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EF (Education First)

Engaged employer

You are worth so much more. - Operations EF (Education First) Employee Review

1.0
18 Apr 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are still some really amazing people working there. I hope for their sake that the company makes it.

Cons

Leaving this place is such a relief. After spending sleepless nights as an on-call 'emergency expert' and still being expected to show up for day shifts, being discouraged from talking about salary with my peers, and working from a dangerously broken laptop, I finally remembered my own value as a person and an employee and was able to find work with a better company. If you're a skilled worker, I promise your value will be better recognized, utilized, and compensated at any other company. If you're straight out of college or in dire need of work, this place will be tempting. I made this mistake for you, and after about 2.5 years and 3 different roles, I'd advise you to look elsewhere. Current 'diversity' initiatives are extremely lacking and require staff to 'brainstorm' on makeshift 'task forces' without any actual structural or culture changes. I literally had to personally confront a manager (who later, ironically, led one of these task forces) about a profile picture they had in blackface. If you are part of the BIPOC or LGBTQIA+ communities, don't trust this place. They do NOT have your back and you will be asked to 'educate' the majority white, cis, straight staff under the guise of 'professional development.' Take a look at the company responses on other 1-star reviews here - that is the exact tone and attitude you can expect from the recruitment and development team. I wish I had better things to say - I pretended to be happy here for too long. The fact that selling group tours to senior citizens during a global pandemic feels incredibly unethical is never acknowledged. I do hope your experience is better than mine, but this place is in dire need of fundamental structural change.

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EF (Education First) Response
5y
I want to thank you for taking the time to share this feedback and can assure you that we take it to heart. I'm sorry you had such a negative experience at EF. As for our diversity efforts, we have work to do, and we are committed to doing the work. We never intend to burden our BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ community members with educating the rest of our population, so I appreciate you sharing that experience. A lot of incredible professional development content has originated from our Employee Resource Groups (EFinity groups) - we're grateful that so many members of the EF community have come forward and volunteered their time in that way. We have also brought in consultants and educators from outside EF to train on topics like Unconscious bias, Understanding Racism, and manager trainings focused on DEIB. As an education company, we know how important professional development will be in our efforts to create a truly diverse and inclusive workplace. As for your comment about the manager's profile picture, I'm very concerned about that - if you're willing, we would appreciate if you would share more details with us at HR@ef.com so we can properly investigate. The pandemic has made this past year and a half a challenge for us. All along, we have focused on following CDC recommendations, keeping our customers safe, and providing flexibility that allowed our customers who wanted to plan for future travel to protect their investment in the process. We are grateful to see the light at the end of the tunnel now and look forward to resuming more travel. Once again, I thank you for your time and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Explore other reviews about EF (Education First)

5.0
4 Feb 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

good community and positive work culture

Cons

pay can be a little low

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EF (Education First) Response
5mo
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We’re glad to hear you enjoyed the community and positive work culture at EF. The Coop experience is a great way to get to know EF. We appreciate your feedback on pay, and input like yours is helpful as we continue to review our compensation practices.
4.0
2 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You get to choose your tour and recruit the students you want to bring. The paid chaperone ratio is 6:1, so it is very manageable. The tours are great and the local experts are wonderful.

Cons

Company support is variable. There is high turnover and new consultants are very sales motivated and don't always get the nuances of your school or community group. I have had some WONDERFUL concusltants, but they have always been promoted before I get to work with them again.

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