If you care about teaching, do NOT accept a job here
This place is the worst of for-profit education models. They've got a beautiful piece of real estate in Fisherman's Wharf, with floor-to-ceiling windows, hi-tech computer labs, and foosball tables. Their students pay thousands of dollars to attend classes at this beautiful school and live in San Francisco. (Their housing, by the way, is usually in remote or run down parts of the city. Students complain all the time, both to teachers and to management. As far as I know nothing changes). They pay their teachers poorly, barely above minimum wage for teaching time, and prep time is at minimum wage and actual countable prep hours are very limited. No benefits or job security. The CEO, meanwhile, is a billionaire. Management is disorganized, frequently juggling multiple student or teacher complaints/issues at once, and generally unclear about expectations. No support or structure here. At best, I felt overlooked. At worst, I felt exploited.
I saw the bad reviews for this position and thought, how bad could it really be? There are always bad reviews for jobs online from that one person who disagreed with their manager, had a bad experience one time, etc. I don't usually write reviews for my past employers, good or bad, because I believe everyone's experience is unique and job descriptions/interviews give the best sense of whether you think a position is right for you.
But I feel compelled to write this one: if you care abousteer clear of this unscrupulous company. They won't
A typical day at work consists of sitting at a computer for 7 to 8 hours a day. I deal with specific flight requests, flight changes, name changes, and searching for a quality product at a low cost. I deal with all travel arrangements for high school students coming to the US for a year abroad. In my role there is very little creativity and when the organization is presented with a new innovative idea, it typically is shut down with the remarks that we must keep doing things how we have always done them.
I have learned much patience in this role as the daily routine can become very frustrating and sometimes you don't always hear what you would like to hear from your manager. It has been difficult learning this tough skill, but I feel that it will carry me a long way in the future and I am glad to have experience this as a young professional. I have also learned to pay a lot more attention to detail. In my position it can be very easy to make a minor mistake which costs the company money. I have learned to double check work, while still meeting deadlines in an effective manner.
One of the best aspects of my job at EF is my co-workers. EF has a tendency to hire professionals who are recently out of college, so it is very easy to relate and spend time with your co-workers as many are in the same position as you. However, this also leads to a drawback, as there is little opportunity for advancement many of these co-workers tend to leave after 2 - 3 years to pursue other career
Prosyoung professional work culture, free language classes, celebrations for hitting goals, luxury box at td garden
Conslow pay, sit at a desk all day, not able to use much creativity, high turnover rate, little opportunity for career development
EF is a garbage place to work. They expect you to give your personal resources for the good of the company. They require 5+ years of education and pay less than a fast-food service job, and then split that pay and pay even less if you’re not actively teaching.
The employee turnover is so ridiculous you stop learning new hires’ names because they will likely be gone in 3 months. They leave because they realize the burnout is imminent and there is no opportunity for advancement.
They call staff “family” because it’s the only way they can prolong people from quitting.
Multiple campuses have formed unions because of workers rights and labor violations (unpaid hours).
If there’s a manager here you like it’s because they’re a good person; EF Had nothing to do with it.
You’re constantly bombarded with emails directed to the rich employees in Switzerland offering their used professional bikes or employee development opportunities that don’t exist for the teachers in the USA.
Senior management lies about commitment to living standards and admitted that they don’t consider a region’s cost of living when choosing compensation.
This company is awful and requires employees to use personal devices for logging student attendance and data, etc. This also compromises student personal data.
Benefits aren’t available to 90% of teachers because they keep you under 32 hours… just barely.
0/10 opportunity for growth or salary increase. Unbelievably stressful and creates a parasit
ProsYou can be late with no consequences, Low accountability to teacher performance if that’s a pro, can disappear for weeks and return to work
ConsSame as pros, yelled at by international Karens complaining about the school
many staff members (local staff, local seniors and all the way to their offices in Lucern and Zurich! ) are extremely unprofessional and the majority of them aren't even trained.
They have a "loud" culture of drinks and after work parties, if you don't like it or have any other commitments in your "real" life, you won't last there long. Even then, if you do socialise EF style, they don't really care about you, gossip is very common on different levels of seniority.
