Job Discussion Forums

[superchimp]

Quite simply the worst place to work. They lie to you, take your money, monitor you like a zoo animal and above all are RACIST and will allow
people without a college degree who are NEO NAZIS to work there.

Don't even bother emailing. There are other places to work at in Ukraine.

[RQRose]

Can you give us details in regards to Pay, Housing, and specifics about their Monitoring Process?

I mean, what if I'm an Uneducated Idiotic Neo-Nazi Voyeur?

I might fit right in! lol

Seriously though, lets hear the story and some specifics.

[lstamsos]

That was kind of a vague statement.


I was with the company for 8 months and while some of the employees were creepy, most were great. I don't know about what you went through but I never got money withheld and I never felt like they were watching me.

As for racism...Unfortunately, Ukraine has a long way to go when it comes to respecting diversity. This affects teachers because students may refuse to come to your class for racist or homophobic suspicions which may have led to a few teachers being terminated. That happened a few times when I was there and while they were good people, they weren't that great of teachers. So who knows if it was really because of anything other than their job quality.

[lstamsos]

I think I know who the Neo-Nazi is and I'm pretty sure he's an anomaly. You'll find arrogant scumbags in all companies! I'd hope that the company would do something about that person.

[jonpernick]

As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer that served in Ukraine from 2003 - 2005 I am particularly concerned with the type and behavior of individuals that come to teach and represent the United States.

About one year ago a teacher was hired that did turn out to be a racist. During is 1.5 hour interview he represented himself as a high quality experienced teacher. There was no reason not to hire this person.

During training these racist tendencies began to appear and school administration was alarmed. This teachers racist behavior continued and he then introduced it into his classroom. Within weeks of his arrival he was terminated for unprofessional behavior in the classroom and disrupting the teacher community.

American English Center will not stand for unprofessional or irresponsible behavior within the classroom or within its teacher community. American English Center looks to hire teachers with great attitude, intelligence, and skills.

Unfortunately a phone interview is only able to reveal a limited amount of information and lacks the richness of a face-to-face interview or multiple interviews. Background and criminal checks can assist but are also limited.

[Cootz]

While hiring someone with a questionable background is an honest mistake, I am more troubled by information found in a recent job advert by the AEC concerning the current Ukrainian economic environment. It seemed odd, so I verified the situation using data found at EIU.com (The online branch of the �Economist� magazine). Excerpts from both sources are reprinted below :

Exploding foreign investment and rapid expansion of Ukraine's economy is sharply increasing the demand for English language skills. American English Center is meeting Ukraine's needs by opening new locations and is searching for North American's to lead conversational English courses at the basic, core, advanced, and business level. � AEC job ad from �Dave�s ESL Cafe�, June 1st, 2009.

Owing to its dependence on commodity exports such as steel, and on external financing, the Ukrainian economy has been one of the worst hit globally by the financial and economic crisis. The impact has been accentuated by domestic political instability and by poor economic policymaking in response to the crisis. Private consumption will contract sharply, owing to a drop in real wages, rising unemployment, the drying up of credit and hryvnya depreciation. The resumption of IMF funding in May has helped to allay concerns that Ukraine could face a complete financial and economic meltdown. A stronger recovery seems possible only once external economic conditions improve more significantly. � Country report from the �Economist Intelligence Unit�, May 11th, 2009.

Methinks something is amiss. Either the school is unaware of their environment (bad) or is deliberately misrepresenting it (much worse).

[sileni]

I worked there for a year and a half.

I had a GREAT time, disregarded the accidentally-hired creeps (they almost always quit or got canned anyway), and focused on the positives.

Jon P. needs to be more realistic about the economy (it's not expanding, it's rotting!), and they need to be more clear about their terrible and expensive arrangements for staying in the country (not to mention the "visa" joke), and the salary isn't the best.... but it's Eastern Europe.

If they monitored you "like a zoo animal", then you sucked as a teacher and students complained a lot about you.

As for being racist - what do you mean? When did they actively discriminate against you? We had a black guy, an Indian girl, a hispanic guy, etc. all roll through there in the recent past. They were popular as hell. Hiring a neo-nazi could only have been accidental. What do you think, some guy proclaimed himself as a neo-nazi on a phone interview and Jon Pernick said "nice, you're in buddy!" - get real.

A.E.C. isn't for everyone, especially seasoned professionals looking for tasteful and impressive development, but it's what you make of it. I tried to make something of it and.... it was awesome.

[kc4real]

I am a current teacher at AEC and I can tell you that it has been on e of the best jobs i have ever had. I have been here for about 8 months and almost everything the original post said seems totaly unlike my experience with AEC in anyway!!!

