EF English First Reviews
Updated Oct 12, 2021
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Found 698 of over 855 reviews
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- COVID-19 Related
- Highest Rating
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- Most Recent
- Oldest First
"People in EF are very nice, nice working environment" (in 39 reviews)
"Salary is always paid on time every month" (in 29 reviews)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of EF English First and is not affected by filters.
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- Current Employee★★★★★
Pros
Great supportive team. Allows a lot of room for personal growth. Leaders always interested in helping establish work life balance. Always fun and dynamic projects.
Cons
Very difficult to get full time job. Some of the tasks are quite repetitive. Not the highest paying job out there but can't think of any other cons
- Former Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
Extremely streamlined experience with lots of training to make it into China. Job could get boring at times, but at least it was well established and I always knew the content.
Cons
The pay is a really obvious point: almost everyone in my onboarding left sooner or later because of how bad it was relative to the other schools available. It's hard to say what the conditions would be for development in normal times, but I knew some teachers who wanted to advance through in sales or in recruiting and they were denied the chance. We needed teachers because of COVID
- Current Employee★★★★★
Pros
Good working atmosphere, really enjoy it
Cons
Low salary, I wish I could be paid more
- Former Employee★★★★★
Pros
-easy, reptitive -flexible schedule -no lesson prep -great online UI
Cons
-extremely repetitive, no way to advance
- Former Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
Visa and housing assistance Flight to China
Cons
Low pay No flexibility Loyalty rewarded above skill
Thank you for your feedback. We aim to support our incoming teachers as much as possible and are glad to hear you appreciated the visa, housing and flight support to China. Our teachers have received bonuses and COVID subsidies the past two years as compensation for their work during these challenging times, which has also helped our packages remain competitive within the market. However, we're continuously looking at ways to improve our teacher experience. If there is any additional feedback on compensation or work culture, we encourage you to email us at teacher.welfare@ef.cn. Wishing you the best in you future endeavors.
- Former Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
Good hours Good students Flexible with my schedule.
Cons
Not accommodating when an emergency happens and you need time off.
EF English First Response
Vice President
Hi. Thanks for all the feedback and for sharing your experience. We’re happy to hear that you’ve enjoyed working with the students while getting good hours and a relatively flexible schedule. We understand that emergencies happen, so if that’s the case, it’s best to file a case through the Help Centre and discuss your individual circumstances with the team. We appreciate you taking the time to share.
- Current Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
EF has allowed me to create my own unique style of teaching within their very well structured online program. Their online program is very well-structured but also flexible.
Cons
If you're looking for guaranteed hours EF isn't for you. But I've been able to turn EF into a second 'full-time' job by making myself available to teach as much as possible.
EF English First Response
Vice President
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. We’re so happy to hear that you've found you were able to put your own spin on your teaching and that you’ve experienced our balance between structure and flexibility. We understand that some teachers would like more hours, however, hours are determined by the needs of our students. As you said, you can work quite a few hours if you’re flexible with your working hours, but we understand that isn't possible for everyone. Thank you very much for all your feedback!
- Former Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
It's a job that you will quickly adapt to and get in the routine of within 2-3 months.
Cons
Your experience heavily depends on your co-workers and manager more so than the student you have.
- Former Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
Great for those just starting their teaching abroad careers or need to get to the country first. The org will pick you up and help you, help you open banking, find an apartment, & situate yourself in the new country. Training should be comprehensive and ongoing depending on how good the center you are assigned. If it's bad, you'll be teaching yourself. If you want opportunity for growth and moving up into management it is a good start.
Cons
The salary is low for the amount of work you have to do as well as the hours and days. You will get two days off a week (unless it's summer and then you work 6 days a week to cover summer sessions). This may have changed since 2017 but I doubt it if it's in China. Your two days off will be weekdays such as Monday and Tuesday. Your shifts will start in the afternoon and you can expect to be going home after 9 pm or later during week days. Your friends from EF will be your main social life since you have the same schedules. If you went abroad to travel this may not be the job for you. Contracts were 15 months. Not sure if it's a pro or con. I have had friends that ran into problems when they completed the contract and wanted to leave. They were pressured to pay a months salary to get the proper paperwork released to their next job. I believe things may be different now but there truly was no excuse for that in the past.
Continue readingEF English First Response
Teacher Welfare Director
Thank you for recommending us as a company and for your feedback. Our incoming teachers go through detailed onboarding where they're supported with their transition to China and learning the basics of their role. After that they go through a comprehensive induction program and receive ongoing training and development throughout their time at the center. Our current contracts for international teachers are generally 12 months and like most companies, we have notice periods in order to be able to properly transition classes and minimize the impact that the changes have on our students. Staff are made aware off their contract length, notice period, working hours, etc. when they sign their contracts. All legally required documents are provided to staff upon the completion of their exit procedures. If any staff member need assistance we ask that they email teacher.welfare@ef.cn. Our team was established to provide academic staff with another level of support. A lot has changed since 2017 but we continuously look at ways to improve our employee experience.
- Former Employee, less than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
Reasonable class sizes and schedule Diverse workforce
Cons
Parking was always a bit tricky. Some staff seemed to be overworked
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EF English First Response
Teacher Welfare Director