There are very few opportunities to get trained or promoted. They always give fancy job titles but in reality they don't mean much, unless you get to at least a VP level ( and very few managed to get there). These "fancy" job titles mean even less if you are looking for a job outside EF.
There might be some nice and friendly enough people there but it general it rarely happens. What they sell and their products happen to be a real joke as everything actually really lacks quality.
The pay is very low. Also, salaries in their main offices are low in comparison to local salaries. Work load is normally more than 100 % so they might pretend you can come in later at 9:30 am but you will be working until after 8- 9 pm at least on a nearly daily basis.
Overall, it is an OK company for a student internship or maybe a very fresh graduate but it is important to leave the job after 6 months as there is really not much for career or any other life aspects.
I don't know want to reveal my identity but I was with them i
Prosreally not many... maybe good looking offices and nice furniture
Do not work here if you are passionate about education
This company does not care about education, they only care about profit. Ironically, if they actually invested in teachers rather than putting all the money into lawyers and sales staff, they would make even more profits. Students are also regularly placed in the wrong levels because again, the goal is not education, it's profits and getting as many students as possible. If the goal was education, teachers would have much more authority in this company. They also hire all online teachers as independent contractors to avoid giving them employment benefits or raises. There is no way to make a living wage off of working here. Also, you have no direct contact with any physical person who you can call and if you submit a request for help, you just get an anonymous response. All in all, it was heartbreaking to see that an organization can care so little about the teachers who are the backbone and foundation of their company. Also, because the headquarters are in Switzerland, the employees in Switzerland have much better employment benefits in alignment with Swiss law. You think they would want to extend this to employees in other countries but instead they choose to take advantage of the situation in other countries to maximize the owner's profits.
Prosnone
Consno pay increases, low salary, unreasonable rating system, no in person contacts, lack of learner management on behalf of company
Pros: co-workers are great. Free coffee and pastries on Friday mornings. Some teacher development. Resources provided.
Cons:
1) 15 mins prep time for a each 80 mins teaching block is hardly sufficient. Most teachers spend about 30-45 mins in prep including lesson planning, searching for extra materials (coursebook does not fill 2 x 80 mins block), making copies, grading etc.
2) Teachers are evaluated not by teaching abilities but by Net Promoter Scores (NPS) which is used to rate performances in customer service. If students dislike you and your eval scores fall below 4.2, then management will have a talk with you. You'll feel more like an entertainer than a teacher most of the time. Students are more like customers than students.
3) Management do not disclose the fact that teachers can use accrued sick time if they called in sick, or get paid for jury duty.
4) Work schedule can be unpredictable.
5) Forced to take unpaid time off when enrollment numbers are down.
6) They will cut your hours when you have worked too many hours because they want to make sure you stay in the part-time status. So new hires get more hours than if you have worked there for a while. You have to ask academic manager if you are close to maxing your hours.
7) Pay is inadequate for San Diego. E.g. you make about $3.75 before taxes for each 15-mins prep time. Many teachers have to take up a second job waiting tables on nights and weekends.
5.0
Public Relations Manager | Tripoli, IA | Aug 28, 2014
the first company in the world in education, languages , academic study
1:learn a new technique in marketing and work by new plan to make the work better for future
2::respect the time and doing my job perfect.
3:Management in business and organizations is the function that coordinates the efforts of people to accomplish goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization or initiative to accomplish a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources. Management is also an academic discipline, a social science whose object of study is the social organization and EF has it.
4:i can say that they're good but some of them make problem by gossip. i mean every were no matter what, enemy will show up
5:when i call the customers we using program name: customer relation system(crm) for example some times i have to call over, 150 people and try to make the come to the office, and make them booking courses to study.
6:actually lunch time, because i take rest and chill with my co-workers and bosses . we laugh and really enjoy that moment.
Prosfree launch meal. mobile phone card 10$ per week
Consshort break at lunchtime, travel insurance, health care
This was a job that afforded me the opportunity to both teach, which I love to do, and to meet interesting and diverse people from all over the world.
On a typical day I would follow my class schedule of classes and lead the class through the intended topic and chapters that were required by the curriculum. I found that I would go out of my way to try and shift the classes to a more student centered format and really enjoyed the interactions that I would get from the students.
