Job Discussion Forums

[ShineeStar]

I have a job offer from EF English First in China and I want to know if anyone has experience with this company, and/or knows anything about them.

I know that the EF franchises really are hit and miss in China depending on managers, location and overall experience.I tried to find out information about EF franchises. I only found a thread about EF experiences, however, the last post was made 10 years ago.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=281781&sid=c429ede3f6e9285d3a76da8eb076043b

[Brian_H87]

I currently work at EF in Wuxi. So far I'm pretty happy with the choice. Where is your job located?

[kungfuman]

I would say avoid EF and don't trust what their recruiter tells you - it's usually a lie.

[Markness]

I have friends who have worked there and still continue to work there. The pros of the job is that it is easy once you get in a routine of things. The cons is the low pay/dealing with all of the bull-crap that comes with a training school.

Overall, it is not recommended to work there unless you have no teaching experience. In that case, it is a good stepping-stone.

[kcjamesaux]

There is a world of difference between working at EF Kids and EF Adults. Everyone else in my onboarding group was destined for EF Kids - now, at the 10 month point most of them have either jumped ship or are chronically miserable and just counting days until they can move onto something else.

On the other hand, I came to EF Adults and I'm really happy here.

There's a lot of benefits:
- Great on boarding. No teaching in first 2 weeks while they lead you through visas, blood tests, finding an apartment, setting up internet, cable TV, whatever issues you're having. That makes a huge difference.
- Professional, friendly colleagues. In our office of around fifteen teachers, several of us have either Trinity Diplomas or Cambridge DELTAs, and I think two others have Masters in Education. We all take teaching seriously, which makes the job more enjoyable for me. YMMV.
- The students are great. Super motivated, intelligent, and generally just a pleasure to be in the classroom with. Having taught literally 1000s of students since I've been here, I could count on just one hand the number of genuine problem cases (disengaged, always using phone, etc.) I've heard much more mixed reports (to put it generously) about university students.
- I think the pay is fine. After tax I clear 14,000 a month. I spend 3,000 on my apartment and still end up saving at the end of each month, despite the fact that I eat out every meal and travel a lot. I'm aware there's a vocal "I don't get out of bed for less than 20/25k a month" crowd around here and that's cool, but to be honest whenever those people break down their salary it always ends up involving a) a lot of private tutoring (which I don't want to do) and b) a lot of teaching kids (which I don't want to do).

But you'll have to accept...
- 10 days of paid vacation. To be honest, by working them in alongside days in lieu, public holidays, weekends etc. you can get a lot more mileage than you might think. For example, with my 10 days this year I've managed to get three 9-day holidays to various countries in SE Asia. Not too shabby. But yes, when it comes to holidays, universities beat language mills hands down.
- A lot of "corporate culture" stuff. This isn't the worst thing in the world, but as someone who's more academically-minded, I find the marketing gimmickry, the 'buzz words' etc. can be grating. The most important thing for me is that my classroom teaching isn't interfered with, and it's not.

So yeah, I'm happy. I enjoy going to work every day - good staff, good students, friendly atmosphere. I have a comfortable life and can do a lot of the traveling I want to do (although in the end the lack of sufficient paid leave probably will move me on to other pastures.)

A number of times I've had other teachers approach me and say "Oh, do you want me to get you a job at a public school? With that and privates you could get X thousand more a month..." and they always seem slightly dumbfounded when I say "No thanks." The truth is I'm just happier with a normal teaching job. On my days off I can go hiking in the neighbouring mountains or catch the gaotie to explore other cities in the province, and that suits me just fine. Money is good but for me life is for living! That includes enjoying my days off and not dreading going into the class each day.

[buravirgil]

Nothing like testimony!

11k a month with ten days vacation isn't so bad. And the next time some publinik approaches you about it, just say, "Sorry, Signor Ferrari. The Blue Parrot's not for me because I ain't got time to spend the money I make here." That'll really dumbfound 'em!

There's no substitute for corporate enterprise that values intensive training and the superior qualifications of academically-minded folk eager to go about their classes unencumbered by subsequent and conveniently paced assessments assembled by experts in the field applying time-tested, yet revolutionary, gold standards through rigorous...testing.

Students with super powers in motivation and intelligence must make a Delta seem like a Ph.D! And a Master's a license to perform brain surgery while designing rockets to Mars! Curse the Shou Ji which so shackles and tethers my students to the bounds of Earth!

Three Cheers! For a normal teaching job!

[SH_Panda]

[kcjamesaux]

For regular teachers up to 25 teaching hours (which are 50 minutes), although in practice it is often much lower, as daytime classes often go unbooked or we can double up with other teachers. Scheduled office hours are 40, but in my centre are not strictly enforced. We often go home early and arrive late, take long lunches etc. Basically, if you're on time for your lessons, and teach them well, no one will be paying any attention to when you're in the office.

And yes, as I understand EF will fully re-imburse you for the Trinity Certificate, the Trinity Diploma, Cambridge IDTLM etc. which can be a very good deal. There's a couple in my office now who are going that route.

[JB140767]

[SH_Panda]

[kcjamesaux]

[kcjamesaux]

[CNexpatesl]

EF is a starter job. I know of a guy working at one in a major tier 1, only makes about 11k monthly. I'm guessing that's before tax.

If I was an experienced teacher with years under my belt I'd give them a hard pass. If you're a newb, they might be a good introduction to ESL. The guy that says he makes 14k after tax must be a rare case, but I wouldn't even consider that a decent salary unless he's in a tier 2.

[weigookin74]