Job Discussion Forums

[Softy]

Hello,

I spent a couple of hours going through the recent posts to this forum. I pulled together what is relevant for me and included several questions below. I would appreciate any help y�all can provide.

I am moving to Istanbul in March, and I hope to start teaching in April.

I would like to teach at a university. Based on what I�ve read here, I am qualified:

* I have a Bachelor�s Degree and a Master�s Degree, though neither are in TESOL or English.
* I have a CELTA.
* I have three years of experience teaching English abroad, including three months at a university.
* I was also a Graduate Teaching Assistant as a graduate student.

I understand that university jobs are sought after and therefore more difficult to get than jobs at language schools. I also read that fewer students are now required to take English-prep at university. Can someone help me find a list of universities that hire native speakers to teach English-prep (e.g. Işik University)?

I am also planning to apply to work at primary/secondary schools (K-12) if I am qualified. Am I qualified? I�ve been teaching at an elementary school in South Korea for the past 10 months.

I have looked at five websites for International Schools in Turkey. They all require home certification, and I do not have that. Are there other options (besides International Schools) for teaching K-12? If so, how can I get access to a list of schools, email addresses, and hiring managers?

University and K-12 jobs generally start in September/October but hiring begins in April or May. Is this correct?

I have a little money saved, but I will need to work between April � September. Do language schools offer short-term contracts? I know there isn�t a lot of work at language schools during the summer. Is part-time work available? Does anyone have any suggestions for finding privates?

I�ve been combing the internet for job postings at language schools, and I am discouraged by what isn�t out there. There aren�t many openings.

I did find a list of schools in Istanbul. Some of them have websites in English; others don�t. Some of them are NOT recommended by contributors to this forum. I will heed your warnings.

Active English
American Cultural Association
Avrupa Dilleri Language School
Berlitz Istanbul
Bilge Adam IT Academy
British English
Dar�şşafaka School
Dialogue Language Schools
Dilko English
Dilge English
Doga Schools
EF (English First)
The English Centre
English Time
Gokdil Language Centre
Helen Doron Early English
Inlingua Istanbul
Istanbul Language Centre
Istek Foundation
ITI Istanbul
SDM English Wall Street Institute

I would prefer to find a job before I arrive, but if I don�t, how confident can I be about finding work when I arrive? (Don�t worry � I won�t hold you personally responsible if I don't find a good job right away.)

The work visa / residence permit procedure is quite confusing, but thanks to coffeespoonman and aktolas' responses in another thread (Work visa from home country - how long & steps?), I think I�m finally getting a handle on it all.

I won�t be returning to the States before coming to Istanbul, but I will be sure to come with the documents I need.

By the way: I understand that language schools may not help with work visas / residence permits. Is it fair to assume that a university and a primary/secondary school would help?

Finally, what about health insurance? Do universities and primary/secondary schools provide health insurance?

I know I've asked a ton of questions.

Thank you very much.

[scot47]

April would not be the best time to start a job. It will however, give you six months to look around before Semester 1 of 2010/2011 begins.

Even private language schools may not have vacancies at this time.

You are engaged on a gamble. The stakes are high.

[Listener]

Inlingua pays consistently late and is chaotic and disorganized. that being said, the other teachers there are very nice and most of the students are nice white-collar types. There are worse places to work.

I think English Centre is out of business. You need to add Oxford House to your list, a new kid on the block. I interviewed with them at the end of summer and it seemed like an ok organization for a language school. Dunno how it's turning out though...

[coffeespoonman]

Yes, you're qualified for a uni, and yes, the jobs are more sought after. However, it is my experience that those with the right qualifcations and degree of professionalism can get uni jobs with no problem. Out of 10 CVs, there might be only 1 candidate who qualifies. So, your chances are probably better than you think. However, this doesn't mean that all universities are good places to work. The work "university" can be used quite loosely here.

As far as I know, nearly all private universities have prep departments. Your best bet is to find a list of private universities, go to their websites, find the English prep program (hazirlik), and start sending out emails. If you have a question about a particular one, I'm sure the people on this forum can help.

Yes, you can also work K-12, but International Schools may be difficult. I don't know that much about it, but I think you can get in without home certification. If they like you. And if they need you. But I don't know for sure.

"University and K-12 jobs generally start in September/October but hiring begins in April or May. Is this correct?" - Yes, correct.

Yes, part-time work is available, but less easily attainable in the summer. April, May, June should be ok. Finding privates might be difficult at first - it tends to be word of mouth, and they usually prefer people who have been here for a little while, but you could try craigslist.com or mymerhaba.com.

Don't let the lack of postings on the internet fool you. I'm sure there are jobs, but posting costs money, and there are enough people around that posting a job is often a waste of money.

"I would prefer to find a job before I arrive, but if I don�t, how confident can I be about finding work when I arrive?" - very confident, if you don't have your standards set too high at first.

"The work visa / residence permit procedure is quite confusing, but thanks to coffeespoonman and aktolas' responses in another thread (Work visa from home country - how long & steps?), I think I�m finally getting a handle on it all." - glad I could help.

"By the way: I understand that language schools may not help with work visas / residence permits. Is it fair to assume that a university and a primary/secondary school would help?" - Yes. Help is a pretty subjective term though.

"Finally, what about health insurance? Do universities and primary/secondary schools provide health insurance?" - Yes, good schools give private, mediocre schools give gov't. Either way, you'll be insured.

[fishmb]

Some schools don't get any insurance, so you should definitely ask!

[doner]

You have almost no chance of getting private health care not for a TEFL job and not at a uni.

Work permits-Almost no TEFL jobs will provide them. Private unis are going with language schools to provide TEFLers.

Unis are not unis in the western sense.