I found that I enjoyed most of my co-workers but had a hard time with the manager of the school at that time, who seamed more interested in the numbers of students attending the school then the individuals themselves. I feel that this was perhaps the hardest part of the job as I pride myself on really meeting individuals with their problems wherever they are rather than seeing them as another cog in the machine. I do not feel that this works exceptionally well in moving people forward in their journeys in life. Though as that particular manager was replaced shortly after my contract with EF was up i assume neither did that particular language school.
The most enjoyable part of the job was interacting with the students and seeing the joy on their far when a particularly difficult concept was incorporated into their schema of the English language.
As an employee and manager with EF, I learned many valuable skills, met many wonderful clients, and developed as a leader and professional. I worked remotely from the main offices. I realized quickly that working from home and in another location had many pros an cons. Although working independently was part of the role, I did not feel supported by management in my efforts to run a program in my area. The role was almost designed for failure, as you are expected to do sales, management, and recruitment jobs without proper training.
The company has a high turnover rate, as they expect too much from individuals. At my time of hire, there were 6 managers for 6 locations. By the end of my first year, I was the only original program manager still employed and two of the destinations had been shut down. It seems as though the company is more about marketing itself to its customers and potential candidates, rather than actually taking care of the employees or customers. Company is focused on hiring "fun, young personalities" and making friends with colleagues, rather than choosing the best candidates. In many instances, my clients were dissatisfied with the service and operation of the company.
Prosvacation, health benefits, travel opportunities
Conslittle support, unrealistic expectations, not enough training
Most of the learners are from China with some coming from various other countries. You work from home using your own computer with a direct connection (Not Wi-fi). You can input your preferred days and time to be available to teach. Alternately, you can pick up time slots and "Sub" for a teacher. There are Group lessons and Personal lessons available. It's just a matter of scheduling/choosing what you would like to teach. EF provides lesson materials in advance but you will not know what level the class will be until it opens. Class issues can be addressed online and usually is responded in good time. The hardest parts would be internet connection technical issues. Some wrong leveling where students are not seemingly matched with the topic being discussed. You can get a consistent Private lesson if you can coordinate schedules with a learner. Pay is average. Can be done part-time or full-time depending on the time you want to put in.
ProsGood scheduling and teaching interface. Easy to navigate and us.
My experience is that your time here will reflect based on which school you are placed in, as China is essentially the wild west.
You will need a strong disposition and some life skills before attempting this move but the schedule and opportunties to take off national holidays are not to be sniffed at.
Your time at work will be dictated by how your captain runs their ship. Some understand that you are there to see the world and teaching gives you the opportunity to do that, other schools will want to pile on responsibilty, fill your schedule and make mandatory extra unpaid events consistently to maximise what they see as your productivity. this however, can be seen as somewhat fair depending on your attitude.
Your schedule will also be random and you may find that it is filled regardless of your wishes or not filled at all, depending on factors such as race - honestly (There were several examples of racism both perpetuated from management positions [a chinese email from the franchise owner leaked to us] and from the customers themselves.)
Your scheduling will only at first take into consideration time for planning, but i found myself in high demand at weekends and due to the business essentially offering out all of my time, I had a weekend every two weeks where i did not have time to effectively plan my lessons or any free time for lunch on the saturday, I also regularly found myself working later than other staff who finished earlier on weeknights due to not
Before working with EF online I researched all the online companies I was able to locate. Then I rated the companies from the first to the tenth. EF fulfilled all the areas of I was looking for. I applied and got the position. I worked here for about 2 months. I had hoped to work longer ,but my internet became an issue. Although I had not had issue with my internet in the past I did find out several months later that the signal was low in the back portion of my home. If I come across another opportunity I will be working from the front of my home. After leaving EF Online I have not applied with another service. I felt that I was already at the best one available. I appreciate the fact they were organized, they did not baby me, they were operated by mature adults, they respected those of us who did not teach as if we were part clown. While I was upset that I had to depart the company I respect their decision. I saw that they are involved in online teaching outside of China and I plan to investigate that.
I hope that those teachers that worked in China did not lose the positions and were hopefully able to secure a position in the centres. I am hopeful that I am able to one come to China and visit the learning Centres. Coming from a music background I would like to visit public schools in China, as well.
