English 1 reviews

4.0

79% would recommend to a friend

(1,200 total reviews)
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Adele Bai

82% approve of CEO

76% positive business outlook

English 1 has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 1,200 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The English 1 employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Educación industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

1K reviews
4.0
May 30, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They are immensely helpful through the entire process. From the beginning and all the way through. The visa process, the housing and the big move abroad; they make the whole process easy and helpful. I also love all of the opportunities you get to travel, socialize and grow with EF as a company. It is indeed a family like atmosphere and they take care of you as if you were family. EF gives you the opportunity to meet people from all different walks of life. It also offers free Chinese lessons so that you can live more comfortably.

Cons

Working in kids and teens, it can sometimes get overwhelmingly busy and you do not have time to get a break on busy days or months. It seems that they try to get as many classes as possible filled but there aren't as many teachers. It can get frustrating at times. I think EF should really work on balancing the schedules a bit more.

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English 1 Response
11y
EF English First is currently developing a stronger career support services for teachers and staff. In Beijing, we ran a career coaching pilot program that was successful. We are still developing ways to expand this across China. Currently, the best way to access advice about career advancement is contacting your locally based trainer (who has attended sessions on career planning) or visiting http://ef-teachers.com/careers, which has several tools to help you get the most out of your career at EF English First.
2.0
Mar 17, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-The school itself is very well outfitted with good technology, supplies, and plenty of activities. -The staff is very helpful for new arriving teachers, getting them settled in and easing them into the teaching. -The lesson plans are very detailed and helpful (but management has told us we can't use them as-is, more below) -The brand new program is designed by Cartoon Network and is very colorful and engaging. -The students are ages 3-adult, so there's always a wide range of age and ability levels to teach.

Cons

-Pay is very sketchy. Teachers are paid cash with no pay stub record, with 350-450 yuan deducted from each person's 7000 yuan monthly pay to cover monthly utilities. I have since learned that this is about double what an entire apartment's utilities should cost, so somebody's making money on the side by taking it from the teachers. -The bonus plan is always changing, and even when they say they're upfront about it, there are hidden subjective reasons why you won't be receiving the bonus you thought you would. It is also paid in cash with little to no record. -Within the past few years, the school was fined a huge amount by the government for misrepresenting costs to parents and charging more than the documentation said. -Teachers have to give 2 months notice before leaving, instead of the standard 30 days. -Recent local management changes have led to a series of new micro-managing policies that are in direct conflict with the procedures handed down from corporate, demanding us to re-write every single lesson plan to conform to an extremely rigid and frequently unrealistic schedule. During meetings and training sessions teachers were yelled at and talked down to publicly, and everyone was told that they're horrible teachers. -Teachers receive very little time off- the absolute minimum as decided by the government. Also, during the spring festival and summer breaks when students normally do not have school, this school has extra courses. During the 10 day Winter Course, teachers were forced to work 7 days straight before they had a single week vacation, and worked more than 40 hours the 5 days after. During Summer Course, for 7 weeks straight teachers are forced to teach a few extra classes on top of the normal 40 hour schedule, with no increase in pay for the extra work.

1.0
Jan 7, 2014

Slave market

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

An easy to get job teaching English abroad

Cons

Poor pay, substandard housing options, long hours, poor working conditions, at site I was at the roof leaked when it rained and the air conditioning was substandard. I was disciplined for being sick when it was related to a workplace injury.

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