English Teaching Position

To those of you looking for an English teaching position, Amerikan Kultur is hiring native speakers.  The best way is to drop by with your resume.  Amerikan Kultur is on Mesuriyet Caddesi in Kizilay (Starbucks is on the corner of Ataturk and Mesuriyet-- walk up the street for 5 minutes and look for the sign on the second floor). 

Getting an English Teaching job: How much should I ask for?

Many expats who take jobs at private ESL schools wonder what is a good salary and what is too low. It is difficult to judge without rudely asking other teachers what they make.

After asking a variety of teachers from different schools, it seems that 18TL and above is a good hourly wage; however many schools pay as low as 15 or 16TL. Remember that private tutoring can be as high as 50 or 60TL an hour, but is harder to get steady hours. Also, never accept a monthly salary situation because you will be asked to teach too many hours to make the salary worthwhile in the end.

Happy teaching!

American Turkish Association

The American Turkish Association is in Cankaya Ankara. They provide cultural exhibits, lectures and theater throughout the year to all international residents and Turks living in Ankara. Also, they offer international test preparation classes (SAT, GRE etc.), Turkish courses, English courses and Spanish courses across the city. Check out their programs at:

http://www.taa-ankara.org.tr/eng1/index.php

Qualifications and Work Conditions

It is important to know that working in a private English dershane will most likely mean you are working illegally. For this reason, get a feel for the reputation of the school. The better or well-established schools will be paying protection money and you have less of a chance of being raided by the police. This happens extremely rarely, but there are horror stories of deportations, so be careful in your choice of school. When teaching in a dershane, or private English school, you can expect to be working mostly in the evenings; after work and school is finished. Often you will work a split schedule of morning and night. Usually teachers obtain jobs at these schools with some qualifications of teaching or experience teaching. However, it needs to be said that the price of the TEFL certificate is not worth the assistance it will give you in getting a job. If you have any teaching experience whatsoever, this certificate is really unnecessay in Ankara where they are constantly looking for teachers. If working in a dershane, your pay can be 2/3 or even half of what you will make tutoring privately. The problem is that if you are not yet established in the city, finding private tutoring students can take time.

Teaching ESL at the University Level

There are English Universities in Ankara, where a large percentage of undergraduate courses are taught in English. Bilkent University and Hacettepe University are excellent schools that teach in English. The faculty is comprised of both foreigners and Turks. Before students can be accepted into their program, they must complete a 1 or 2 year prep school program in English. It is possible to get a job teaching in these prep schools, but you must apply in the Spring in order to get a job starting in September. Most jobs are taken by the time fall comes around, and posts do not often open during the school year. The websites of these schools have an online application process specifically for these jobs.

Teaching ESL in Ankara

There are many private English schools in Ankara and many of them are looking for teachers. The best way to find an English teaching job immediately is to visit the schools in person or email the directors. Some jobs can be listed on sites such as Daveseslcafe.com, however often these posting have been made at the beginning of the school year and are not updated afterwards. Therefore, sometimes it is best to ignore the date of the post and email your resume anyways---most likely they are still looking for teachers. When visiting schools in person, walk down Ataturk Blvd starting at Kizilay and walking towards Ulus. Along this strip and the side streets behind it you will find:

WallStreet English

Best English

English Time

Amerikan Kultur (Mesuriyet Cd)

British Kultur

Prestige English

Netenglish (Ziyah Gokup Blvd)

Turkuaz English (Atay Blvd)

and other smaller schools if you keep your eye out.... Take with you:

Copies of your resume

Copies of your teaching license

Passport

Reference letters

Copy of degree