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EF (Education First)

Engaged employer

Things you don't know from the outside if you're a new teacher. - English As A Second Language Teacher EF (Education First) Employee Review

4.0
6 Mar 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The staff were very friendly and always helpful; that included the more experienced teachers and the admin. Its a great place to get experience and understanding in how EL schools operate. There was a lot of resources at the college outside of their own material such as mainstream course books. The work culture is fun and social, there is usually a good vibe among employees and admin staff alike.

Cons

Firstly I just want to note that my experience was largely impacted by me being a new ELT; more experienced teachers working there said they did not spend nearly as long as me planning, however many still looked stressed and were frequently rushing about. You will work a lot more hours that you are paid for, especially if you are a new teacher; and no, you will not be compensated for this. You are paid an extra half hour, per hour that you work to allow for lesson planning; however if you are new to the company, a lot of time will be spent getting to know their policies and procedures and you have to learn as you go because there is only a half day training offered. If you also happen to be new at teaching, then you can add many more unpaid hours to you're schedule. The school has ample opportunities for students to give feedback so you will work extra hours making sure you're lessons will be up to scratch so the students in you're class don't complain about you and get you cautioned or perhaps eventually fired. I was working some weeks almost double the hours I was being paid for, although I did this not to avoid complaining students but out of a sense of responsibility to provide them adequate lessons which most of the time took many more hours that I was being paid for. You will also have to do admin work that you are not paid for, after a while you can find tricks to get some admin done on class time while the students are busy. You will need to have high energy and not be planning to have much of a life at all outside this job during the initial first weeks. After about the 4 week mark myself and a lot of other new teachers were noticing that the extra hours we had been putting in during the first few weeks were coming down as we got the hang of things. Eventually you can also reuse materials if you are around long enough.

Explore other reviews about EF (Education First)

5.0
22 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good training, good communication especially for a remote position, flexible, great management

Cons

Scheduling and staffing effectively could be challenging due to unpredictable nature of emergency response, which caused both understaffed shifts and overstaffed shifts. In addition, phone-based customer service can be emotionally challenging - customers in stressful situations can often be difficult to deal with.

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EF (Education First) Response
2mo
Hearing that the training, communication, and management stood out, especially in a remote setting, is really meaningful. Thank you for sharing! As you mentioned, the nature of emergency response is inherently unpredictable. Our phone-based support in high stress situations can be central to defining the experience for travelers, and the people who handle it are a big part of that. We’re proud of the team you were part of and hope the skills you built here continue to serve you well.
4.0
6 Jul 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

CULTURE People Travel Mission and Vision teamwork

Cons

privately owned company means no path to equity. favoritism is rampant. Not enough focus on diversifying teams, Swedish culture is still very strong despite almost 60 years of growth

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