Job Discussion Forums

[Symphany]

I'd like to teach English in China and I'm looking into a company called English First, has anyone worked there or know about it? Secondly, is there a chance to get overtime there?

Thirdly, if you teach English in China and you are unhappy with your employer, can you change jobs and work for another employer easily? This was the case in Japan where I worked for one year under my first employer, and quit just after renewing my second visa. I could have stayed a year under my second visa but elected to leave early.

[therock]

I would say English First is the equivalent to Nova in Japan. Scroll through the old posts and you will find many negative comments about EF.

As for changing employers, generally you need a release letter from your first employer before you can go and work for another.

[Symphany]

I actually used to work for Nova, and before the recent melt-down there were some consistencies that existed that made Nova livable:

pay was always on time, and you could count on living in a fully furnished western-style company apartment

your visa was yours and did not belong to the company so you could change companies any time you wanted

Nova was the biggest chain, so if you hated the branch you worked at you could literally change branches to anywhere in the country

privates were not illegal and you could teach as many as you wanted as long as you didn't pinch company students

there was always the chance that you could try climbing the ladder if you were in it for the long-haul.

That level of consistency has been thrown with the recent financial difficulties, however, I was wondering what the situation was with EF, and with Chinese chains in general, is there a merit to them, even if they are probably not the best gig around, some redeeming quality that atracts people and gets them to stay there? If not, they sound pretty terrible and I'm not sure how they survive.

[stillnosheep]

They are not a chain (one company controlled from Head Office).

They are a franchise (they grant licenses to indivduals and companies to use their name and 'method').

Some franchises may be better than others but absolute horror stories abound including death threats to teachers who try to demeand their rights as contracted, terminate their employment etc.

Caveat emptor.

[clark.w.griswald]

EF is similar to Nova in that it employs lots of teachers throughout the country and that some of the teachers come to hate that company. Overall though most of the teachers do the job and enjoy their time in China. While some choose to stay on there for a while, many use EF as an easy landing and a stepping stone to other work in the future.

One big difference in China is that the work permit is not yours so to speak and as such is not easily transferrable. So if you just up and leave the employer that helps you get the work permit then you can generally expect to lose that permit and have to start the process over again. You can leave an employer mid-contract but you generally need to work with the employer and get a release letter in order to transfer your working rights to your next employer.

[SnoopBot]

[tw]

[upchuckles]

long hours and exploitative salaries.. Most franchises are disjointed from the main office and owned and operated by private owners with no regards for the regs imposed by the main office..

Entirely not worth it..

[Symphany]

Snoopbot wrote:

[SnoopBot]

[aliaparrish]

I'm glad my negative experience with English First happened before I took a job with them.

They called me from London (I live in New York), and left a message, so I had to call them back. They set up an appointment for a Friday night, so I sat home waiting for them to call. They never did. I sent them an email telling them what I thought of them and I was deleted from their list. Boo-hoo.

After reading some of the other responses to your posting I'm doubly glad. I wouldn't worry about "overtime" with them, as they want you to work an insane amount of hours. When you are not teaching they want you to do "marketing work". So do yourself a favor and skip them and ALL PRIVATE SCHOOLS.

I am working in China and unhappy, but at least have been treated decently as far as being picked up at the airport and paid on time, etc., although I have yet to see the money promised for my ticket or visa.

I am working for Lambton College/Jiangnan University at their Wuxi location. The promised apartment was not ready so we stayed in a horrendous hostel 40 minutes from the school for a few weeks. Sunday I moved into my new apartment which is perfectly fine, but the noise sounds like something from Middle Earth. Construction is on-going and goes on on Sundays and at night. Plus, while I love my spiffy new kitchen, there is no place nearby to buy food-just campus stores which sell sugar& salt laden snacks, soda, beer and cigarrettes. Try that for a steady diet! If you are diabetic, avoid China like the plague. The food, especially in this province (Jiangsu) is loaded with sugar. They put it in everything. Generally it is horrible.

Also, China is not as cheap as we were lead to believe by the Canadian College's handout which promised us that we "could eat quite well on 500 RMB a month" (the amount alloted us). I don't think you could eat well for 5000 RMB a month (our total salary).

Also, there is absolutely NOTHING here. No entertainment, no social life, no food (canteens are only open certain hours) and we are not close to anything-not even the building where we work. I was told "a 15 minute walk, but have found out that it is closer to 1/2 hr. Also, it was brutally hot in September (so hot that the sweat was running into my eyes) and classrooms are overcrowded and have no air conditioning.

On the positive side, the people here are very nice, and perhaps if I were living elsewhere I would have better things to say, but my experience of China is that it is visually ugly, massively polluted and one cannot live well cheaply. Also, the school is supposed to assist us with Medical stuff, and have been of no help in connecting me with a doctor, despite having an infirmiry on campus.

I do not know about changing jobs, but here the contracts are for a semester at a time, which is another positive thing (although, most of the teachers leave after one semester). I have a feeling changing jobs before your contract expires would be very difficult, if not impossible. The bottom line is that I suggest you work for a public institution, and get some feedback on the city you are going to. I met some Americans who were teaching at a kindergarten here (public institution) and liked the school.

So, if you don't mind having nothing to do but work and socialize with whatever people you find yourself working with, making low pay and being hungry or in insulin shock and suffering from high blood pressure due to all the sodium in your diet, working in a public school in China is not all bad.

Good Luck and stay away from "English First"
AP

[SnoopBot]

[tw]

[evaforsure]

[jeffinflorida]

I spend 500 rmb a week on food...For me and my Pretty Chinese Girlfriend...

And I use my spiffy little kitchen on a regular basis...

And I will NEVER get used to that banging that starts every day at 5:30 am...Pretty Chinese Girlfriend doesn't stir a bit at this ruckus...