My headscarf one HUGE problem!

bonnoise Active member

36POSTS

13 years ago

Hello dear expats,

As the title of my post indicates, my headscarf is an obstacle for me to find a job, in a so ' called" muslim coutry.

I'm a young English teacher, with an experience of 2 years but yet, can't find a job.
I thought that the only problem I'm going to face is my lack of the Turkish language, though now, I'm learning it, but it seems that I was mistaken.
I'm faced with refusal, or an option of " just take it off in the calssroom" or wear a " wig" ! and that's just out of disscussion.

what do you think ?

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ABJSYED Active member

70POSTS

13 years ago

Hi bonnoise,
I think you better look for job in areas like Fatih or Eyup.. Also there are some Vak谋f which offers English courses for their studnts. Maybe they can hire you. But I have no idea about their salaries.
good luck..

bonnoise Active member

36POSTS

13 years ago

Thank you for your response ABJSYD, but can you be more precise ?

sunsetglow Member

10POSTS

13 years ago

Hi maybe you can find a tutor jobs? Just post an ad on every single site you can find. I think hourly it will pay more.

bonnoise Active member

36POSTS

13 years ago

sunsetglow wrote:
Hi maybe you can find a tutor jobs? Just post an ad on every single site you can find. I think hourly it will pay more.

thx,聽 yeah, I'm posting everywhere, still...

ArvaritA Contributor

108POSTS

13 years ago

well i'll say welcome to Turkey!
this wont be the only obstacle that you'll face because of your hejab believe me. you might come across so many disrespectful people who will call you backward while it's them who are the actual backwards

luckily though, the community is getting better thanks to the government that we have now..
i agree with ABJSYED.. there are so many "Vak谋f"s that offer private language courses. i'll inbox you a couple of names later

samir1986 Member

19POSTS

13 years ago

Good luck Bonnoise!!! As you said, it's amazing that in a muslim country, a woman should face difficulties in getting a job because of her headscarf.
Even in England or in the US, scarfed women work without problem!!

1 member reacted to this post

Rafid80 Contributor

195POSTS

13 years ago

it could be a problem in teaching field NOT in other fields .
and its not about muslim country . I think its so difficult to find a job teaching even for Natives . I know many English ladies they cant even find a job, even if they find the salary is miserable .
in Erbil city, schools there are hunting natives or English Teachers with salary at least $ 3000 = 5250 TL . I found them a job there and they are happy living in Erbil - Iraq
I think the problem is that there are many applicants for teaching jobs in Istanbul .

1 member reacted to this post

dobanes New member

9POSTS

13 years ago

Hi Rafid

Which schhols did you suggest to people yo mention above? A friend of min is moving to Erbil and would love some information

Thanks

F2011 New member

4POSTS

13 years ago

#10

You need to realise that Turkey is not a muslim country. It's just that certain places has a dress code fixed by the secular constitution. Don't worry, it's better for you. So you would be allowed to drive a car, ride a bike and be on your own in public places.

Von56 Member

14POSTS

13 years ago

#11

I was surprised to hear you had a problem regarding your head scarf so many now are wearing them but you should understand why there is a reaction about them. Please look at the history of Turkey before you attempt teaching at least you need to understand who you are teaching don't you think ? Ataturk freed the country from this it has been seen as a rather positive thing but it really depends on your view of things. As said before at least you will be free to drive etc. and no one is forcing any kind of religious law on you which I believe to be important if a country is to advance in the direction of freedom. I am sure you will find many people and private schools who will allow head scarf wearing at work as this is now more and more common here.

1 member reacted to this post

bonnoise Active member

36POSTS

13 years ago

#12

Von56 wrote:
I was surprised to hear you had a problem regarding your head scarf so many now are wearing them but you should understand why there is a reaction about them. Please look at the history of Turkey before you attempt teaching at least you need to understand who you are teaching don't you think ? Ataturk freed the country from this it has been seen as a rather positive thing but it really depends on your view of things. As said before at least you will be free to drive etc. and no one is forcing any kind of religious law on you which I believe to be important if a country is to advance in the direction of freedom. I am sure you will find many people and private schools who will allow head scarf wearing at work as this is now more and more common here.

Sure, I knew about the histoty about the country but I didn't realize that it is still an issue.
I am the "surprised one" here , saying that Ataturk had "freed" the country! what freedom are you talking about ?If I'm just聽 judged because of the way I dress!聽 I respect people who carry a cross, or put a "cap", or what so ever. No one should interfere with personal matters. But alas, we don't live in an ideal world.

I am an expat in this counry,a guest that respects its rules and normes, I just wanted to share the way I felt about this subject and just talk about. We all as expats go through such differences while being else your country.

Peace : )

bonnoise Active member

36POSTS

13 years ago

#13

And guys PLEASE, don't talk about " the driving thing ! it has no realtion to the subject. It's just a " saudi arabian thing"so..

bonnoise Active member

36POSTS

13 years ago

#14

samir1986 wrote:
Good luck Bonnoise!!! As you said, it's amazing that in a muslim country, a woman should face difficulties in getting a job because of her headscarf.
Even in England or in the US, scarfed women work without problem!!

Thank you. I hope that peole get over such a subject.

Agotit Contributor

124POSTS

13 years ago

#15

well, it is not about the religion of people in Turkey, the rule is the rule, it is a secular country, it is not a problem of aesthetics or a problem about how you look...

