Job Discussion Forums

[tlord86]

Hi Everyone,

My boyfriend and I are contemplating teaching in Turkey, and I just wanted to get some basic information on finances there.

First, my boyfriend and I both have degrees in English, and we are planning to take a TEFL certification course. If we work full time, how much can we expect to earn in a month teaching in Istanbul?

Second, I am concerned about the cost of living. I am hoping that someone can tell me how much to expect to pay for:
- a small, furnished, 1 bedroom apartment in a reasonably priced part of Istanbul
- utilities (gas, water, electric)
- internet access
- phone
- public transportation
- food for two for a month

Can someone also explain about health care in Turkey. (Is it provided by employers? If not, how expensive is it? Does the nation require residents to have health insurance?)

Thank you for your assistance.

[eclectic]

from what Ive read by the experts on this forum, it'll cost about the same as you'd pay in America in a medium-sized city. Expect to pay about $1,000 US per month for all those rent/utilities combined.

As for healthcare, beats the crap out of me.

[fishmb]

These are all really subjective and depend on lifestyle, but I'll tell you what my girlfriend and I roughly pay.

We've had two apartments here. The first was a small, one bedroom that we had all to ourselves. It cost 1300TL including internet and utilities except electricity, so it was a little chilly because the electric heater was inefficient anyway. It was in Harbiye and was a 15 minute walk to Taksim square.

We recently moved to a new apartment near the Galata Tower. We have two rooms to ourselves and share 1.5 bathrooms and a kitchen with two other people. Internet and all utilities are included and we pay 1000TL. There are some very nice apartments in Istanbul, so it's always possible to pay a lot more.

Transportation is really impossible for me to guess and probably for you to guess too because we have no way of knowing hoe often you'll be making trips. If you live within walking distance of where you work you'll hardly spend anything on transportation. Mass transit here is really reasonably priced. Most of the time you step on a train, lightrail, ferry, bus, subway car, or funicular you'll pay 1.5TL - and less than that if you have to transfer. Taxis are way cheaper than in US cities and private shared taxis called dolmushes that have a fixed route are also fast and fairly reasonable (3.5 TL).

I hardly use my cell phone - it's a pay as you go scheme. So I'd say I spent 50TL every 5-6 weeks.

I have no clue how much I spend for food. Lots of stuff can be bough at open-air markets for very cheap, but if you want to shop at western-style grocery stores some items will also be a tad more than in the US - or wherever you're from.

I don't know about health insurance. Some employers provide it, some don't. Mine don't. My girlfriend's do.

Wage depends on where you work. If you want to work with kids there are lots of k-12 schools that will offer pretty good packages to people with experience. 3000TL a month perhaps. Universities also pay well. Language school pay varies, as do the benefits.

My girlfriend makes 1200TL a month, got her residence permit paid for, and has private health insurance. She has 15 contact hours a week.

I make 18TL/hour. I work 21-24 hrs a week and have no benefits. We haven't been saving much money, but we live pretty comfortably. We're thinking about whether or not we want to stay in Turkey for another year or two. If we do, we'll apply to university jobs.

[Otterman Ollie]

As far as health care goes employers are obliged to pay for it, assumming you are working for them legally that is. ıf you do find yourself at the bottomend of the job market you will need both salaries to live comfortably, that may also mean not such a frantic social scene. In decent jobs with 3.5 thousands plus each then you can enjoy yourselves and save. Your degrees wll open doors in some of the better places but anything else on paper is handy. A university employer (like mine) wil lgive subsidzed health cover and provide a mid day meal if you live close by, transport costs are minimal, but I live in Izmir!
Istanbul is where its at, but it can be pricy and cold in the winter.

[fishmb]

Another comment for you: you mention "full-time work." You should know that 25-30hrs is full-time since you don't get paid for your lesson planning. If you go to a language school and pick up 40hrs a week that's really substantially more than full-time. So if you're being paid hourly or try to calculate your hourly wage based on a monthly salary, keep time for lesson planning in mind.

[tlord86]

It seems like Turkey is pretty similar to Europe as a whole. I was hoping that my boyfriend and I might be able to bank more money in Turkey than in European countries like Czech Republic, but as always seems the case, I suppose the best place to look for money-saving locations is in Asia.

Thank you all.

[eclectic]

[coffeespoonman]

Well... I'll be the first to say that Turkey is a great place for saving money... Assuming that you're a bit careful.

I live 10 minutes from a metro stop, and I pay 750 a month for a 2 bedroom flat. Not the most luxurious place, but clean and totally renovated (I am done with living in cruddy old Istanbul flats). Throw in all my bills (water, electric, internet, heating, doorman), and I'm at about 1000 TL a month, probably slightly less.

My employer pays for... well... everything. Lunch, transportation (if I wanted, but I live close enough to work that I can walk or take 1 metro stop and thereby leave whenever I'm good and ready instead of whenever the service bus leaves) and health insurance.

I also only have 20 contact hours a week, which leaves me ample time to teach privates whenever I feel like it - and privates pay very well here.

Without discussing details too much, I pay the bills, put 1000 US in the bank every month, and still have enough left over to eat/drink whatever I want, go out drinking/dining once or twice a week, travel a little bit every time I get a chance (about once every 2 months - I'm going to the Middle East next week), and make some nice little purchases (computer stuff, furniture, etc.)

But, even more importantly, I am madly, crazily, fantastically in love with my job. Turks are wonderful to teach (in most places), and my colleagues are great.

There are great jobs here, it just takes a little bit of time to work up to them. If you get here and find that you like Turkey, and if you're willing to put a little bit of effort in (research, networking, maybe some professional development), it's really quite easy to do very well here, both financially and with respect to job satisfaction.

[hellasnut]

This thread has given a good picture of working in Turkey.
Found it very informative.
Thanks

[bulgogiboy]