Job Discussion Forums

[quejt]

Greetings from Los Angeles, California, USA,

I will be interviewing with Interlang this coming Saturday. Does anybody work for them or be willing to connect me with somebody who does?

Also, any suggestions for what to ask during the interview?

What is the typical salary for someone in my shoes - BA in rhetoric, CELTA and no experience.

thanks for any help,

Jon

[bron]

I work for Interlang Bakır�y. Drop me a PM with any questions but keep in mind that our biggest problem is we don't have enough teachers, so I'm not likely to tell you only bad things! (Of course, also keep in mind that I've been here over a year and am staying till August, so it can't be all bad, regardless of what you might read.)

I'll have to check my contract for specifics of salary, because a few months ago we changed from salary per month to wage per hour, and I've forgotten exactly how much it is (I was also raised to the next pay level around the same time, which is additionally confusing... and as you can probably tell, I'm not too hung up on money). On the hours we're all working right now, the change to payment by hour has been a beneficial one, monetarily, and they're also now offering us quite generous flight bonuses at the end of our contracts (paid pro rata depending on how long your contract was and where you come from -- Yanks, Canucks and Aussies get more than Brits). Also, you can (theoretically, the situation is kind of complicated now because there's some new housing going up that isn't ready yet) live in school accommodation rent-free, or else get a 150 million per month accommodation allowance. So money-wise, it's not a bad deal.

[dmb]

[bron]

No, but the change occurred before last summer, and we were all kept hopping.

Actually, the biggest dip in salary has been due to the fact that not one single one of us took Interlang up on their very reasonable offer to allow us to work any or all of the five day Christmas vacation that we chose. Basically, they said that any single teacher could chose to work any single day, whenever we wanted... but we all said, no thanks, we want five days for Christmas!

[ekmekparasi]

60 quid a month housing allowance-thats a pittance.

What are you gonna get with that?

[ekmekparasi]

you are interviewing them-do you have a heart beat-you have the job

[NMB]

Interlang is owned by English Time, so you may want to research both places while trying to decide. However, the teaching methodologies, administrative structures, and student environments could very well be totally different between the two. I worked for ET and had a generally pleasant experience. I never taught at Interlang but a Turkish friend did, was forced to work an obscene amount of hours, and eventually quit. The best way to gain insight is always to speak to former and/or current teachers.

[bron]

[calsimsek]

Hi Quejt, if you plan to come out here read as much as you can on all, the sites about this place. As for Interlang, don't forget that the bad boys of town are in control of that place. To find out the truth you should read the long post on E-T.

[Scarred2]

A few things.

The 150ytl offered for accom. is derisory - unless you want to live in a flea pit or share with any number of teachers you have never met before - remember tefl is full of the mad, the bad and the sad! Bron you spoke of sharing accom. good for you - I understand that this option is no longer available for all; therefore new teachers will have to pay a large amount of money to find their own accom. The last I heard Interlang was following suit of the other schools and, tho promising, actually doing nothing to help with accom.

About Interlang, has a good rep for its training etc. and usually hires good DOS senior staff etc. Of late tho, following the takeover by the ET, they tend to employ newly-qualified teachers only - with the subsequent problems. Teacher also tend to be from the non-EU as they can not find work in the EU and feel that they can fulfill their exotic dreams in Istanbul.