You may have not thought about it but some secular countries want their judges and teachers to be impartial but when you show a certain belonging to a given religion, institutions聽 think you might be guided by your feelings and mistreat your pupils who are not religious or have the same religion as you do.

I attended a French school 20 years ago in Istanbul, we had a French teacher who turned out to be a priest as well,he was asked to remove his neckless with a cross...

Nowadays, most people would talk to you about tolerance and all that stuff but I don't think Turkey has become more tolerant with AKP, ask people from the governement if they would like their kid to attend a school where the teacher has a neckless with a cross, they would say "no way, we cannot accept that" whereas they would love the teacher to wear a headscarf!

It is just that these religious signs are not needed at school...

1 member reacted to this post

bonnoise Active member

36POSTS

13 years ago

#16

Agotit wrote:
well, it is not about the religion of people in Turkey, the rule is the rule, it is a secular country, it is not pt that" whereas they would love the teacher to wear a headscarf!

It is just that these religious signs are not needed at school...

You're talking from another angle to the my post.
Everyone knows that Tureky is a secular country,the word stand for itself, no further explanation needed.
Even though that the country is laic, it's quite different from European countries; "students" are within an Islamic environement ( the headscarf, the mosques,..) so,I don't see the "guidance" you're talking about.

P.S. I'm not talking about the memebers of your governement and their preferences.

F2011 New member

4POSTS

13 years ago

#17

bonnoise wrote:
I am the "surprised one" here , saying that Ataturk had "freed" the country! what freedom are you talking about ?If I'm just聽 judged because of the way I dress!聽 I respect people who carry a cross, or put a "cap", or what so ever. No one should interfere with personal matters.
Peace : )

We're talking about critical thinking for people themselves. Free from bias thinking out of ancient religious regulations. Wearing headscarf is an Islamic regulation for women, and not wearing it is secular.

To give 'you' another angle: There is absolutely no religion for personal use. In one way or another, itself or its tools can be used for manipulating the masses. Government must not have a religion. And to represent that principle, all governmental institutions has certain dress codes.

alpan Member

3POSTS

13 years ago

#18

you would be happy with sheria law... if so why dont you live in saudi

1 member reacted to this post

Von56 Member

14POSTS

13 years ago

#19

Bonnise I did not mean to upset you I hope you do get a job which allows headscarf I feel sure there will be one as I said before Turkey is now leaning very dramatically towards this way. I have always seen Turkey as vastly advanced when it comes to being non discriminatory. I think you just need to see how friendly people are to each other and so tolerant of differences. I often used to hear the older folks talk about how they all used to celebrate each others religious holidays. I think if you can see the similarities we all have it will help you a lot to accept why they have these laws here. Good Luck with finding a job

2 members reacted to this post

Agotit Contributor

124POSTS

13 years ago

#20

I believe these people are paid to post these messages seriously...I don't even think she is real. A country has its own rules, you either follow or not but you are not going to change them as a foreigner, you may call me intolerant but they send you to jail for the night if you are caught with alcohol in your blood on the street in the United States, even though you didn't do any bad to anyone, that's because you're potentlally dangerous according to the law and you get a 800 dollar fine for 'public intoxation', the United States being a model of democracy and freedom for most people...

1 member reacted to this post

F2011 New member

4POSTS

13 years ago

#21

I part agree with that. She is looking to teach English in this country but based on what she wrote above, she doesn't seem competent in grammar at all. bonnoise, are you sure you are being denied because of your outfit? Or is it because you lack on your English-language abilities?

1 member reacted to this post

bonnoise Active member

36POSTS

13 years ago

#22

alpan wrote:
you would be happy with sheria law... if so why dont you live in saudi

P.S
聯Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.聰 " Mother Teresa"

Hope you could get it ...

alpan Member

3POSTS

13 years ago

#23

this answer explains enough of your state of mind. so l wont be dealing with you

bonnoise Active member

36POSTS

13 years ago

#24

Derived, unfortunately !The answers are not dealing with the topic, but rather discussing something else, and wrongly inferring...
It is very distressing that some people are looking at this matter from a political viewpoint.

I'm not going to deal with narrow-minded, ignorant people !

础耻谤茅濒颈别 ViP

22735POSTS

13 years ago

#25

Hello.

Can you please calm down and come back to the initial topic?

Thank you,
础耻谤茅濒颈别

2 members reacted to this post

Agotit Contributor

124POSTS

13 years ago

#26

where there is no initial topic actually, the question is "dear Expats, I can't find a job because of my headscarf...This is what I experienced. What do you think?" . So to this question, we can either respond "poor you, how bad"in which case we are not helping her but just showing mercy or say "well people should have treated you differently" in which case we are giving a political point of view.

Basically, unless the question is clearly " how do you think I can find a job?" or " do you know any institutions that may be looking for my skills?" I don't know how we can help this person. I don't really think she was looking for help anyway, she was just trying to provoke a political debate and was not satisfied with the outcome when she noticed people did not agree with her...

Again, being an expat in a given country is really a choice in your life, you don't seem to be a political refugee, so if you chose to live in this country, do like the Romans do, otherwise you can go back home, nobody is forcing you to stay here...I'm sorry to be rude but I don't understand the basic message she is trying to convey here. If it is "Turkey is an intolerant country" well may be, but this is a different topic, we may discuss, but that would be a different discussion and won't help you get a job.