Job Discussion Forums

[Chambers]

I graduated college in May from the University of Delaware with full intentions for my next year (or at least half year) to teach English Abroad.
During my time at UD I studied abroad for 5 weeks in Beijing and taught English as a volunteer for 5 weeks in Tanzania with Cross Cultural Solutions.

I have been saving up money and finally have enough to being serious planning. Initially I considered Czech Republic or Greece but research (a good amount from these forums) has taught me that this is becoming nearly impossible for Americans. I also recently declined a Thailand program through CIEE due to high price and poor time frame. Much of my research has pointed me to Turkey and from what I have learned the allure of Istanbul and Turkey appeals to me.

My desire is to get a TEFL in Istanbul from Language Corps, Via Lingua or CELTA from ITI, and then proceed to find a job in Istanbul. Is this a good route to go?

It seems like these companies have good reputations, is one best? Or has anyone been certified by them? After teaching in Tanzania I'd like to get some training and from what I have read getting certified in country is far superior.

Many of these programs have training during the months of Nov/Dec, what is the market for teaching jobs during this time for January? Is that the start of the second half of the Turkish school year? How long would a contract typically be? Should I be worried about the new visa laws and bring more money for a residency permit?

Any help, advice or direction would be greatly appreciated! This entire forum has been invaluable!

[Chambers]

Literally any help to any of these questions would be greatly appreciated!

[nyc2323]

hey, you might want to post this on the newbie forum too, you might get better responses.

I'm just graduating from the newbie board myself so what i can tell you is this: I did a CELTA course in my home city (NYC) and THEN started applying to jobs and figuring out where to go. I can't say anything about doing it in-country but i'm glad i did it this way. I spent 2 months teaching in Italy this summer and now I'm headed to Istanbul on a 6-month contract.

btw, CELTA is definitely the way to go, if you have the money. don't waste half the money on a crappy online certif, you're just as well off not having one at all then as far as getting jobs.

[Sashadroogie]

A CELTA from ITI is the only real choice. Go for that one.

However, not so sure they provide much help with jobs. Plus there are indeed work visa issues in Turkey to contend with too... but have no hard info on that.