Job Discussion Forums

[urbancomber]

I've read a fair bit about Bilkent on here and feel a bit confused, the package that they're offering sounds pretty reasonable and decent. I've wanted to get my CELTA, and being able to teach at the same time sounds great. But many people have had nothing good to say about Bilkent....any positive words out there?

What about the social life in Ankara? I'd be coming from Taiwan, where everynight's a party, if you want it to be...

Thanks!

[safarer30]

I worked in Ankara last year, and I must admit that the social life can be lacking. You'd need to work very hard to find social activities during the winter; outside of your colleagues and campus drinking, sports or dancing classes could be a great way to meet new people and have a social outlet. There is a huge tango/latin dance fanbase in Ankara. Bilkent has service busses, I think, that run regularly to central areas of Ankara. I lived in Kecioren, and didn't bother to get downtown often. During the fall and winter I was anywhere else: Italy, Germany, Holland, and home in the states on numerous occasions. But then, I never liked the party life so much.I finally started attending embassy events as a way to meet people, and that worked out fine during the spring when there were barbecues, restaurant and club openings, etc. Ankara can be a great place to meet people working for the IMF, United Nations, and other organizations. It's a great place to make contacts if you think to change careers someday.

As for Bilkent itself, I didn't work there and so cannot comment on the quality of the institution, its employees, or students. The teachers I met were fun enough, and their comments about their job seemed neither exceptionally negative nor enthusiastically positive.

[eclectic]

I read Ankara is a dark, gloomy, beaurocratic city, quite freezing in winter, close to the ancient Hittite capital, and has great kebabs!

[barabbas]

Is that Ankara or the UK you're describing eclectic? Guess the Hittite thing gives it away...

[eclectic]

[bulgogiboy]

Ankara has quite a few nice pubs, and some decent nightclubs too. Tunali street and some of the streets directly around it have a lot of really nice places to eat, drink, or smoke water pipes. The same goes for Bahcelievler. It's not too difficult to find a pub that plays live music either. There's a bar at the very top of Atakule which I went to quite often which was nice. If you go before sunset you can sit and sip raki(guzzle in my case) whilst watching the whole city slowly light up.

It's not particularly cheap to drink in the pubs though, especially if you are drinking shots, and some of the more upscale nightclubs are shockingly expensive (500 liras for a bottle of chivas - not within the budgets of many ESL teachers).

I must say on the whole I did quite like going out for a drink in Ankara, it was such a breathe of fresh air compared to the UK. In all the time I was there I never saw anyone getting beaten up, puking, talking shit, staggering about and lying passed out on the pavement,etc. The nightclubs had a really nice atmosphere, you never felt violence was just around the corner, like so many of the clubs over here...

You can also go drinking in Sakkarya in Kizilay(the city centre), although that's a whole different ball game, the beers can be as cheap as 2.5 liras a pint, but you need to pick which bar you drink in carefully, and it's not really a place for women to go to unaccompanied by men...It's a good place to go if you want to pound a few with your male friends and not break the bank Even in this area, which was claimed to be the 'roughest' place to drink, I never saw any violence.

I think If you want lots of exciting nightlife I would go to Istanbul, it's alot more cosmopolitan and you'll be able to find a party every night if you want

[thedudeabides61]

From my experience over the years as I have watched foreigners come to Bilkent for the perks, they don't stay long as the workplace environment is extremely frustrating. The high turnover rate here is quite indicative of the lack of credence given to staff feedback and how little the package they offer actually counts The foreigners who do stay tend to stay because they are married to Turks or fit in with the toxic management. Bilkent is overfond of standardization, even when it clearly contradicts their own indoctrination , I mean, training programs. That being said, if you really want those pieces of paper, come and get them, but don't think you are getting something for nothing.

[bulgogiboy]

At least a couple of people at my work had done stints at Bilkent. It didnt have a particularly good reputation as a place to teach. I was warned off working at Bilkent a few times actually.

We had a fairly large percentage of Bilkent English prep school students who had failed/were failing their classes and had subsequently been forced by their parents to join classes in our school. I taught a few of them in IELTS prep and they ranged from a bit lazy to just bone idle, but were still very polite and friendly. However, I had heard other teachers with full classes of Bilkent students had gotten severe hassle from them...

