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EF (Education First)

Engaged Employer

EF (Education First) reviews

3.4

61% would recommend to a friend

(4,610 total reviews)
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Edward Hult, Ph.D

61% approve of CEO

47% positive business outlook

EF (Education First) has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 4,610 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The EF (Education First) employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.8 stars).

Reviews by job title

5K reviews
4.0
Apr 30, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I genuinely enjoy my colleagues that I work with, and am passionate about the mission of the product and company. My coworkers and I hang out often outside of work, and EF always has other things to get involved with. I've had paid travel opportunities presented on a regular basis. EF has a great benefits package, time off policy, and culture. Office is gorgeous and has both amazing views and natural light.

Cons

Very high amount of turnover, which senior management admits is a part of their business model. Generally low salaries for the amount of time spent in the office. Professional development programs are lacking. The open office plan is very loud and can be distracting.

1.0
Sep 9, 2015

They are lucky to get one whole star.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You have control over your schedule. I like this because I have control over my vacation time. This is a feature that I will miss. Also, the regular students that I have make my job rewarding. I love them and they make it worthwhile.

Cons

This company is so horrible. I could go on but everyone else has pretty much said what needed to be said. I am on the verge of losing my job at EF because I have a 4 in the GL. A FOUR!!!! Four our of five stars is not bad...UNLESS YOU WORK AT ENGLISHTOWN. So five students can give you a 4 in a GL with positive comments but that still means you will lose your job? Ridiculous. GL are horrible...you spend most of your time fixing other students technical problems than teaching. It's laughable. If you are lucky, everybody's mics work! The management is horrible. Ever since they added the China server all heck has broke lose. I have gotten low ratings from Chinese students because most of them still prefer a blonde hair, blue eyed or white American teacher. I reported this issue many times only to be told that "no one at EF should discriminate" but how can that be prevented when you are requiring teachers to have a photograph, do mandatory video CP20s, and not looking into classes thoroughly but instead go by ES scores? This company doesn't care about how good of a teacher you are or how many of your students love you. They only care about money and ES scores. They don't wanna have to pay you what you deserve to they make it hard for you to keep your job and/or get a raise. The teachers who have been there for years are either bitter, half-crazy or delusional. The "mentor" assigned to you won't be much of a help at all unless you are just lucky. My mentor was snappy and I did not really care for her. Plus, you earn a 60-hour TEFL (Thank God that I have a REAL 170-hour TEFL) after working a few months but the standard requirement is more than 100 hours. What in the WORLD kind of real EFL work is someone going to get with a 60-hour TEFL? What a joke! They need to just stop altogether! Last but not least, the students---Englishtown doesn't care about their students! They just want their money. Go to Englishtown's Facebook page and look at the hundreds of low ratings and rants in different languages from students that are dissatisfied. The ESL Market is all about money. If you want a real job in the ESL field, get a TEFL or MA in TESOL and get work at a public school or university where you will get real benefits and tenure. Stay away from all of these language schools. They are all about money. Oh yeah, and please get real educators to create lessons! Those lessons are terrible!

1.0
Dec 25, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Wonderful students, great colleagues, safe environment, always new faces because of massive teacher turnover rate, lose weight , starvation wages.

Cons

Cafeteria workers earn more than teachers. Feeling exploited, no benefits, medical, sick days, holidays.

Viewing 19 - 21 of 4,610 Reviews

Glassdoor has 6,456 EF (Education First) reviews submitted anonymously by EF (Education First) employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if EF (Education First) is right for you.