# Working in Turkey



## waggygee (Jan 19, 2013)

Hello all, I am planning to go to Turkey towards the end of June. I have a BBA Finance and TEFL/TESOL certificate. I was told that it may be hard to get work in Finance without being able to speak Turkish, so I was planning on teaching English for a while to give me time to learn the language and make enough to survive then once I have enough knowledge of the language, I get a finance job. I would like to know, is there any problem or advice you would like to share about this plan? also, do English teaching jobs pay enough to survive on?
And, to work in finance would I need to be really good in Turkish or would they be fine by the time I know basics and willing to give me time to get better? I have already started learning off Rosetta Stone on my pc and talking to my Turkish friends in Turkish a bit to get myself on the right foot


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## Newbytr (Jan 9, 2013)

Well, I do not know the status of the business, but you must learn Turkish Negotiate to people  and I don't understand how you can teach English without knowing Turkish to Turkish people since you won't be able to communicate with them in first place. I'm confused.


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## houstonian2012 (Jul 16, 2012)

waggygee said:


> Hello all, I am planning to go to Turkey towards the end of June. I have a BBA Finance and TEFL/TESOL certificate. I was told that it may be hard to get work in Finance without being able to speak Turkish, so I was planning on teaching English for a while to give me time to learn the language and make enough to survive then once I have enough knowledge of the language, I get a finance job. I would like to know, is there any problem or advice you would like to share about this plan? also, do English teaching jobs pay enough to survive on?
> And, to work in finance would I need to be really good in Turkish or would they be fine by the time I know basics and willing to give me time to get better? I have already started learning off Rosetta Stone on my pc and talking to my Turkish friends in Turkish a bit to get myself on the right foot


It may be difficult to find a gig in finance unless you got good finance experience. There are so many candidates but few jobs so competitive market. If I were you, I'd start teaching German and see how it goes. Once you start networking you may land a job in finance.


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## belgarath (Jul 15, 2011)

Please note that, a working permit (visa) is a very lengthy process to handle for companies, and it requires significant effort and expense. Therefore, you should be very good compared to the existing labor pool in finance, and you will be expected to know about the Turkish finance laws and applications. 

Put yourself in the employer's shoes, I have 5 local applicants who can start tomorrow and have local experience, and I have you, no visa, no local language, no local finance experience. What makes me hire you ? 

I miay sound harsh but this is the reality that every expat must face across the globe. You're always at a disadvantage compared to a local, especially in finance & law. Engineering/IT may be better.

About teaching English, I hope you have credentials and experience for that, otherwise things will be hard.

Can you check whether you can work for a multinational, who has German and Turkish branches ? You can start in German branch and look for an intercompany transfer. This is usually the best solution but not easy and quick.

Good luck!


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## Amber13 (Feb 11, 2013)

belgarth said it all really as did the others. One it is very very difficult to get permission to work as jobs go to Turkish first. Turkish law is like a quagmire and unless you really know the system would be difficult to say the least. It looks like you already have the German but to be honest jobs teaching English or German as a foreign language are not that easy to get. You would need to be very very sure that the work permit which is linked to the specific job is in place before you go. Also it re the finance job, you would have to have more than just basic turkish it would have to be corporate turkish which is at a much higher level, perhaps as other poster said you already have this in German so start there. Dont even think of coming and working illegally. Good luck with your final choices.


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## AlexDhabi (Aug 23, 2012)

Newbytr said:


> ... I don't understand how you can teach English without knowing Turkish to Turkish people since you won't be able to communicate with them in first place. I'm confused.


Most language teachers these days learn to teach it all in the language that they are teaching by immersing their students in the language. After all that is how we learn our native language. TEFL teachers are taught how to teach entirely in English and the same applies to any other language. For example, when I learnt Arabic I had to speak Arabic in reply (starting with the very basics) never spoke a word of English in the class.


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