But what did you mean about the terrible and expensive plans for staying in the country???

And about the visa, did you ever get one???

I just wanted to post something positive about AEC, because before i took the job i read a bunch of negative remarks about it and i really think can't understand how people can say those things. Granted there are 11 locations so some people may have a very different experience!!!

The school director where at my location is very kind and goes out of her way to help the American teachers with anything we ask for!

The money is not great but more then enough to live comfortably here, and as for the racists the only the only ones are you will find are many of the students, but it's just because there parents taught them to be that way!!!

OK, so AEC is not perfect, but it really is far better then any place I ever worked in America!!!
And as for my co workers there is not even one i don't like, they are all great!!!

[sarahrempe]

i disliked AEC simply because i know from teaching around the world for years that their system is fatally flawed.

the books and classrooms are static, meaning, not dynamic. ergo, the teacher has to put A LOT of energy into making the lessons interesting for the students. (it's 2010 and any esl professional KNOWS that fixed chairs and desks with unusable blackboards crush the whole communicative approach)

when you live in a foreign country without speaking the language, lots of your free time is used up just doing daily chores and errands. having to spend hours each day trying to juice up the lessons is oppressive. of course, there are many unexperienced and unqualified esl teachers at AEC who don't KNOW their lessons are terrible. the teachers i observed in my very abbreviated training week were clueless, boring and i was embarrassed to watch them.

the students are brilliant and motivated and work pretty damn hard.

i personally was screwed over with regard to my flat (absolutely horrid) and flatmates. the policy of not paying teachers until they have been there 6 weeks is insulting. i didn't go to ukraine for the money. i wanted to have a good living experience but being stuck in horrid flat before and after classes was debilitating.

there were just too many frustrating things about the school. as i said, the students are great, but i left because i was in a bad mood with all the nonsense everyday and knew i wasn't able to give my best.

[kc4real]

Ok, maybe there method's aren't the most exciting in town, but I have a student who told me she left international house, with there coveted communicative method, and came to AEC because it took to long and coast to much money to get results at IH. So the methods are not always fun for the students and they are not always fun for me to teach, but if they improve their English skills that's the important thing.

I have a Tefl certificate, but this is the first place that would give me a real job, so at least they are willing to give new teachers a chance, but it's hard for them to keep the tution coast low and attract high profile native teachers at the same time! I have a personal relationship with many of my students who love AEC and keep coming back, but there certainly are some leave after on semester, or even the two week trial.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with the flat, but you can always search for a different one right? I know it can take some work but it could really pay off!!!

If you don't like AEC what do recomend for newly qulified teachers with little experience, who want to find a place to teach???

[Fred_Garvin]

Here's a few things to think about when you consider AEC.

First, user jonpernick is a recruiter. I heard mentioned that someone thought he was the owner. He is a recruiter, plain and simple. And he is paid a commission for each teacher he hires. He's not in Ukraine, he's in Kosovo.

Second, the rent they charge you is often equal to the rent they pay for the apartment. So, when they charge ONE teacher 1600 UAH for a flat, it's usually the cost of the flat. But when they have 2 teachers in the flat, they are making 1600 UAH.

Third, much of your "salary" is based on bonuses. The bonus system has been changed a number of times, and they look for every excuse NOT to pay your bonuses. "Oh, the moon was blue on Tuesday, No bonuses this month"

Fourth, they do not have permission from the Ukraine Job Center, or any other branch of the government to hire foreign workers. Each and every Native English Teacher working for AEC in Ukraine is illegal. With the exception of those who are permanent residents.

Fifth, the "letter" they will give you to take to a Ukraine consulate in another country to get a visa isn't worth the paper it's printed on. In every case, the latter has been rejected. Why? Because it's not the correct format of letter and they don't have permission to hire you in the first place. In the end you will have to get a standard tourist visa or private invitation visa. Which means you will still have to make more than 1 trip out of the country during your 1 year contract with AEC.

Sixth, in addition to working illegally, you are also living illegally. Under Ukraine law it is the responsibility of the company to register you with OVIR. But, in order for them to do this they have to have legal permission to hire you in the first place. (see note four)

Seventh, they will tell you it is your own responsibility to register with OVIR. you cannot register with OVIR unless you have a valid employment contract from a company with legal permission to hire foreign workers.

While they do have a good program, from the students point of view, most of it is ripped off from other teaching books, and their treatment of Native English Teachers leaves a LOT to be desired.

User jonpernick once said he was scrapping the bottom of the barrel and was having a hard time finding teachers. But the attitude in the Kiev office is that Native English Teachers are a dime a dozen. An easily replaced commodity.

And their turn over of staff tends to prove this.