Job Discussion Forums

jwgrendel · Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 1

Hi Folks,

Sort new at this and I have a few questions. I'm doing a CELTA Program this summer which finishes up in early August after which I'll have that and a BA but no real experience. I'd like to go directly from there to Turkey, preferably Istanbul. Should I start the job hunt now, or can I wait until August? Will there still be work in August?

That said, any advice as to schools to look into/avoid will helpful as well.

Thanks in advance.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

There will be loads of jobs around that time. with a BA and a CELTA you won't have any problems. send your cv to molly

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

i would be glad to look at your cv and can answer any questions you have, whether you come to work with us or not. Many people come in August, as that is when it starts to get busy again.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

Get a real job?

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

August is also a time for panic recruiting.(I've been there) Schools, universities and dershanes suddenly realise they don't have enough teachers or teachers who said they would come decide otherwise. It is a good time for looking for a job.

whynotme · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 728 Location: istanbul

rayna0215 · Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 2

Hi. I also plan to come to Istanbul around August first and would like to obtain a position teaching English. Although I would like to do some type of TEFL certification before I leave, but unfortunately, I think I will not have the money to do so after buying tickets in high season. If anyone has suggestions as to places where I could apply that do not require TEFL certification that are decent to work at, I would very much appreciate it. I have a BA in Religious Studies. About how much money does one need to live modestly in Istanbul? I would like to have some idea of the cost of living in order to ensure a livable salary. I have just one other question; I am Muslim and normally wear hijab here in Chicago. Is it entirely impossible to work in a school while wearing hijab in Turkey? Thanks in advance for any help and advice!

rayna0215 · Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 2

Hi. I also plan to come to Istanbul around August first and would like to obtain a position teaching English. Although I would like to do some type of TEFL certification before I leave, unfortunately, I think I will not have the money to do so after buying tickets in high season. If anyone has suggestions as to places where I could apply that do not require TEFL certification that are decent to work at, I would very much appreciate it. I have a BA in Religious Studies. About how much money does one need to live modestly in Istanbul? I would like to have some idea of the cost of living in order to ensure a livable salary. I have just one other question; I am Muslim and normally wear hijab here in Chicago. Is it entirely impossible to work in a school while wearing hijab in Turkey? Thanks in advance for any help and advice!

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

I should know the answer to this but I don't. Is it illegal for teachers to wear hijab?

bron · Joined: 26 May 2004 Posts: 88

Presumably in government schools it would be a problem, but not in private schools.

More of a problem would be finding a job with no TEFL certification and no English degree. No matter what 31 says, you very likely can't even get a job at a private language school without that. Unless for some reason they take an interest in your CV and you interview really, really, really well.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

In all my years in the private sector i have never met a teacher who wears hijab. I have never even interviewed one. It makes no difference to me but would it to the owners and students? At language schools where i have worked students wore it and no problem(usually the best student in the class) However at the private uni where i worked hijab was forbidden.

btw should i be writing
-hijab
a hijab
or
the hijab

bron · Joined: 26 May 2004 Posts: 88

Well, it may be unusual, but as you say, the students are permitted to wear it, so how could a policy of forbidding teachers to wear it be justified?

Of course, if it's forbidden full stop, then it's down to the institution in question to decide that. (I don't actually agree with forbidding it at all, but this is Turkey, and it happens.) But definitely, if students can wear it, teachers ought to be allowed to as well.

I think the usual way to refer to the headscarf is "hijab" when referring to the principle of covering for an individual, or "a hijab" when referring to the scarf that the individual wears, and "the hijab" when referring to it as the social phenomenon that secular Turks consider it. I haven't heard it described this way, per se, but in the literature I've come across, when women talk about covering, they say "taking" or "wearing hijab," when they talk about an individual woman, she's "wearing (a) hijab," and when people talk about the fact of wearing it, the right to wear it, etc, they refer to "the hijab."

So your paragraph would be:

In all my years in the private sector i have never met a teacher who wears (a) hijab. I have never even interviewed one. It makes no difference to me but would it to the owners and students? At language schools where i have worked students wore it and no problem(usually the best student in the class) However at the private uni where i worked the hijab was forbidden.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

thanks for that bron. interesting. articles are a mine field at the best of time and using foreign words in an English context just confuses things more.

whynotme · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 728 Location: istanbul

a teacher who wears (the) hijab sounds better to me ...but you are the natives so i ll leave it to you.

teachers are not alowed to wear (the) hijab.