Job Discussion Forums

[stevehamlyn87]

OK, so I am a 23 y/o native English national with a BA in Creative Writing and a CELTA with about 4 months full time teaching experience here in England. I am currently looking for work abroad and I am very interested in working in Turkey, Istanbul specifically.

Problem is I am getting nowhere applying for jobs online here; the ads I've applied to either don't respond, are a scam (one offered me a job and then asked for a 'processing fee' - told them where to stick their job offer), or the company has a dubious reputation, i.e. Berlitz.

From what I gather most people seem to be telling me I should have no problem finding a job in Istanbul with my certs/exp; most people who seem to be posting on these boards with difficulties finding work seem to either not have a degree, have no CELTA or no experience, or simply are not from Europe. So basically my question is what should I do? Should I just hop on a flight with no job offer and walk round handing out my CV as some people suggest? I have about �2500 savings, is this realistically enough to survive on until I see some income? Also where should I be applying? I understand there are 3 types of institutions I can apply to; Uni's (probably out of the question), International Schools and Private language schools, can anyone explain the main differences between them and my chances of being offered work in each one? Your advice / feedback is greatly appreciated and I just want to say how great I think these forums are. Thanks

[lucia79]

It would be a good idea to come to Istanbul and then visit the schools your are interested in and drop off your CV. It works for many people, you can read their experiences in previous posts.

There are: IB schools, private Turkish k-12 kolejis with Turkish students, language schools/dershanes and universities.

In what kind of school are you interested in working?

[stevehamlyn87]

Thanks for your quick reply. Thats the thing I'm not sure. My only preference is not to teach children (due to my lack of experience of working with them), and obviously I would like to work somewhere where the pay is (relatively) good. I have heard dershanes are the easiest to find work in, but that the conditions vary drastically from school to school, and that Universities only really hire people with MA's / DELTA's etc. Can you provide me with a brief summary of the pros and cons of each type of establishment? I am not familiar with IB schools or private Turkish k-12 kolejis, can you please explain what they are? Which would you recommend for someone in my situation? Thanks

[lucia79]

What is your range of relatively good?

I have never worked in a dershane, but have friends who have and yes, they vary.

IB = International Baccalaureate. Here's a list of schools in Turkey: http://ibo.org/school/search/index.cfm?nextStart=2

Turkish Kolejis are private schools (k-12/kindergarten through 12th grade) for well-to-do Turkish children.

Pros and cons...I haven't worked at an international school so I'm not going to speculate here. The Turkish Kolejies will vary. Some are really good and organized, pay pretty handsomely, and there's good cooperation between the foreign teachers and the Turkish teachers. Others may be quite disorganized, pay on the lower scale of private Turkish schools etc. The kids in these schools can be very spoiled, but others are really eager to learn and are good kids. It's a mixed bag.

I haven't worked in a university, but from friends who do, I hear that they have their downsides too (for example, lack of cooperation between the Turks and the foreigners).

If you're not interested in teaching children then you'll be looking at language schools and uni jobs. I don't know what to suggest, you could try teaching at a k-12 private Turkish school and teach high school kids. Or you can find a language school and work there until you can get your foot in the door at a university.

[stevehamlyn87]

I would say �1200+ would be an acceptable amount, would that be realistic working full time for your average language school in Istanbul?

Would you say a BA, CELTA and 4mths exp would be sufficient to virtually 'guarantee' me a job in a language school if I went over and handed out my CV to enough schools? Obviously I know you can't say for sure but I don't want to fly out there and discover no school will employ me because I don't have enough experience.

You say you have never worked in a dershane but from your friends' experiences are there any in particular you would recommend or recommend I avoid? Would most students in the dershanes be older professionals/businessmen or are there a lot of younger students (or does this again vary a lot between schools)?

Can I ask what your experience is of working in Istanbul? How did you go about finding work? Did you have a job arranged before arriving or did you just fly over and find one (if so how long did it take you to find one)? Do you think �2500 would be enough to get me through until I actually receive a pay cheque?

Again your feedback is greatly appreciated.
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[lucia79]

I sent you a pm.