Job Discussion Forums

[real2104]

My friend is thinking of teaching in Turkey for a year, she's a 22yo American with a TEFL and is half way through her BA.

Can she get a job'/work visa with ease?

[coffeespoonman]

Job - yes.
Work visa - not a chance.

[real2104]

ty for quick reply.

I'm Australian with a TEFL... are my chances any better?

[coffeespoonman]

Got a B.A.? If not, you'll be stuck working at 2nd tier language schools. While your conditions and pay may not be terrible (that varies), you're VERY unlikely to be given a work permit at those places. Even the head teachers don't have them.

Work permits are almost exclusively given to university and high school teachers, and even then some never get them.

The upshot of this is that work permits don't really matter a whole lot. The occasionally horror story about an illegal teacher being deported ALMOST always is far more complicated than that and involves drugs, domestic violence, or other matters that bring the police in in the first place.

[clifton10]

Sorry to break into the issue of work permits, but anyway, one school I'm looking at in Turkey(a private language centre near Istanbul) said that they will pay for work permits. I have a Bachelor degree, so would that matter, or would I be subjected to visa runs every, say, ninety days? And if so, which country would you suggest for my going on a visa run after securing employment? I'm planning to come to Turkey(Istanbul) in June to look for work. Clifton from Hanoi.

[coffeespoonman]

Language schools often say that they will get you work permits, but in reality, it's extremely rare that they do, B.A. or no. The investment in terms of time and money is simply too great.

If a school does give a work permit to a teacher, it's almost certainly going to be a teacher who has worked there for awhile. A school simply wouldn't go through all the trouble to get one for a teacher that may do a runner after a couple of months. However, the good schools will at least help you get a residence permit, which means you won't have to do visa runs.

If you do have to do visa runs, it's every 90 days, and you can take a night train or bus to Bulgaria. It's cheap, easy, and you can load up on pork and cheap liquor.

[clifton10]

YEEEHAAAA! Whoa, I'm a beer guy! Anyways, if I did a visa run to Bulgaria, how long will it take before my visa is issued? One, two days?

[coffeespoonman]

Nope, you buy it at the border. Technically, you can then turn around and come directly back.

But that's no fun.

[clifton10]

So I don't have to go to the Bulgarian capital, eh? Oh, well! At least if I get the visa at the border, that will save on hotels. Thanks, mate and hoping to be in Turkey this summer.