Job Discussion Forums

[irieteacher]

I'm thinking of working in Ist. again.

What can anyone tell me about Wall Street and the Berlitz Schools there?

Also, can u reccomend any other decent schools in Ist.

I'm aware of Eng. Time - Taksim. What are its other branches like?

Thanks,
Irieteacher

[Bogazicibaby]

hi irieteacher,

I can tell you about Berlitz. I suffered under the evil owner/manager as did many of my friends. Just don't even go there. I actually suffered much less than many people that I know because my fiance/husband (he had warned me to be careful if I took the job at Berlitz) at the time was a business friend of this guy and I also am one of the very few who actually have completed a full year contract.
People that I used to work with at the University went to Berlitz despite my warnings and they all ended up leaving before their contractual time was finished.
There are many horror stories from people that I know and people that I have heard about. Just to mention a few- many people did not have their work permits when I was there and had to leave the country ever 3 months. I had a work permit, but my social insurance was NEVER paid and I was not reimbursed for ANY costs.
A friend who finally got his work permit just before he finished his FULL TIME contract (the contracts there vary and full timers often get screwed if they don't teach the full time hours) and when he didn't renew his contract found out in a very unpleasant way that his work permit was revoked. Another friend was forcably detained in the office when all she wanted to do was leave. Other friends have gotten roped into doing extra projects with the promises of being paid, but the actual pay tends to be far below what was promised.
Several people the I know are of the personal opinion that the person in charge at Berlitz stays up late at night thinking of ways to make people suffer.

Apart from general craziness, payday tends to fall on the 15th of the month and they always use the lowest possible rate to convert dollar amounts into lira. The support staff has a very high turn over and it makes doing your job difficult. Many people end up working almost every single day if they want to earn enough.

The guy at Berlitz is liar. He comes across as being nice and caring and then the day comes when you realize how ugly and nasty he really is. They ask you to lie to customers and the nasty things that he has to say about students is disgusting at best.

Just stay away from this place unless you want to experience a lot of negativity!

good luck!

[tammy]

Hi there!
I had a good experience at one of the English Time branches on the Asian side. However, I left a few months ago and have since heard that the school is not as great as it used to be. Some of my friends there have been fired for no reason and others have quit due to new management. The Srineveler branch is supposed to be ok but apparently it's in the middle of nowhere so you can go crazy trying to keep yourself occupied. There are about three branches on the Asian side, where good teachers have been fired for no reason and the management seems to have gone downhill. Some teachers moved to Taksim from the Asian side and are not too happy there, again due to bad management and a lot of them have quit.
That's just what I've heard. Despite my good experience last time, it's enough to stop me from going back to ET..