Job Discussion Forums

[Deano1979]

http://www.englishfirst.com/

This seems a little too good to be true. Has anyone worked for them before or used them to get your TEFL?

[adavidwatson]

What about that seems too good to be true?

[Deano1979]

They say they are paying $17 000 a year. From the research I have done, that seems like quite a bit for Russia. Im would be more then happy to be wrong though. Seems like they are looking for quite a few teachers at the moment.

[adavidwatson]

1700 a year in Russian is not necessarily too good to be true. In fact in Moscow it's not a living wage. Depends on the city. I am talking to them at the moment too, EF is a legit but that's not earth shattering.

[ColdRodear]

[rusmeister]

First of all, EF is one of the local sweat shops (they have a world-wide Mc Donald's style racket going). They are 'legit' but will present their offer in the best imaginable light. Reality will deflate you.

If you work only 9 months and have to pay for your apartment, it is minimum wage. Plus you'll have to regularly leave the country to renew your visa under the new laws.

Others have said enough about working split shifts, with the extensive travel that goes along with that, and lots of other fun surprises!

You have been warned...

[Deano1979]

Thanks Rus

Seems like I am going to have to do a little more research

[jpvanderwerf2001]

I am a senior teacher at EF in Vladivostok. I'm paid just under 40,000 rubles/month. If the ruble is at ~26 rubles to the US dollar, that puts the salary at around $17-$18K (US dollars) per annum.
I work 36 acad. hours/week.
I pay my own rent (roughly $500/month).
They pay airfare and visa expenses.
I don't work split shifts.
I have enough money to travel and live comfortably (although I do a bit of private work on the side).
I've had a good experience here, personally (I've been here going on two years). I'll probably sign on for a 3rd year.
Of course, EF is franchised, so one person's EF experience could be wildly different from another's.
Hope this helps.

[rusmeister]

[maruss]

One of their senior staff admitted to me last year that the firm was 'not so ideal' to work for and discreetly suggested I could get far more working somewhere else!!!
It also took me about 6 weeks to get the approx.$900 they owed me for a three week summer school in Cyprus last summer,allegedly because the accounts office in the Netherlands supposedly lost the files of myself and the other teachers!!
I would agree they are the Macdonalds of the EFL trade-too big to care about people!

[AnnMouse]

Hi,

I was in Moscow with EF a few years ago. I got the equivalent of $900 a month for 24 contact hours a week.
There was a lot of travel involved though as I was working at one of the outer schools.
No effort was made to introduce me to any of the other teachers working in the other centres in the city.
The admin staff spoke little or no English and the local teachers that worked there only came in shortly before their lessons which made me feel quite isolated.
However, I was there with my partner and it was quite easy for us to save money. Saying that though, as we were still living quite far from the centre we weren't going out a lot.

I subsequently worked part time for an EF in St Pete. I found that centre to be better managed with admin staff who were fairly fluent. They also paid better than most of the other schools in the city, with some exceptions.

As previous posters have said, the franchise system can mean that some EF experiences are better than others.

[maruss]

Were you in Maryino or Prazhkaya by any chance?

Cheers,
Martin.

[englishgibson]

McEF is probably the most corrupt educational organization, so why bother supportin' those farts that cannot see beyond their office door or window
Is money that you guys've been discussin' on the most important issue, when workin' for this burger joint

[teacherus]

Seems like quite a few different opinions on EF. Maybe those annoyed people only worked for the bigger schools in bigger cities like Moscow and Peter? Those ones might not be the most reliable anyway, because teachers are easy to find there.

What about the centres in the smaller places? Vladivostok seems alright. A smaller city, they need to look after the natives they have, because not many people want to go there.

how about the ones in other Russian cities like Nizhniy, Novosibirsk and wherever else they are. Again, smaller cities where not many TEFLers think of going...maybe friendlier schools there??

[ohahakehte]