After graduating from Galatasaray High School, Rifâî started his civil service career and worked for a short time in the “Bâbıâli kalemleri”, that is, in the government offices at the Ottoman center of government. He then took office at the Ministry of Education, now known as the Ministry of National Education.

In the first 15 years of his career at the Ministry, he worked as an education director, school administrator and teacher in various provinces of the vast Ottoman geography stretching from Kosovo to Medina.

Ken’ân Rifâî’s adulthood coincides with the period when the modernization efforts of the Ottoman Empire intensified.

The organization of the Ministry of Education and innovations in the field of education were at the center of Ottoman modernization. In this process, Ken’ân Rifâî served as the executor of the educational reforms of the Abdülhamid II period. He played an important role in shaping the effects of education on society.Therefore, Ken’ân Rifâî’s work as an educator is a reflection of the moves of innovation in the field of education in the last periods of the Ottoman Empire.

From 1889 until his retirement in 1921, Rifâi worked as a soldier of education in different provinces of the country, including Balıkesir, Adana, Manastır, Kosovo, Trabzon, Istanbul, Medina and Istanbul again. In all these roles, he was recognized for his ability to shape and implement education policies.

During his tenure in each city, his innovative work played an important role in raising the educational standards of both local communities and the Ottoman Empire in general.