I wouldn't join a uni in Turkey on the basis of being able to do a free CELTA/DELTA, and the MA they offer wouldnt tempt me at all, being from a Turkish university(not much value in the ESL workplace methinks ). If that kind of thing appeals to you though, I think you might be able to work out a deal with METU uni in Ankara, which has a much better rep, about getting discount towards a PhD if you teach there.

[PC Parrot]

The 5 people I know who got an MA while working at Bilkent did it with a British or US uni via distance learning. Bilkent paid for it.

Of course, as soon as they had the certificate in hand, they bolted to earn some decent cash outside Turkey.

[barabbas]

I've been warned off Bilkent several times too.

From what I've heard (though I haven't worked there) the problem stems from the fact Bilkent is a private university with a high reputation locally, meaning here that kids go because their families are rich. While it also means Bilkent can attract some of the best scholarship students, the bulk are here because of family wealth. Something like Oxford but without the kudos or history.

[bulgogiboy]

Wow Bilkent paid for them to do a distance master's degree from a Western uni? That's a different story altogether, I could see how that could tempt some people. I looked on their website a few days back out of curiosity, as they are currently advertising on TEFL.com, and from what I could see the only MA they offer is something at their own uni. I suppose if you negotiate well enough they will shell out for something better.

If they could just relocate Bilkent to Bodrum and make it a better place to work I might just be persuaded

[PC Parrot]

The last of them did finish their MA 8 years ago mind you, so I'm not sure what Bilkent do now.

They probably just offer to share the cost of posting off the assignments these days. Such is the value of the TEFLer in the world today.

[kazazt]

Pay and conditions have gone down at Bilkent over the years. The pay had stayed the same for years and the flights are now once every two years and nothing for families. It is not worth working their unless you have an agenda such as your husband and wife have a job in Ankara or you want to the dip and then leave. Seems like most jobs are only stop gaps these days.

[postpran]

Well I currently work at Bilkent. All the above is essentially true except they will not shell out money for a MA other than their own. Their MA is essentially shit! A watery MA in Education management designed by a fella with a very good sense of how to make money. He wrote a long article about how English teachers at Bilkent are expendable. It is indeed efficient to rehire new people every year so that they do not have to pay raises. The only people who stay are people married to Turks. This is true!

The management is toxic, the standardization is lock step and there is very little room for creativity. I have over ten years experience teaching at the university level and an MA and I am treated like a baby still in my nappies. This is standard treatment for all people in the BUSEL or FAE (English 101) faculties. There are a few folks with a PhD and they are also treated like they should be eternally grateful to work at "one of the greatest universities in the world." The students are very low compared to my experiences in Korea, Japan, United States, U.K., and Poland.

I have an interview for a teaching gig at METU next week. I have been at Bilkent for less than six months and have gathered quite a lot of information about METU from former foreign teachers and spoken to a lot of current students. The METU campus is gorgeous and has real names for the buildings like "science," "humanities" etc. Bilkent just has letters like "G building." Bilkent is very very uninspiring in terms of the campus and general climate. METU is a "real" university.

In terms of Ankara, it is growing on me. I have made quite a lot of new friends. The downtown scene in Tunali and Kizilay are both great. When I lived in Seoul and Osaka there were a lot of parties and Ankara is not quite to that level. However, it is not at all boring once you know where to go. I prefer Kizilay!

However, I think if you have a specific purpose (like a CELTA) Bilkent can be ok. Just come and do the job and have a life outside of work.

But it is not a top notch university at all. At least in terms of BUSEL (Bilkent University School of English Language). Money bought their credibility. This of course does not mean that it is a waste of time to have Bilkent on your CV. It can look good for Turkey and the middle east.

Oh, and also Bilkent is quite stingy in terms of pay. They are paying me $1700 a month. METU as a government university can offer me more!

If you have any specific questions about Ankara or Bilkent I will be glad to answer them

[eclectic]

Specifically, do you find Ankara to have a much more "eastern" feel to it, as ooposed to Istanbul? Is the general attitude towards foreigners a bit more "closed" or xenophobic than in Istanbul? And do you feel more of a stricter Islamic culture/general conservatism in Ankara than in more westerly parts?