Any insight on "English First" company in Russia?

[Connor Doak]

English First (EF) is a well-known international network of language
schools.  It operates like a franchise: individual language schools
"buy" the EF name.  However, while in theory all EF schools should
meet the same set of international standards, in practice there is
wide variety between individual centers.  So you should to find out
from people on the ground about the individual EF centres in each city
in Russia.

The advantage of working for a large international network like  EF is
that schools are (hopefully) not likely to go bust and are likely to
honor their contractual obligations pay teachers on time.  On the
downside, the conditions can be gruelling in terms of the hours that
you have to work, renumeration, poor living conditions and so on.
Some people complain that English First is a "McSchool" because they
tend to favor their own resources and methodology and offer teachers
limited creativity.  I do not know enough about this claim to verify
it; I would emphasize again that standards vary widely between
individual schools.

The best place to let the low-down on English-language schools is
Dave's ESL Cafe.  Post a message on the forums asking about the
school(s) you're interested in and it's likely someone will be able to
help you.  Indeed, there's already at least one thread about EF
Vladivostok and one about EF Petersburg.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewforum.php?f=20

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=69195
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=45050

Good luck!  And hope this helps,

Connor.
(2 years experience teaching English in Russia; though not with EF).

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