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James Cook Languages

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James Cook Languages Reviews

3.1

46% would recommend to a friend

(29 total reviews)

Vladimír Schmalz

73% approve of CEO

45% positive business outlook

James Cook Languages has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 29 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The James Cook Languages employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

29 reviews
2.0
23 Jan 2019

Just another corporate machine

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

JCL is a large school so it has a lot of resources to help teachers lesson plan. They always have a lot of classes to be taught, so not having enough hours to teach is not an issue at JCL. Some of the administrative staff is very friendly and helpful. The senior teachers are also friendly and helpful. They have useful training sessions which help, especially if you are new to teaching.

Cons

Same thing as everybody else has already said, they don't pay enough; especially for the amount of work you have to do. You end up running around to hundreds of different companies, the constant walking, constant train rides, constant bus rides, constant tram rides, constant traveling. Doing all this in the winter is very unappealing. Some course coordinators are very cold and unsympathetic to your pleas. If you don't put your foot down, you can easily be taken advantage of, especially when the course coordinator tries to keep on adding an infinite amount of classes to your schedule. JCL doesn't mentally or emotionally support their teachers, which they need because most of them are foreigners in a new country and don't speak the language or know how anything works. There are also conflicting expectations of what the teachers should teach because a lot of clients want only conversation classes with strictly no grammar but JCL expects teachers to teach these students grammar in some way shape or form. Another example is that students often don't want homework, but JCL tells us that we should always give homework. Most companies require a 2 week notice when one wants to resign...JCL requires twice that, which is strange considering they hire new teachers every week. JCL has a corporate mindset which shows; it seems that they value the bottom line, making more money and acquiring new clients than they do their overworked and underpaid teachers.

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James Cook Languages Response
5y
Thank you for taking the time to write a review. Coordinators always take into consideration travel time, if teachers feel their schedule is not efficient enough, they can contact either coordinators directly or our Academic/HR department. If a teacher believes a coordinator's conduct is unprofessional, they can always contact our HR. We understand that moving to a new country can be stressful, thus we have a website full of useful information about the life in the Czech Republic. Moreover, we have a "buddy for teachers", a person who can accompany teachers to different offices and help them with different things they need, plus our HR colleagues can be also contacted. If a teacher believes the syllabus for the course is not suitable, they should ask their ST for help. Apart from the given Senior Teacher, it is also possible to contact our Directors of Studies. There is a month notice period at JCL, which is definitely not anything uncommon in the Czech Republic. Regarding the travel expenses reimbursement, it is now possible to get the pass even without teaching during peak hours.
1.0
26 Jan 2018

Not a real job

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The staff are friendly and courteous and the clients are generally delightful.

Cons

JCL is set up to make money off of teachers and not to help teachers make money. The incentive bonuses are unlikely. The company will not help you get settled, sponsor a visa, pay for training, pay for commute expenses or consider the situation of foreigners they recruit.

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James Cook Languages Response
8y
Thank you for taking time to write a review. We would like to address the points you have mentioned. We have a system of bonuses for our teachers which is designed to be achievable for those teaching full time and for the entirety of their contract. We carefully monitor the situation regarding this in order to make sure that those who are entitled to it get it. When teachers ask us for advice about housing etc. we always do our best to help, and we have information packs for new teachers, as well as Senior Teachers available to give advice about teaching and living in Prague. We are not able to sponsor visas, but we put teachers in touch with an excellent and reasonable visa agency. We do pay for travel expenses of full time teachers who teach during prime time slots. We also pay teachers for their initial training sessions as well as providing many other development opportunities for them for free, regardless of how many lessons they teach. When our students cancel a lesson with less than 24 hours’ notice, they are charged in full and the teacher is paid in full. This is not standard practice in the Czech Republic but it is something we insist on in order to create a fairer system for our teachers. We do many things for our teachers in terms of support, training and development, access to resources etc. which are far above industry standards in the Czech Republic.
4.0
21 Nov 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good resources, comfortable office/resource center that teachers can use, warm and friendly staff/teachers, training, events for teachers

Cons

The pay is low and you get your current month's salary at the end of the next month

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James Cook Languages Response
5y
Thank you for your positive comments! We are glad you enjoyed working with us.
Viewing 1 - 3 of 29 Reviews

Glassdoor has 56 James Cook Languages reviews submitted anonymously by James Cook Languages employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if James Cook Languages is right for you.