Job Discussion Forums

madrileno · Joined: 19 Aug 2010 Posts: 270 Location: Salalah, Oman

I'm currently working in a GCC country but am considering Turkey for my next teaching contract. What are salaries like in Turkey.

I have an Masters in Education and one year post degree experience teaching university students.

PC Parrot · Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 6:04 am Post subject:

If you're in Buraimi, then you're probably not earning much more than $3,000/month ... so you might as well work in Turkey ..

I worked in Istanbul for 6 years .. and have worked in the UAE for the last 10 .. I wouldn't have done so if the pay weren't double the Turkish salaries ..

At the better paid Turkish universities, I believe you can expect to earn between $2,000 and $2,500 .. the Turkish Lira has just lost 20%, so salaries have just dropped 20% in US$ terms ..

There may be one or two places that pay $500 a month more than this, but there's a waiting list to get in and people working there have an MA TESOL and 10+ years of experience ..

Someone will come along and straighten my numbers out if they're slightly off ...

dhaver89 · Joined: 11 Aug 2011 Posts: 19

I'm in Izmir, I didn't have an experience before I started, and I'm earning around $2000 USD. The salaries here (Izmir) are lower, but for Turkish salaries in general, they are very high. The cost of living in Izmir is also pretty low, especially in regards to Istanbul. I have a newly remodeled 3-bedroom apartment with a kitchen, 2 baths, and a living room and no roommates. So, I live comfortably. Life is also probably a little easier in Izmir than Istanbul.

With experience, you could easily land a gig at a University for minimum $2500 USD, if you take into account living and food stipends which are usually given along with salary.

Otterman Ollie · Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 7:21 am Post subject:

Hi Dhaver

I'm in Izmir too, would be interested where you are working to get that salary, definitely not a language school, am I right?

morrisonhotel · Joined: 10 Feb 2010 Posts: 44

How about savings potential in Turkey? If you were earning, say, $2000 per month, what would you be saving on that?

dhaver89 · Joined: 11 Aug 2011 Posts: 19

If you were earning $2000, which would mean you would be working a lot, you could save a lot.

Of course, you have to take into account lifestyle.

If you don't drink and eat at home and don't mind having roommates you could live off of 1000-1200TL a month.

But, I don't live like that, I live like a Western person in Turkey. So, I only save around 400-500TL a month.

lucia79 · Joined: 18 Jun 2011 Posts: 156

If you're earning $2000 that'll be around 3,787 TL

If your rent is between 600 and 1000 TL, buy your groceries and cook at home and don't drink like a fish then you can save.

I think a person could potentially save 1000 TL a month.

madrileno · Joined: 19 Aug 2010 Posts: 270 Location: Salalah, Oman

The pay in Turkey looks pretty similar to Korea...

billy orr · Joined: 15 Jul 2009 Posts: 229

Just as a matter of interest and a point of further comparison, the minimum wage in Turkey is currently 701TL net, or 380USD.

According to what I have found on the internet, and the information may not be directly comparable, the minimum wage in Korea is 976, 320 won, or 855USD (I do not know whether that is net or gross).