Language International Reviews

Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review. I was disappointed to hear that your experience at Language International was not very positive. I'm sorry to hear your compensation was lower than what you were looking for. As a relatively small start-up, Language International unfortunately has limited funds. It's also worth noting that we are always totally clear about what your compensation will be when making a job offer so that you can take that factor into consideration when deciding where to work. I understand that you didn't feel that you got the chance to interact often enough with the management team. Karen and Michael, our co-founders, do travel abroad from time to time. Language International is a global company with offices in Boston, Berlin, and Krakow. They spend the majority of their time in the Boston office (they live in Cambridge). One of the cool things about working in the Boston office is that the co-founders (who are also the CEO and CFO) are constantly available and accessible. At all Language International offices, everyone works in one big room, so there are no office walls separating people (there aren't even cubicles!). You'd be hard-pressed to find a company where the leadership team was more accessible. Even while traveling, they are always happy and eager to consider suggestions, answer questions, give advice, and just chat about whatever. One of the best features of my experience at Language International has been the constant accessibility of Michael and Karen; by working closely with the whole team, they really give us all great opportunities to learn from them. I’m also sorry to hear that you found your work boring. Certainly, no job is going to be exciting for every person, and some of the jobs we have available here might not be interesting to everyone. That’s why we allow every job applicant to experience the day-to-day tasks involved in their desired role as part of the interview process. We want to make sure that candidates get a clear, vivid sense of the work they’d be doing. I'm also sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy the office culture. I understand that no office culture is going to be a perfect fit for everyone. Personally, I've always loved it. I've always thought that people here are fun, outgoing, friendly, smart, and hugely diverse. We have staff from all around the world, with all sorts of interesting backgrounds, as you might expect at an international study abroad company. When I joined the company as an intern a couple years back, I was welcomed gregariously by the whole team. When I came back to Language International after graduating from college, I once again found myself a member of a team of really fun, interesting people. Everyone holds a high standard for their own work, but the atmosphere is laid-back and upbeat. I encourage potential job applicants to come by our office to experience the vibe for themselves! I want to address your concern about unpaid internships. Lean start-ups often have to make hard decisions about money, but this is one that I feel quite strongly about. Two summers ago, I was an intern at Language International. The internship was incredible: I picked up a ton of business development and project management skills and learned a lot about the study abroad industry in a short period of time. The internship was unpaid, but it was by far the most valuable in terms of skills and experience gained. I’m a strong believer in the value of these internships for interns. Of course, an unpaid internship is not a good fit for everyone. However, for those who are looking for a really excellent professional development experience, I cannot recommend our internships highly enough. You also expressed concern over the turnover rate. Language International has been very successful at retaining talented folks that are able to perform at a high level. However, you're right -- at one point, our turnover was higher than we would have liked. If you worked at the Boston during a specific recent time period, you would have seen 3 people leave Language International within 5 months. I'll share the reasons for employee departures during that time. They were as follows: one person got married and relocated elsewhere to move in with her husband; one person realized that she really wanted to work in the nonprofit sector; and the third person had to leave the country because his visa expired. It was a sad time because a chunk of the team left within a short period. However, I'm happy to say that our overall turnover rate is far lower than the average start-up at our stage. If you have other advice or feedback, I encourage you to email me so we can discuss. I want to make Language International an even more amazing place to work and am always eager for suggestions. Thanks, Jesse Gildesgame Project Manager Language International