Pros
In my multiple years here, they’ve never paid us late. If you get placed at a good school, the job can be fun and rewarding. It can be easy to make friends if you’re new to the country/city with the office environment. It’s not the worst place to begin your ESL career as the support can be decent if you’re lucky with who your line manager is, and HR will get you a proper working visa.
Cons
Where do I even begin? - Good public schools are few and far between, and even doing an outstanding job throughout the year doesn’t guarantee your placement at the same school the following academic year (assuming you elect to return to that school). Your hours can fluctuate from year to year, and the schools can change their schedules at their own discretion, causing some unlucky teachers to lose hours. Signing a full time contract does not guarantee full time hours. - The management is very inconsistent. Many of the direct line managers and academic managers do NOT care if your job is difficult as long as theirs isn’t. If you have issues beyond your control, you are considered problematic and difficult to manage if you try to advocate for yourself. The standards for how you’re assessed as a teacher are highly subjective, and there is no consistency or standard between managers as to how you are scored. Upper management will act like they understand your concerns, but nothing changes. - Anything that occurs in the classroom is considered the teacher’s fault, whether it’s the fact of the matter or not. Bad TA? Get over it. Naughty, unmotivated students? Be better. School doesn’t like the color of your skin? You’re now a full-time cover teacher with no set hours. If you’re not singing praises to the company, you’re a problem, and they will never see you as anything besides that. - Roughly 1/3 of the actual work you do (planning and preparing lessons, marking exams, attending workshops) is unpaid which burns teachers out very quickly. The general air of disdain amongst the returning staff members increases with each year.