Very Average - Teacher ELIC Employee Review

3.0
26 Sept 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working overseas with ELIC was great at first. There was support and training that was good, especially for those without teaching experience. The TESOL certificate is nice. The idea of a team at your school or city is comforting as well. Most people in the organization are nice and friendly.

Cons

There is a big disconnect between on the field personnel and what it takes to be a successful ex-pat and what the people in Fort Collins actually hire. When they send someone to a country, the Fort Collins office is not dealing with the ramifications of those decisions. As such, they often make mistakes, which can make the average employees life difficult. There were countless mistakes to support profiles that each teacher has. In my there were around 5,000 dollars of mistakes - misappropriations, money added when it shouldn't have been or taken out, assigned to the wrong teacher. One time 13 of us were in a meeting talking about profile expenses and every single person had had a mistake. One teacher, who had been with ELIC for almost 20 years, said he couldn't remember a year when there wasn't a mistake to his profile. A few years ago, they stopped recruiting teachers. Since this is an educational institution, I found this odd. Also, they continued to recruit families, when the salary paid by most universities is not enough to support western families. Most families then had to raise extra support.

Explore other reviews about ELIC

5.0
21 Nov 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great work environment for a Bible-believing person.

Cons

If you don't like things like staff retreats -- they offered a lot of staff retreat-like outings for morale.

1
3.0
29 Mar 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

On the one hand, ELIC is very helpful in making sure you're "protected" in some sense as a foreign teacher. They negotiate your contracts so you aren't getting your time unnecessarily drained by the schools, and if there are any issues with pay, housing, or other major logistics, you will have support. It's good peace of mind for a first-timer serving overseas. The organization also puts together events and training that many find inspirational and refreshing.

Cons

On the other hand, your time can be quite drained by your ELIC team obligations and it may feel like you went all the way over to China to hang out with your little family of Americans. This is not necessarily a bad thing; the purpose is to provide good support for each other and also to serve together. However, it is not for everyone. Some loved it; some felt like they would have been more effective within a less intrusive/fascist structure. Finally, the fundraising requirement seems truly excessive compared to other organizations, even in light of the additional support ELIC offers. I do believe that the organization could be run more efficiently, after my interactions with some, frankly, less-than-competent staff members in Colorado.

4
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