Job Discussion Forums

[fpshangzhou]

I was wondering if anyone has any feedback or stories about working at EF English First in Hangzhou or other locations in China or even outside of China (Thailand, Vietnam)? I'm searching for schools and by looking at what they offer and teaching conditions described on their websites, I know that is quite biased. Therefore, I'm looking for some unbiased and real stories of working for them. I appreciate all feedback

Cheers,

Aaron in China

[SledgeCleaver]

There's a thread just a few below yours about EF Shenzhen I believe.

Try the "search" function, search terms "EF" and "English First." They're a huge company so obviously there are going to be threads about them.

[johntpartee]

[creeper1]

With a place like EF it is so hard to give a review. I worked at the kids school so I have no idea of what it is like to work at the adults' centers.

I think I can make some generalisations however -

They will keep you busy. If they have trouble getting students they'll make you do one on one "VIPs"

Your experience will depend a lot on your relationship with your DOS and that varies so much no-one can advise you on it.

I suggest you take a look at this thread

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=40635&highlight=mcefl

[stinkytofu]

I've had more than one bad experience with EF so I wouldn't recommend them. Most teachers do not renew their EF contracts unless they have a girlfriend living in the city they teach in. If you have the patience of a saint and your a heavy drinker you might like them.

[Babala]

I really think it depends on the EF centre. I don't agree with the previous post that most EF teachers leave after the first year. I know of several EF centres where many of the teachers have stayed for numerous years.

[Asiateacher]

I worked for EF in Shenzhen for a year. Worst year of my life. I'm sure some of their other centers are better... But this place treated their teachers like total crap, and didn't respect their students much either... I wouldn't g oback.

[Fanyi]

Worked at an EF right out of school for 2 months in the summer (this was a few years ago when short contracts were possible). I liked my time there, is still the most professional school I've worked for, and the only one that even attempted to train new teachers...as long as you're ready to work a lot compared to public high schools, like kids, AND have a good DOS, school management and colleagues (the colleagues are so important because you'll spend a lot of time at school with them-and probably after hours as well) then it could be a good experience. I'll close by saying that we went out to bars more than at any other school I've been at since while I was at EF (good or bad depending on your perspective), so was kind of a work hard, party hard environment.

[cloud_pleaser]

I worked at EF in Jiaxing, Zhejiang for a year. What I have to say about it is.... fairly mixed. I'll start with the pros

Great teacher development. The DOS was a total encyclopedia on methodology and worked really hard to bring us all up to speed on it. I improved vastly as a teacher during the time I worked there.
My coworkers were all great too... a funny, intelligent group of people.

The cons:
Brutal working hours. High turnover meant that you periodically experienced high spikes in working hours because of someone leaving. The nature of training schools like EF means that you can look at your schedule and see that a whole new class has been added to it. Summer course is a grim death march; huge increase in hours and only one day off. Living your life by routine is incredibly difficult (Which suits others fine, I couldn't deal with it however)
Said DOS was, while highly intelligent, rather draconian and on occasions quite simply petty and mean-spirited. He seemed to enjoy making our already-complex administration system even more so, and liked to send us long-winded, hostile emails when we failed to comply with it. Eventually coming to him with a problem simply resulted in being micromanaged for weeks at a time.
He wanted us to do a CELTA-standard lesson plan for each and every lesson, which is no mean feat when you teach 12+ classes a week. Lesson plan audits were tense moments to say the least. Got sloppy on a language analysis section because you had particularly high hours? You bet you're going to get chewed out for it.

While I'm glad I worked there for the experience (Teaching university is now not only a breeze but very rewarding too), It was the most difficult year of my life, and I discovered how high the threshold for nervous breakdowns must really be.

[Andy Pandy]

EF Wow! what can I say! Or more specifically EF Hangzhou. I've worked at one and friends have worked at others. No they aren't all the same, but the basic make up is! If you like working split shifts. A lesson at 8:45am another at 10:00 and a third at 11:30 you could finish a morning shift at about 1pm. It takes that long to finish all the paperwork. You are told it should only take 30 minutes to plan a 1 hour lesson, but it takes that long to work out what you need to teach. If you teach on average 20 hours of lessons, well you work it out! Online reports and attendance also have to be completed, a written report consisting of 4 sections and an action plan for improvement for every student every 3 of 4 lessons all this takes time. Then if you can you can go home for a bit. (but only if your apartment is near enough, mine was over an hour away by 3 buses so I was stuck). You then start the afternoon or evening classes anywhere from 3 to 5 depending on whether your teaching 3 - 5 year olds or 7 - 12 the majority of the ages the Hangzhou schools have. Lessons finish as late as 9pm, so you could be in the center as long as 12 - 13 hours. In between all the classes you have to prepare and teach (as many as 25 teaching hours) you're expected to do demo lessons, dance or singing clubs, dress-up, constant parties to get referrals and in the summer outside demo lessons as well as placement testing. They bring kids in at the most inconvenient times and expect you to stop anything you're dong and help them.

If you do decide to join them the starting pay is about $900 a month and a shared apartment. The flight money is refunded but only half after you've worked 6 months and the other half at the end of your contract. (A lot of people leave after they get their first half). They take 900 Yuan from your first 3 pay checks as a retainer in case you damage anything in the apartment (some people never get this back) and they also expect you to pay for repairs, so who knows why they take this money from you. The contract, which has just been changed, is very bias in favor of the owner. If you get one complaint you will not get the bonus, and that will mean you lose about $250. The complaint is usually about service or sales promising things the teachers cannot deliver, but you will get the blame anyway not them.

Most classrooms have an IWB, some are a little small for the number of students in the class and you could have 16 kids in a room that is 8� by 12�. There are some EF resources, but teachers are expected to create their own. and according to the contract any resources created during your time working for EF automatically becomes the property of EF. You will be expected to have a TEFL, but if you don't you have to pay to complete one in your first 3 months probation period as well as some sort of Cambridge exam board young learners exam.

All in all not an experience I would want to repeat. I was sold like a piece of meat to parents Because I was white and I was younger and more the image the center wanted to show whereas an older less attractive member of staff was almost hidden away, meaning their workload went down and mine went through the roof. Some people are happy with the set up because they don't seem to be loaded up with classes. Imagine my shock when I found out that the opinion of the center manager was "If they are a good teacher with good feedback from the parents, give them more classes to teach." I was like, what was she thinking, to make me do more for the same amount of money for the person who was sitting and doing a lot less than I was and was able to go home earlier, too.
You can make up your own mind but I wouldn't work for any EF ever! I agree not all are the same, some are in fact worse stories than this. You have to remember they are a franchise and like any franchise they are following a basic pattern, but how they achieve that varies considerably�in other words, when it�s convenient to do what the HQ in Shanghai wants, they�ll do it, and then hide whatever else makes them money.

Hope this helps

[Asiateacher]

[JustinC]