Foreign teachers in Ankara have a few job options to choose from.
1. International/foreign schools. These are schools run by embassies, or private schools aimed at a demographic of expat kids. Curriculum is based on the standards of whatever country the school is associated with, and competition for jobs is pretty steep. The downside to teaching in these schools is that it's easy to get sucked into the expat community and then go through life in Turkey without really interacting with local people or culture.
2. English Medium Universities: Ankara has two universities, Bilkent and ODTU/METU, Middle Eastern Technical University, which teach all classes in English and employ native speakers in all departments. These schools also run a one-year preparatory school for students whose English scores aren't high enough to directly enter the university. These jobs are prestigious for foreign teachers, the salary is high, but the working conditions are difficult and there is a high turnover rate. Prep school jobs are ideal for recent college graduates, but you need at least a masters degree to get a job as a lecturer in the university itself.
3. Turkish Medium Universities: Most universities in Ankara have English language departments where English is taught as a foreign language. Most of the instructors are Turkish, but there are foreigners working there as well.
4. Private kolej/high school/primary school: A lot of schools want native speakers in the classroom to assist the Turkish teachers of English, but these jobs aren't as easy to find unless you know someone at the school. Many of these are part time jobs, and I've heard horror stories about discipline and student behavior.
5. Private language schools: This is what I've been doing here all along. Language schools are open to anyone who wants to learn English, and run classes whenever demand allows, usually evenings and weekends, with a few daytime classes. A lot of these are run illegally, and the foreign teachers have to hide in a closet when government inspectors come around. There's usually little job security, as this is the job of choice for the "backpacker" language teachers who come for a few months to a year, and employers know they can always find more teachers to replace those who leave. These are also operated on a business model, meaning profit outweighs education. Pay is decent, but most schools pay teachers on an hourly basis, meaning that you're at the mercy of the enrollment numbers.
6. Tutoring: Native speakers are always in demand, and it's not terribly difficult to pick up some private tutoring on the side of a normal job. However, it's not going to get you that all-important work visa, so doing it full-time isn't an option.
Some jobs, like the international schools, English universities, and some language schools, have extra perks like airfare to/from your home country and free housing. Others won't even provide a work permit, and you find that a lot of teachers are working illegally.
But legal or not, the fact is that in Turkey, demand for qualified native speakers is far greater than the supply, giving teachers the upper hand in contract negotiations. In fact, it's very possible for an American to walk into Turkey on a tourist visa and find a job within a week.
Knowing this, it was much less difficult than I anticipated to walk into my boss's office back in November and inform her that I didn't intend to come back after my trip to the United States. I had grown tired of fluctuating work hours which made my monthly income unpredictable. I was tired of working seven days a week, particularly Sunday mornings. Since my arrival in Turkey I had gone to church maybe three times, and after June attending weekly house meetings for Bible study and worship was no longer an option. I was spiritually exhausted, mentally stressed, and frustrated with the job.
But all the same, hopping on a plane back to Turkey in December with not the slightest whiff of a job wasn't as crazy as it sounded. For a month I held on to my pride and started hunting jobs at universities while living off the few liras I made from tutoring. The prospects seemed good at first: I had two universities interested in me, but one rejected me after the dean decided I was too young to be a teacher. I continued to hold out for the other university, but by the end of January, my savings dried up from two trips to the USA and my wallet forcing me into a poverty diet, I realized that the time had come.
I didn't want to resort to the language schools again, now that I was rediscovering the social possibilities of free weekends and evenings, but I didn't have much of a choice. But like I said, they're desperate, and after perusing the internet, I sent an email to the school I thought would offer the best salary and benefits, and they called me for a job interview the next morning. I started teaching last week, back to the weekend lessons, but at least I was able to finagle more morning and less evening work. It does feel nice to get up in the morning and go to work, rather than sit around the house all day with no reason to brave the icy sidewalks.
So it wasn't the ideal solution, but the grand experiment wasn't a failure. The month of unemployment gave me time to do a lot of reading and spend some time with friends. I also was able to visit a local church a few times, where I got connected to some other expats who invited me to join a choir, so I'm doing something musical again for the first time since I got here. And having a musical activity to look forward to, even once a week, makes me feel more alive.
As for the job, it's a step up from where I was before, if not where I really want to be. Life is uncertain, with no path for the future, but at least today and tomorrow are taken care of. And for now, I am praying for enough strength to be content with that until a next step is possible.
