Job Discussion Forums

[jdenn]

Hello,
My girlfriend and I are considering looking for work teaching in Istanbul, possibly next spring. A couple of questions come to mind:

1. We're Americans with University degrees and CELTA certs. How open is the market for us? (not that something will fall in our laps, but can we find work?)

2. If we search for a flat, will we be allowed to live together despite the fact we're not married?


Thanks

[Mark Loyd]

1 splayed wide open

Cue the job offer we all know is coming.

2 of course, where do you think this is, eyerag?

[jdenn]

hey, like i said... i'm american. midwest at that. new york is a foreign land for my small mind.

thanks for the answers.

[molly farquharson]

why mark, are you offering them a job?

[Mark Loyd]

Jdenn

Check your PMs for a warning about language schools in Istanbul.

[coffeespoonman]

Eh, don't be so sure about being able to live together. My girlfriend and I had to pretend we were married (we picked up cheap rings in Sarajevo) to split a flat. Of course, some landlords are very strict, and some couldn't care less (sometimes even about little things like exposed electrical wires).

Personally, I think that when you go flat-hunting, you might as well just say you're married.

[Mark Loyd]

The only thing strict about Turkish landlords is paying up.

Married, not even in Suadiye.

[dmb]

I have lived in about 7 different flats here. I have maybe looked at about 100. Only once has the married thing come up. Sure it exists but it is not common.
OP, if you are qualified you will easily find work.

[lucy k]

The married thing does come up sometimes. My boyfriend and I couldn't have two flats that we liked because we aren't married. And our current landlord is a religious guy who just assumes that we are married (I mean, of course we wouldn't be looking for a flat together otherwise... that would just be sinful! ). Of course, out of 50 or so flats we looked at, those were the only times it came up. It definitely won't keep you from finding a place to live.

[Mark Loyd]

OP If you are unqualified you will easily get a job.

[justme]

You may ignore the unneccessary antagonism. It's part of a dead debate that has little to do with your question.

You're better off with some sort of certification. It's possible to find a job without it (especially if you have some experience), but it won't be a very good job.

While shopping for a flat in Bakırk�y with my male roomate, the first 6 or so emlaks only showed us really crappy student places. Then we told the last one we were engaged (you don't have to have any paperwork for that) and he showed us a decent place. But that may have been a coincidence.

But also when I was looking with my husband (we really were engaged at that time), none of the emlaks in Beylikd�z� would even show us a place until we came with my husband's father to vouch for us. That may have been a coincidence too. Or it could just be down to the places one is looking...

[Mark Loyd]

Private unis employ people with no degrees or certs.

No emlak or landlord has ever asked to see any paperwork, it is just cash. Are you seriously saying that there is even one emlak in this whole country who gives a toss about anything other than money?

[justme]

I don't know how serious I am, but that was my experience. I guess they weren't above taking our money for the skeevy student sh*t-holes, but they weren't going to rent us a respectable place. The Beylikd�z� ones just lied and said they didn't have anything, despite the signs out front to the contrary....

[Mark Loyd]

You don`t need an emlak in Beylikduzu, just look at all those signs on windows. They are desperate to rent and sell there.

Emlaks are on a par with language school owners for sheer lies and unprofessional behaviour. I bet emlaks do not pay their employees` SSK.