Job Discussion Forums

[Caterinamh]

I am in the market to make a change. I am not sure about taking a leap as the grass is NOT always greener on the other side. Can anyone tell me a bit about Bilgi and Isik Prep Programs. How do they treat their staff? Salary expectations, ability to be promoted or just overall environment?


Share the good, bad and the ugly. I look forward to any feedback.

[coffeespoonman]

Caterinamh,

I worked at Isik for the last year, and I can tell you that they treat their staff, on the whole, quite excellently. I was quite satisfied with every aspect of working at Isik, from the department heads to the students (I think I got lucky there) and the facilities and materials.

So why did I leave?

Well, the main issue was that Isik pretty much consumes your life. That's great for some people, but not for me. The opportunities for professional development there are numerous (and mandatory), so if that's the thing you're into, Isik is great. You'll be teaching (if they can work out their teacher-student ratio this year) about 18 hours, and you'll have to attend a weekly development seminar, the research for which will keep you busy in your spare time. Furthermore, there are all kinds of other options for materials development and project work, which some people (including myself) managed with no problem, and some people spent many of their evenings working on.

But none of those things are what really consumed my life. It was the commute. On the surface, the commute isn't any worse than just commuting across the Bosphorous. It was about 1 1/4 hours from my house to my office. The problem is that since the campus is in Sile, you don't have any other options for commuting other than the servis bus (unless you happen to be able to throw away your life in Istanbul and move to Sile). Work at Isik is from 9 - 4, but because the bus picks you up at about 7, your real workday begins at 8. Then, the bus doesn't leave until 5:10, so you're working 70 minutes overtime every day, unless you pay 5 YTL and fight with the hordes of students to take one of the other buses, which are usually much more inconvenient, depending where you live. So, you get home between 6:30 - 7:00 (if there's no traffic). It's a bloody long day.

However, it is only 4 days a week, so you will have plenty of time to have a life. Really, working at Isik isn't bad at all, and would certainly appeal to a specific kind of person. Although I am not that person, if you are looking for a good "career" job, an opportunity to take part in a helpful and dedicated department, and a chance to seriously develop yourself as a teacher, and you don't mind losing most of your day 4 days a week, then Isik is a great job, with great benefits.

One question though... Is Isik actually hiring this year. That would really surprise me, seeing as they had to let 2 teachers go last year because of overstaffing. If they hire anyone this year, that would make me really disappointed, indeed.

Now, about Bilgi, I can tell you a little bit. They yanked out the head of the hazirlik program and outsourced the entire EFL department to TransWorldSchools, a company in San Francisco, run by an English woman. I was really optimistic about that, and applied with the aforementioned company.

I think this company knows even less about running an EFL department than the previous head did.

I was offered, without even a telephone interview, a job as a lead teacher in the department. Furthermore, the lady in charge informed me
of her plan to pay me most of my (rather generous) salary through a bank account in Holland in order to avoid taxes. Having become used to this kind of thing, I agreed. It all sounded like a pretty sweet deal, and I was excited.

Then, I got an email saying, "wait, actually, I can't offer you the lead teaching job yet. Please hold on." A couple days later, I got a contract in my inbox for a position as a regular teacher, with a salary $2,000 less than I was promised. When I emailed her to ask about the taxes (the contract said gross) and the medical insurance, she replied that she couldn't answer those questions yet. She didn't know if I had to pay taxes or if I would get private medical insurance. Of course, I told her to find those things out, and then I would sign my contract, to which she replied, "if you can't sign your contract now, please withdraw your application. I need to complete my hiring asap." Who in their right mind would sign a contract without knowing the most important details!?! Needless to say, I withdrew it immediately.

Anyway, I hope this rather lengthy email helps you. Feel free to PM for additional details. Good luck.

[tvik]

i was thinking that işık would be the perfect combination of village life and weekends in istanbul... the best of both...

any other comments on any universities are always interesting...

does anyone know what life is like at koc or sabanci????