First Class English - Centro Ejecutivo de Idiomas

This company is probably the worst Colombian English school I've worked for. I don't understand how companies such as Pacific Rubiales (Bogota) or the Colombian Army can pay millions to this company and receive such a mediocre service.

First Class English (FCE) rotates its teachers in an effort to hide the fact that a lot of them quit within the first month and to avoid loosing his students to any of the most talented of them. "Teachers" are hired without requiring previous teaching experience or checking their background. A simple exam is all that is needed.

If you are residing in Colombia or just obtained a work visa, please make sure to avoid working for these guys. While Andrew Diaz (an a..hole), the owner of the company, charges about $50,000 (pesos) per hour, about US$25.00, he only pays his teachers about $15,000 (pesos) or US$7.50 per hour - before taxes off course. This is below industry standards and you can easily find better places to work at.

I believe the main issue, besides the low wages, is that fact that administrative errors such as mistakenly canceling a class or sending a teacher to a non-existent class cost each teacher his time and money since he or she is never paid for it. You need to know that Andrew Diaz never pays for your time, unless he gets paid first; not even if his company is responsible for the mistake. Unfortunately, these mistakes happen very often and students are unaware of the way their teachers are mistreated and abused.

I was sent, on more that one occasion, to different places where I waited, as required by the company, for at least 2 hours. In many occasions I was sent to an office by mistake, and I was told that since the student wouldn't be paying for the class, I wasn't gonna get paid either. Other companies I worked for later, always paid for their errors and made their teacher feel important and trusted.

Whether you are a company looking to learn English for Business or a teacher looking for a job in Colombia, please avoid First Class English. The only thing that you can call "first class" about this company is its overprice rates. I guess for companies such as Pacific Rubiales paying these high rates may not be an issue, but the way they cheat their clients and teachers is not right and only puts down the name of a country with a poor reputation.