Job Discussion Forums

[dmb]

A courteous gentleman thief? A dying breed. I wish the ones in Cihangir were.

[molly farquharson]

courteous, gentlemen, or dying?

[saloma]

Bravo Molly! Good one! (Cue applause)....

[dmb]

preferably having completed the act of dying.(can you tell that incident has pi$$ed me off)

[Theresa]

Hi! I'm in Van at the mo on hol. After 5 months being lonely in Ankara I got on the first bus and came straight here because the people are so hospitable. I'm here on my own again (have been here twice before) and am very happy. As for politics there are a great many differing opinions out here BUT as a foreigner it's best not to get too involved in such conversations as you never know who you're talking too.

Great places in the east are Dogubeyazit, Van, don't like Diyarbakir much,
Hasankefy (visit before it gets flooded), Mardin (best coffee in Turkey although an old man did spit at me but I may just have been in the way...) and Urfa (for the Arabic flavor though there you do have to be careful how you dress). Am planning on going to Hakkari as the people I know from there are amazingly friendly.

As Molly rightly said the people I know here are very protective towards me. Despite the news report a week ago (DEHAP riot on the street) there's nothing of the sort going on here at the mo

[OzBurn]

Hi guys,

I've been gone from the wide world for a year, back in the US teaching at a regular ol' school with kids who understand every word I say (or at least 80% of what I say). And, no surprise, I have that travel bug again. So I'm thinking about eastern Turkey. Can anyone fill me in on average wages out there? Also, I'm going to be government certified (not as a lunatic, as a teacher) in about a month. Would that help me with a better job/higher wages? (I make 45,000 USD a year here, but I just can't say in plasticstripmalland much longer.)

By the way, Molly, your reply on courtesy, gentlemen, and dying was worth the price of the ticket (and more)...do you mind if I steal it for a movie I'm writing?

OzBurn

[dmb]

[almuze]

hmmm, this would be about Van, but the other day I was at Ikea, saw a cute baby, said hello to its mommy, and she was an american, married to an american, living in Van teaching english "for a non profit". (whatever that means)
but she said she liked Van fine, they really enjoyed going mountain climbing... anyway,
how many esl teacher do ya reckon are out east, anyway?

[kylemory]

so i am looking to get a job in turkey and have an offer on the table from this school.. i have read some other threads (here, here, and possibly here) about the school, and most of the comments were rather vague, but with a definite negative tone.. the pay is good (better than a thread from 2003 indicated), but the working hours are pretty bad (six days a week, split shifts) but its just an initial three month contract in which time im hoping that i can either get a feel for the school or possibly get my foot in the door somewhere else.
am i crazy and/or stupid for thinking about this? i am rather nervous about flying to istanbul without a job lined up, and this is the only offer ive been able to get online in turkey.. for me, the security of having a job lined up beforehand is pretty important, but i do have quite a bit of experience and id like to avoid having a completely horrible time in turkey..
any first hand experiences with the school or advice in general would be appreciated.

[jamessmart50]

I worked there 3 years ago

Don't, under any circumstances whatsoever, work there

Firstly, the director will ask you to send him your original certificates, which he claims to require under Turkish law (not true). You'll never see them again.

He'll also 'promise' you about 26 hours a week work - neither I nor my predecessor got any more than 18.

He also tells you that there are other foreign teachers working at the school. This isn't true - it's just him and you, plus a couple of local teachers who work on Saturday, and get the hell out of there as quickly as they can.

And he's a horrible guy

The last time I spoke to him, he was trying to coerce me into giving his school a good reference by hacking into my e-mail account and threatening that he could do that any time he wanted. Oh, and he created an e-mail account in my name to tell prospective teachers what a great place 'I' thought it was to work in....

Actually, there are loads more reasons not to work at that school but I won't go into them all

Just say no

[kylemory]

thanks for the information.. based on some negative things i read about the school on this site and the general feeling i got from talking to the director i already decided to not make the move there, but im sure other people considering the position will find your comments useful.

[ranter]

Diyarbaır is set for some serious terrorist action. Be careful.

[jamessmart50]

Hey people, just to warn you, Akademi school of English is advertising a lot again, it's a bad place.

I've recently been talking to the last teacher who worked there earlier this year: The director fell out with him, and managed to get him arrested by claiming he was a member of the PKK !! ...takes all sorts I suppose...

[eclectic]

Tigranokert, please!

[Grendal]

T�rkiyenın doğusunda �alışmak isteyen yabancı oğretmenler dikat etsinler. Ben Kanadadan geldim ve sadece İstanbul, Ankara ve İzmirde �alışdım. İsmim T�rk ismi ama iş nedenilen İngiliz isim kulaniyorum. İngilizce benim ana dilim (L1), T�rkce ikinci dilim.

Politika ile ilgili hi� bir şey sormiyorum ve s�ylemiyorum. Evliyim ve kiz konusunla ilgilenmiyorum ama doğuda beyler cok cok dikat etisinler. Daha doğrusu uzak dursunlar. Bayanlarda kılık kiyafetine dikat etsinler. Bir sene Sudi Arabistanda �alişdim İngilizce oğretmeni olarak ve bu sene eşim ile oraya geri d�nıyoruz. İkimize ayni yerde iş veren �niversitıye gidiyoruz.

Siz bayanlar kendilerinizi korumak i�in giyiminize ve gen� T�rk erkeklere dikat ediniz ve beylerde K�rt kizlardan �zak dursunlar.

Hoşcakalın.

Grendal