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American Language Institute

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Good place to start, not to stay - ESL Instructor American Language Institute Employee Review

3.0
8 Mar 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The hourly wage for ESL instructors is good. If you're just starting out in the field, this is a place to get some experience. Nice people to work with.

Cons

The hourly wages are good, but you likely won't get enough hours to make a living wage. You never know how many classes you'll get each semester, and you typically won't find out what you're teaching until a few days before, which makes scheduling work elsewhere difficult. For hourly instructors: no sick time (and you must find your own sub and provide them with curriculum), no benefits, no paid holidays.

Explore other reviews about American Language Institute

5.0
11 Aug 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very nice environment to work in, everyone is nice and you get to help people!

Cons

sometimes students might have questions you wouldn't know the answer to which is ok because a supervisor will always be on sight

3.0
25 Oct 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The pay is a lot better than at many private language school. It is for this reason and this reason only that i would recommend this school. Also they are flexible in the number of hours you want to work (depending on the student enrollment). Staff is very professional.

Cons

This is a for-profit organization. They take their student review seriously. If the students don't give you good rating, they don't invite you back. If a student has a complaint about you, they will side with the student, and you will be put on probation or let go. The director divides their time between marketing and teacher supervising, with the focus on the bottom line, which is student retention. Like many other ESL programs in San Diego, most teachers work on a semester to semester basis with no company benefits. Only about 10% of teachers have a "contract" guaranteeing them a full-time position with benefits (the term is misleading because in actuality, everyone else is a contractor and those with "contracts" are more-or-less the permanent employees). ESL teachers often have to work several jobs in different schools to make ends meet. Moreover, there is little professional development opportunity for teachers despite their having a program for training ESL teachers.

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