: 05 Aug 2010 Posts: 6

I would pass. In fact I did pass. 3,750 is way too low. By accepting it you are only encouraging universities to make such poor offers. Not to mention by the time you pay for accommodation you are going to be down around 10,000 USD p.a. from what Bilkent pay.

Teacher Journey · Joined: 10 Jan 2011 Posts: 8

I too would pass on this offer, the pay is low. But I guess if you get a roommate you would still have 3000 TL left to allocate however you need. Also, the students are not the greatest at B.sehir, you should factor that in as well. Then again, when I was told this by the head of the department that was 3 years ago. Maybe things have changed.

On the other hand depending on how much your loans are you will be fine with this salary and have a better life style in Istanbul. I can see how Ankara can become small after being there for only 2 days.

quickdrawmgraw · Joined: 16 Apr 2015 Posts: 2 Location: Istanbul

Hi,

If, as I assume, you're a native speaker, then that offer is way too low - especially for someone with your experience and qualifications.

It doesn't even equal £1000 a month...for 24 contact hours a week!

CVN-76 · Joined: 28 Mar 2014 Posts: 171

parnett · Joined: 29 Jun 2012 Posts: 179 Location: China

I lived in Bahcesehir a decade ago, and the rent was sky high even back then. An interesting story about the university goes as follows:
On the day of the grand opening of the university, the owner was with a group of teachers and me (I was a teacher in the high school) on his private yacht on the Bosporus. The festivities were to start at 5, yet when the clock struck that hour, we were still on his boat drinking top shelf Scotch, and eating caviar (along with a belly dancer or two). We eventually arrived at the university more than 2 hours late. The owner's wife was livid. He could have cared less.

CVN-76 · Joined: 28 Mar 2014 Posts: 171

parnett · Joined: 29 Jun 2012 Posts: 179 Location: China

This was more than a decade ago- before the earthquakes, before the two economic crises etc.
During my first and only year at Bahcesehir Koleji the foreigners were treated quite well by the owner. Besides the yacht trip (actually we went out on it several times), the owner took us out to dinner many times, got us backstage passes at a Rolling Stones concert in Istanbul,and took us to several Besiktas soccer matches among other things.
Bahcesehir wasn't everyone's cup of tea back then. It was a great place for wealthy families to raise children, but for yabanci, it was a complete drag living there. There were no bars per say- only restaurants where you could also drink. Everything was quite expensive. I have no idea what the bus situation is like now, but back then, there were buses to Taksim (90 minute one-way) and Bakirkoy (60 minutes one-way). Occasionally, there were express buses to Taksim. There was also the constant problem of the electricity being shut off.