All the people employed with EF were helpful and very nice. I really hope that I am able to to reconnect with them in the future. While I would not have been able to suppo
ProsPlenty of assistance. questions answered on a timely basis, friendly staff both in states, and abroad
ConsWith the company none. With my internet server- weak signal in back part of house
5.0
Accommodation Manager | Bournemouth | Jan 17, 2015
Education First - Assistant Accommodation Manager
My time with EF as firstly the Senior Residence Coordinator and later the Assistant Accommodation Manager has been a fantastic experience.
From the day-to-day running of the students staying in Host Families - where I get to interact with all our families first hand and deal with any issues - to dealing with all the excitement that goes on on a daily basis at our student halls of residence, I have gained so much experience in terms of management, problem solving and being in charge of a large budget.
I have been handed the opportunity to forge my skills in a management position, with up to 14 staff at any one time under my control. Having to deal with the extra little things such as rotas, staff pay and team morale have definitely been an eye opener for myself, as it makes any job 10 times more complicated. However, I feel confident in my ability to fit everything in and make sure I have absolute team harmony with everyone pulling in the same direction.
The hardest part of my job is certainly the summer, where I am almost on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 2 months. However, this is all made worth it in the end when I can see all out students have had a great time and they are safe in doing so.
Although the long hours and little rest are very hard in the summer, seeing the happy students in school every day and reading their evaluations with great reports from their accommodation and my staff makes it all worth it and this is definitely the best bit about my job.
ProsGreat colleagues, top experience, lots of responsibility, meet people from all kinds of cultural backgrounds
ConsPoor pay, long hours during peak times with not much pay back
2.0
English As A Second Language Teacher | Manchester | Nov 3, 2019
Stressful at times, wouldn't go back
I worked here for a few months recently over summer as a Teacher. The job/staff itself and the students were great! But there were many factors that I didn't like.
- the job is very fast paced indeed. It's so hard to keep up with what is happening on a day to day basis.
- space for teacher in the teacher room - there isn't any. it is meant to be hot desking but when you actually get there everyone has their own desk apart form you so you have to sit in the kitchen to do all your planning whilst everyone eats their lunch, not very fun at all.
- the material for the specialty classes is very poor. So many students are long running (6/9 months) and the material repeats itself over a short cycle. there are times when you repeat lessons and students get really upset if they have the same class twice. Management do not listen to this and suggest you 'make it work if you can' without even having a CD for a listening lesson. How are we meant to do this?
- lots of teachers are on zero hour contracts so work hours are not guaranteed each week. The timetable for the following week is given late on a Friday, meaning if you have a full day of classes on Monday/Tuesday (8.45-4.40) then where is the tine to plan lessons that are in detail and get all the materials?
- Management seem to think you should devote all your time to the company. How can someone live a balanced life and do all this? if you have something else in your life that might be just as important as working, don't work
I was with EF HQ in Shanghai for about 7 years, during which time there were two large culture shifts - the first when I was arriving (so I know what its like to be a part of the new wave of folks forging a new direction for the department and company) and the second about 3-4 years after that (so I know what its like to see the company counter shifting and re-politicizing itself against the grain).
I'd say the first few years were the best - lots to learn and lots of room to define one's role - this was both gratifying and energizing. At the time I and others bemoaned the politics of the company and the inner circles of decision making that plagued forward progress. Little did I know that was merely the beginning! The last few years have seen a major culture pivot for the company, from the President on down, and this has unfortunately led to deeper consolidation of inner circle power brokerage, tighter control of decision trees by upper management, a much stronger emphasis on hierarchies and bureaucracy, and extensive siloing between departments in what was once a much more collaborative work environment.
If you can find your way into the inner circles, by working hard to align your own workflow closely with the highest tier/department you can manage, by structuring your lunches and personal time around cultivating relationships with directors and VPs, and by dealing in information trade, you'll do well. If you'd rather focus on doing innovative work, networki
Prosability to define your role, work/life balance
EF did a horrible job at helping us accommodate to China. They did not even tell us that we needed 100RMB for a security deposit at that low-quality hotel they made us stay at (which, by the way, they changed it to at the very last minute--great planning, huh?). Furthermore, EF poorly advised us on how to choose an apartment. They made it sound like we HAD to use an agent, and find a place RIGHT AWAY, regardless of how ridiculously expensive the rent was. They don't care! HQ is utterly and totally unreliable. Why do they not respond to e-mails? Why do they take forever to get things done? Third, we had awful healthy insurance. Our policy from socialist Sweden takes forever to reimburse the money--I had to e-mail them several times to get my money, and I had to pay a money transfer fee whenever they paid me back--outrageous! Why couldn't those idiots just pay me back in RMB?
