Job Discussion Forums

[OzBurn]

If so, I would appreciate information about jobs (pay, availability, working conditions, etc.) and living expenses, as well as any information about the locals that you might care to share. I am an experienced teacher. I quite enjoyed my trip to Turkey last fall and would like perhaps to try it for a longer period, preferably in the south where winters are mild. Oh yes, and how are the winters there?

Thanks for your help.

Nathan

[Theresa]

Hi Nathan!
İve been here since last November. there are quite a few possibilities but from September as the summer season has started and a lot of the students have gone to work in hotels etc. There are private dersanıs such as the Amerikan Kultur Dernegi and Deulcom as well as the Kolejis. İm sure youve read the postings about Akdeniz so maybe thats a no but theres also Akev and Antalya. From what İ hear it all depends on how you deal with stress . As for the inhabitants Ghost summed it up in his previous postings about the place and to be honest İm still here because my boyfriend is here. İve made some nice friends but thats after a LOT of filtering. There is an Opera and ballet.
The weather well dont get too excited as in the winter ıt was really cold- well not as cold as Erzurum- and when it rains its in monsoon proportions . Now is the best time to be here. İn a month or so it will start to get unbearably hot and humid which is ok if you only have to go to the beach not work.
Oh and pay: not that great either. Basic rate at a dersanı is 7.5 million. The Kolejis pay more of course. Theres talk of private lessons of $50 US an hour but youd have to find them and as this is actually quite a small town nobody wants to share of course.
All a bit negative really. Good luck!

[ghost]

For a city of the size of Antalya (approx. 800.000 inhabitants) there are actually not very many private language schools.

There are 3 Koleji (the three A`s) - Akev Koleji, Akdeniz Koleji and Antalya Koleji.

The last one (Antalya Koleji) is the best one for pay and conditions, but I would strongly advise being prudent if applying to teach in the primary section of that school, because the students are very spoilt and turbulent. Teaching in the primary section is high stress. This poster was fired from a position at Antalya, after a classroom fracas....and you can find the details in historical posts.

Teaching in the Lycee is a much better option at Antalya Koleji, because discipline is actually enforced and many of the students are scholarship students who won scholarships to study there. Serdar Aydin is head of the Lycee at Antalya.

If you go to Antalya Koleji - apply to the lycee and high school and ask for the head guy there - a man by the name of Serdar Aydin. A very decent man, who is a fanatical Fenerbace fan. He will invite you to look at the matches at luxury hotels in the area (Falaise Hotel). You will also be invited to some chic `balik` restaurants by Serdar, who will test your mettle when it comes to putting down some serious Raki and other substances not normally encountered in our home countries.

The advantage of Antalya Koleji is that they provide free (single) accommodation in big apartments with cable and all conveniences. However these apartments are near the airport, so come with ear plugs.

There is also free accommodation on the campus (with free meals), but the boarders are noisy, and you do not feel that you are ever away from work. On campus there are basketball and tennis courts and free internet access in the staffrooms.

Antalya Koleji is about 15 mins. walk from the giant Migros shopping centre where you can get a fast food meal and see original American films in English. Ghost would escape there at least 3 nights a week to try to alleviate the stress that dominated the day after teaching in the primary school for a few hours. He would hide behind giant sun glasses and a funky hat to avoid having to talk to the parents and students of the Koleji who also frequented Migros.

If you are a sports fan and you get hired at Antalya Koleji, you will have the priviledge of seeing one of the top basketball (female) Kolejis in Turkey. Attending some of the practice sessions was a spectacle in itself. The team is coached by dictatorial Nuri Koc - a kind of Bobby Knight `a la Turque`.....who drives his team through brutal 4 hour daily practices. Many of the girls would end the practices in tears, as a result of the constant shouting and humiliation from Mr Koc.

Poster will no longer touch primary schools anywhere in Turkey, and nor should you, unless you have an affinity for crying, spoiled babies who act about 5 years under their chronological ages....it is high stress and simply not worth the trouble....

At Antalya Koleji you normally need teaching credentials (B.Ed.) to teach there, but if you don`t have them, talk with Serdar, and he might swing something....

There are only three language schools of note. The one this poster remembers is `Amerika Kultur` - run by a smart entrepeneur called Halil Cil. Last year ghost was offered 15 million per hour to teach there after he was fired from Antalya Koleji.

The best thing to do is to just go down there (Antalya) - check into a Pansiyon (don`t pay anything more than 15 million a night) and then check the schools armed with your resume and testimonials.

[OzBurn]

Thanks, Theresa and Ghost. Sounds like it might be worth a look. As for winters...mild is all I want. After a year in Budapest my definition of "mild" has probably changed, however.