My experience at EF Swara group was like a scene from a horror film from the outset. The process of moving to Indonesia was quite smooth, apart from having to fund your own flight there, and they take care of you for a couple of weeks with accomodation and providing sim cards and things like that when you arrive, however that is the end of the good things about EF Swara Group.
The 1 week training is decent, doing some observing and co-teaching and things like that, but in week 2 you get thrown in the deep end and have to survive on your own. The actual teaching hours are not too bad, however you spend more time preparing lessons than teaching, which are unpaid hours. Preparing the lessons can be quite a tedious and confusing task, as sometimes its impossible to find the correct unit and content. The content itself is quite generic and bland, and you are expected to incorporate it all in a "fun" and "exciting" way, using games etc. I would only recommend this job if the preparation hours were paid, but unfortunately this is not the case.
When it comes to salary time, you absolutely will not receive the full salary that was promised in your contract. They will perform calculations to identify the exact amount of minutes you spent teaching (again, no lesson preparation is paid), which generally results in only being paid half or three quarters of your promised monthly salary.
The accomodation allowance is not nearly enough to live in a suitable apartment/house, especially in Jakarta.
Sunday will be your only day off, and you will be expected to attend team meetings or to perform random last minute tasks during your time off or on your break. One of these last minute tasks required all staff to write a paragraph to the angry manager explaining why we deserved and wanted to continue working at EF.
Saturday classes start at 9am, so on Friday night after you finish teaching at 9pm you will need to prepare your classes for Saturday morning, again not compensated for.
The only time you will get to travel Indonesia is during Christmas holidays (mandatory unpaid leave), apart from that you will work 6 day weeks and be exhausted by the end of it.
During your first couple of months you will be paid in cash due to not having a working visa, and again you will only be paid about half of your contractual salary due to the calculations performed.
You will arbitrarily be required to cover classes for sick teachers.
You will be instructed to lie to immigration officials about your reasons for being in Indonesia, and you will be lied to by management in regards to contractual and immigration matters. They will hold your passport from you in the event of any disputes and make empty threats about what is going to happen to you.
You will be required to front money for any medical/testing expenses, with the likelihood of that money being reimbursed very low.
The centre itself is in need of renovation, it has become quite dilapidated and bordering on becoming a health and safety hazard.
I could go on, but I will leave it to you to decide if you want to work for EF.
All in all, i highly regret being recruited by EF Swara group, and it is up there with the worst times in my life.
