Is EF (Education First) a good company to work for?

EF (Education First) has an overall rating of 3.4 out of 5, based on over 6,466 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months. 61% of employees would recommend working at EF (Education First) to a friend and 48% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about EF (Education First) have been left by employees working as Sales Manager , Director and Intern .

Does EF (Education First) pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, EF (Education First) employees rate their compensation and benefits as 2.9 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at EF (Education First). This rating has improved by 1% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at EF (Education First)?

61% of EF (Education First) employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated EF (Education First) 3.2 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.7 for culture and values and 3.2 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at EF (Education First)?

English Teacher (293) , Teacher (246) , Tour Consultant (240) , Online English Teacher (199) , ESL Teacher (198) , Sales Coordinator (137) , Activity Leader (75) , Sales (74) , Online ESL Teacher (67) , Sales Consultant (64) , Manager (61) , Educational Tour Consultant (46) , Marketing (42) , Director (41) , EF Activity Leader (40)

What are the pros of working at EF (Education First) according to real employee reviews?

"Met some great people and walked away from each class with a smile on my face." ((in 418 reviews)); "Overall really great culture and very easy to feel welcome!" ((in 330 reviews)); "Colleagues are great and share similar values for the most part." ((in 209 reviews)); "Great benefits and travel opportunities." ((in 164 reviews)); "The team has been great and so open to teaching you everything you need to know and more." ((in 119 reviews))

What are the cons of working at EF (Education First) according to real employee reviews?

"You'll be doing a lot of work for low pay and have no life outside of EF." ((in 622 reviews)); "Employees are generally over worked and have an incredible amount of work for such a low salary." ((in 498 reviews)); "Poor management and lack of decisiveness from managers that have been stagnating in their roles for too many years." ((in 311 reviews)); "There can be long hours and you get told no on the phone quite often." ((in 154 reviews)); "Bad manager leading the country" ((in 121 reviews))

What are employees saying about EF (Education First) layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about EF (Education First) layoffs and their outlook for job security at EF (Education First) in 2026.

What are the top reviewed EF (Education First) locations?

Boston , Cambridge , Denver , Tarrytown , San Diego , Austin , New York , San Francisco , Thornwood , Santa Barbara , Miami , Chicago , Miami Beach , Brighton , Los Angeles , Washington , Honolulu , Atlanta , China , Redondo Beach , Remote , Long Beach , Pasadena , Monterey , China Grove , Dallas , Houston , Seattle , Portland , Baltimore

EF (Education First) reviews

3.4

61% would recommend to a friend

(4,617 total reviews)

Edward Hult, Ph.D

62% approve of CEO

48% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.8

Diversity & inclusion

3.7

Culture & values

3.2

Work/Life balance

3.2

Career opportunities

3.1

Senior management

2.9

Compensation and benefits

EF (Education First) has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 4,617 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The EF (Education First) employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.8 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

5K reviews

3.0

Mar 24, 2020

A Specific Type of Person Will Thrive Here

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

-Incredible travel perks. -Incredible end-product. -Pay is good for non-entry level positions. -Incredible benefits. -Feels like a transition out of college if you're into that??? -There are a lot of fun events and feel-good surprises for employees. While these are a wholly positive on their own, most anyone I've spoken to would gladly sacrifice these for even a tiny annual bonus. It makes you feel like the company prioritizes how it looks externally to what it puts in its employees' pockets esp. since it's well known entry-level jobs pay poorly and EF flaunts its $$$.

Cons

-Management. Poor management is a clear trend in these reviews--I wish I had paid more attention to them when I was interviewing. A lack of effective managers and management experience is my chief complaint. Management positions are filled internally when it doesn't even make sense. I am often in dismay at the lack of professionalism management exhibits or excuses here. I think they get away with a lot by mostly managing young, entry level post-grads. It's a strange power dynamic. -If diversity is important to you, this probably isn't the right workplace environment for you. On top of a lack of surface level diversity, the workforce is painfully homogeneous; it's a perfect example of a company that says they are always striving to increase diversity in hiring, yet somehow also seems to constantly prioritize the notion of "culture fit" without realizing their culture may be running counterintuitive to their goals to diversify the workforce. There are people who really care and put on incredible diversity events, but the participants are those who need diversity training least: mostly those who already identify within a minority group. -Lack of career direction or definition. Modest annual raises and no additional compensation opportunities. -No flexible work policy. At best, EF is way behind the times here. At worst, they don't trust their employees.

EF (Education First) Response

6y

Thank you for your feedback. We always want to improve and your comments are valuable for our efforts in this matter. We are happy to hear you enjoy some of the perks of joining EF - the travel, the fun factor this company has to offer in terms of fun events etc and working in a highly international environment together with fun and outgoing colleagues. We are sorry to hear you perceive a lack of management and career direction. We take professional development seriously and, with the number of schools and offices around the world, we're sorry to see that you found mobility to be a challenge. In terms of diversity, we believe we are truly diverse as a company. In many of our offices around the globe, we have many different nationalities. For example in Zurich with 700 people, we have 47 different nationalities. If you wish to discuss more flexible working hours, please contact your local RED team. Best regards

1.0

Dec 2, 2019

Most unprofessional company I have ever worked with.

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Getting to see China for two weeks.

Cons

Poor management of the center I was assigned to. No one to ask questions about the expectations of the job without getting fired for not blindly trusting the company. Intimidation tactics and lies were used, I am fairly sure my firing was racially motivated as I was given a termination letter within ten days of my arrival with no reason listed, no way back to my home country, and no salary for the time I worked. When I asked for a reason for my firing, I was given no response, and had the police called on me. The center director lied to the officer and told them I attacked her. There were cameras all over the center that refuted her claim. The officer escorted me back to my hotel and from there I coordinated with my family to get a return flight booked. I have heard no follow up from this company since my unlawful firing. I spent a great deal of money and time preparing for this teaching position and overseas move, and to have that completely disregarded after working with this company for such a short period of time was extremely disappointing. If you’re going to fire someone, attempt to leave them stranded in a foreign country, and get them in trouble with immigration, provide a reason at least.

EF (Education First) Response

6y

EF does not tolerate harassment of any kind in the workplace. If you feel that you have been a victim of harassment, please contact our compliance team at compliance@ef.com so that a fair and thorough investigation can take place.

1.0

Oct 28, 2019

Underpaid, Overworked, Micromanaged, Juvenile Atmosphere

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

I have none. The most stressful, chaotic, place I've ever worked.

Cons

Trained to "provide support to foreign exchange students" according to the interview. Once you're an employee you find out your handling intense cases that should only be handled by a trained social worker. 80 host families and exchange students is a "normal workload" and you're expected to attend weekend conferences with no pay, which is completely illegal.

EF (Education First) Response

6y

Thank you for taking the time giving us this feedback. Please get in touch with us at compliance@ef.com if you would like to discuss further as we would like to hear more about your experience. Sorry to hear you did not enjoy your time with us. Best regards.

Viewing 121 - 123 of 4,617 Reviews

Jobs at EF (Education First)

Public Sector Account Manager, Inside Sales & Client Success