Job Discussion Forums

[jonniboy]

I've trawled various threads but haven't quite found answers to these. I've been in Istanbul twice and really liked it and wouldn't mind a year teaching there but there's a number of things I'd like to know more about before I go any further...

1) What are the age profile of the students? Mostly kids, mostly adults? A mix? Is the demand more for business or General English or both? I taught kids in Spain and hated it and for the last few years have had a full schedule (30+ clock hours) teaching only adults. How possible is that in Istanbul?

2) CELTA or lack of it. I don't have one. I've eight years experience though. How would that affect me in the job market?

3) How about private students? Plenty of them or is most work done through language centres?

4) What's the work situation like in the Summer months? In Spain it died off and you were lucky to get 8 hours a week. Here in Latvia it's not too bad, about 16-18 hours in the Summer months. Enough to break even for a few months on. Are there some classes available or do Turks hit the beaches?

5) Bizarre question but for the last two and a half years I've been doing a fair bit of online gambling and have a consistent profit from that. It's not huge sums (average profit �250 a month) but it's been a handy second income and has funded decent holidays while allowing me to build up some savings while avoiding the summer camp treadmill. I've read though that in Turkey websites like Betfair dot com, ladbrokes and the like are blocked. Is this true and if so are there any ways round that? Proxies and the like?

[coffeespoonman]

1 - Of course, that depends where you work.

2 - You'll be able to get a job, but may be quite limited unless you get lucky. Why not just do a part time CELTA course?

3 - Plenty of opportunties for privates, but usually through word of mouth. I.e. you'll not likely find anything for awhile. You could look on sites like Craigslist, but those won't pay so well.

4 - Turks all go to their summer homes. It won't be so different from Spain.

5 - My friend does the same. Yes, you can get around it with a proxy.

[jonniboy]

[coffeespoonman]

1 - So don't take a job at a kindergarten. There are literally hundreds of langauge schools, and it's not common here to have childrens' classes at them. Not much chance you'll be stuck with kids unless you try.

2 - Not sooo bad, but it depends what you're after. Most mediocre language schools won't care too much with 8 years experience. But the top ones and universities may, depending. I guess it depends how much upward mobility you're looking for. And there are lots of opportunities here to do a CELTA program if you become interested later.

3 - Sometimes mymerhaba.com. Don't know of any others.

4 - Usually about September - July. I'd say late August is perfect. You can survive in the summer if you're paid hourly, but it can be tough. If you get a good reputation at your school, you'll get enough hours. If they don't like/trust you, you'll get few to none. However, many schools will offer you a monthly salary and/or a minimum payment, so you can survive in the summers.