Job Discussion Forums

[turkishlover25]

(I apologize if this topic has been covered in previous threads - a few searches didn't turn up an obvious answer.)

In a short time I'll have a PhD in English Lit in hand (from a good school in the USA), with the academic world beckoning. So....off to Turkey I go? It's never as simple as that, but I'm interested. I have a BA, MA, and PhD in English, plus a TEFL certificate. I lived in Turkey for two years and taught EFL/ESL, in Istanbul for a year and Ankara for a year. My Turkish is also quite good. I have a year's experience as an editor/writer for an ESL publishing company in Seoul, South Korea. Of course, as a graduate student I've been teaching English literature and writing courses (on my own, and not as a TA) for more than 4 years now.

If I were to accept a non-tenure track job in Turkey teaching LITERATURE (not ESL or the like), what kind of salary could I expect? I realize this will fluctuate greatly depending on the school, from Sabanci to Boyazici to ODTU, not to mention a host of smaller, more private institutes I know nothing about yet.

I appreciate your help.

[bulgogiboy]

I had a Turkish prof friend at ODTU, and he encouraged me to apply there within the ESL department. I don't have a PhD but I do have an MA English, and the figure of 1800-2000 YTL was floated around. Not particularly high, but ODTU is a good school. I'm sure the students are pretty good there. You wouldn't be looking at a massive salary though.

On the flip side of the coin you have private universities like Bilkent, which pay much better money but are full of spoilt rich kids. I don't know about the other private unis but Bilkent had a terrible reputation within the TEFL teacher community. Nobody wanted to work there!

Honestly, the money isn't great anywhere in Turkey, and you still have to put up with a great deal of conservatism. If I were you, with your qualifications, I would think of doing a year or two in the Middle East. Not easy going, for sure, but at least you could save a ton of money, then move on to more relaxing climes with a very healthy bank balance...

[coffeespoonman]

Yeah, but 1800-2000 is the very lowest you could reasonably expect for a uni job here. You'd only make that little in Istanbul if you wanted to. You'd only teach a few hours a week and enjoy the "prestige" of it that you may or may not care about.

A normal private uni would pay you 3500-5000 with your quals for a place in the prep department, perhaps more if they actually needed a lit teacher (good luck finding such a job, though). Yes, the kids are rich brats, but I'd rather teach rich kids than be a poor adult.