Moving to Turkey came with an understanding that most foreigners don’t heavily consider until it’s too late; finding a job. Now, there are many people who do come to Turkey with a previous contract already situated. They’ve made a deal with a Turkish company or an international company based in Istanbul or other parts of Anatolia, accompanied with legal documents which guarantee and protect their right to work abroad. However, there are many who wait until after arriving to start looking for work, or have ‘connections’ that may promise them an ‘opportunity’. I can surely say that if you don’t have a legitimate gaurantee protected by either the US or Turkish government, assume you will have major trouble establishing a profession in Turkey.
I have met and known many people who were so filled with life and energy with the thoughts of living in the magical city of Istanbul (Izmir, Ankara, or even Antalya are usually a last resort if considered at all). I know when I came to Turkey, my eyes were set on Istanbul, and although I love that city with all my heart, I am happy that I chose Izmir instead.
Istanbul can be a rat race, and with over 15 million people living there, can be very stressful and far removed from anything culturally different. For many people, it can become just another city. However, this doesn’t need to be the case. One of the great things about Turkey is that it can be anything you want it to be. You do come here with a blank slate, and at times will be offered the most interesting jobs you could imagine. But, the downside is that it doesn’t move at the speed of New York or LA. Finding work can take months if not a few years. So I recommend that people ask themselves the following BEFORE moving to Turkey:
1) What work do you WANT to do for work? Make sure you don’t have unreasonable expectations for this. If you are of a high profession (e.g. doctor, lawyer, corporate field, etc.) you have to establish a legitimate contract beforehand. Don’t expect a job offer AFTER you arrive. The serious companies are those who would have paid for your plane ticket to come.
2) What other work are you willing to do? (Most often not, you will end up teaching English. If you are okay with that, earn your TEFL certificate online quickly. It’s a very good system, takes only 60 hours, and could land you steady well-paying work within a month or two. It’s fun and a great way to meet people and understand the culture better.
3) Think of another city other than Istanbul. For example, there is Izmir, which is a beautiful Aegean city right on the water. It may not have the electric feeling of Istanbul, but is closer to an Eastern Mediterranean version of San Diego.
4) Take life one step at a time. If you think you will become a rich successful person on the merit that you are a foreigner, take into consideration that you are already in one of the most beautiful and historic countries in the entire world where wealth is measured by the quality of friends and food, not by how big your house is.
In the end, I recommend that people really do their research on HOW to be successful if moving to Turkey; not ‘if’ I can be. There is a major difference. As my favorite stand up comedian George Carlin put it, there are few winners and a whole lot of losers. Don’t put energy into what the nay-sayers think. If you want to move to Turkey, even just for a short time, I highly recommend it. Just keep in mind that it is a different system, in which if you don’t understand quickly, can chew you up and spit you out. And what a waste of an experience that would be. With just some solid work preparations and documented papers, you can really make Turkey your dream come true.
Nice article! Thanks for this
My wife and I have lived in Didim on the Aegean coast of Turkey for the last three years. My advice to anyone looking to move to Turkey is to do so with no intention of working!
It is extremely difficult to secure legitimate employment, and you must bear in mind that wages are at Turkish rates and hours of work are often very long.
But the simple fact is that for many people there is no need to work, because once you own a property (and they are very cheap in Didim) and have furnished it, the cost of living is low so that even with modest savings and/or pension a good life can be had.
The trick is not to treat life here as being on a permanent holiday. Eating and drinking out is not expensive but if you do it all the time it will become so, and there is so much else to enjoy here anyway.
Didim has a population of 43k and of those 2k are expats, mostly from the UK. English is widely spoken, and the locals are very friendly. Many of those expats are under retirement age; they have stopped working early because they found they could do so by coming here to live.
There is much more to Turkey than the big cities, though it should be borne in mind that foreigners can only own properties in developed areas, i.e. they can’t for example buy in a small village.
So forget working, come and enjoy life!
Hey Valantis,
Great article and good perspectives. I live in Adana and have seen so many people with unrealistic expectations about work opportunities here, although we’ve always found a way to get by. Check out my article on the same topic here – http://wp.me/p2ztG-i9
Great article. Thanks for the information, it is really very useful.
It is a very interesting article. Everyone thinks that it is easy to find a good job in such a metropolitan city like Istanbul but in fact it is not so easy. You will have a lot of competitors there too. I like what the author says ” Istanbul can be a rat race, and with over 15 million people living there, can be very stressful and far removed from anything culturally different”. Remenber it when you are heading for this new challange!
There is no point in moving to Turkey unless you are transferred with your company for a good job with a work visa attached. Do NOT move here and expect to find anything decent unless you are prepared (and happy to) teach English. Turks seem to have a fit about foreigners taking their jobs but they seem to have no problem about taking a job in our countries that a local could do just as well. Turks don’t think too many foreigners have much to offer besides the usual editing and language teaching. So don’t move to Turkey and don’t waste your time. Turkey needs everything and multilingual everything but they just don’t recognise that yet. I doubt they ever will. I have been waiting for it to change for a while now and now I have given up – there is no point wasting time and skills. Use them elsewhere where they are appreciated. I have lost count of the number of times that I have been promised something in return for something else. I held up my end of the bargain but basically had work product stolen. This whole experience has left a very bad taste in my mouth. When you tell Turks that they are slightly xenophobic in their view of foreigners here (we are fine as long as we tell them how wonderful they are and their food is), they look at you in amazement. I think it is because they don’t even recognise the bad behaviour themselves. However they are the first to bleat about racism outside Turkey towards Turks. I guess if the shoe is on the other foot.
Look at the pictures, have you eat simit before
All Turkish employers are scumbag liars who hold out on pay. Even if you have a proper contract beware.you will never get your money.
They promise you the world in the start and then you end up getting your ideas sucked from you because there is a lack of thinkers here in Turkey. Just doers.
All in all beware. Nothing is at it seems. Once you get here you will understand…….