EF teaching materials are for the pits. Slides are replete with vague and incomplete grammar explanation, as well as just inappropriate topics for a Chinese audience (one lesson asks students to say what they would change about government--since they didn't want to go to jail, class didn't go so well).
Management COULDN'T CARE LESS about employees and what they think. Even though WE are the ones who do the teaching, and know what is best for the students, our opinions do not matter. EF is only concerned with the profits they can get from the naive Chinese consumer, who would be better off taking les
ProsThere are opportunities for work in different countries, They also gave us a very nice welcome package.
Education First is excellent experience for students, it involves one of the heaviest working days you will have encountered at that period in your life. The usual day is 7.30am until around 9.30pm but the day can be much longer, often starting earlier and not finishing till after midnight. Given the nature of the job this can be expected however if you are doing this for more than a few weeks it can start to take its toll. Your colleagues come from all walks of life from across Europe and beyond and are typically university students with the odd exception. The students are also mainly from Europe or China and you will often have to learn to manage the cultural sensitivities of each nation that you work with. Management is often very hit or miss with Education First, much like with your colleagues the management team is often very young and usually have little prior management experience. Their training usually does little to prepare them for what they will have to do and more often than not certain members will struggle leaving you to pick up the pieces and take initiative to deal with certain situations. Working in this stressful atmosphere can be challenging but once you buckle down and with the right support from colleagues and management you will really enjoy working at Education First. Interacting with the students and seeing them enjoy themselves and having fun with your colleagues is what makes the job worthwhile and knowing that whilst you are not getting paid nearly
Questions And Answers about EF Education First
If you were to leave EF Education First, what would be the reason?
Asked Feb 3, 2018
They do not treat online teachers well. They regularly cut pay for no reason and do not provide any paid development opportunities. This is because it is easier and more profitable for them to have a high turn over rate and keep teachers at the lowest pay scale.
Answered Aug 17, 2020
They don't care about teaching. If they did, they would invest in teachers and not pay them wages that high school students can make doing restaurant work. The goal is not education, it's sales. They don't care about teachers or education. Plus they are just unkind or blow you off when you try to address them directly on this.
Answered Aug 5, 2020
What benefits does EF Education First offer?
Asked Feb 3, 2018
None. They don't even provide a living wage but the owners are raking in billions.
Answered Nov 20, 2020
For online ESL teachers...none
Answered May 4, 2020
How are the working hours at EF Education First?
Asked Aug 31, 2016
Incredibly difficult and stressful hours for new teachers. Days are long, 6-7.5 teaching hours, Lunches aren't paid, there are no paid breaks between classes during which to take a breath or use the restroom. Our breaks are full of logistics and teaching responsibilities. If you are a person who stresses easily, or a new teacher, careful of burnout.
Answered Sep 6, 2019
9am to 6pm
Answered Aug 13, 2018
What questions did they ask during your interview at EF Education First?
Asked Jul 6, 2019
Do you have experience teaching?
Answered Nov 15, 2021
They asked questions about your teaching experience, experience with children, and cultural awareness.
Answered Sep 2, 2020
What advice would you give the CEO of EF Education First about how to improve it?
Asked Nov 7, 2016
Pay educators like an institution that actually puts education first. Poorly paid teachers perform poorly.
Answered Sep 7, 2019
Customer Service is not just a customer service role but a goal oriented role. We work very hard to meet and exceed goals but our perks are free coffee or early leave which makes the turnover very high in this role. If we are required to stay in this role for two years before moving to the next better thing, allow us the ability to make a bonus and get paid for our hard work. Most of us have to have second or third jobs just to get by. EF makes an incredible amount of money, please make sure it's being distributed fairly throughout departments and especially when we are required to make sales and meet goals.
