instructor

english teacher

spanish teacher

polisher

outbound sales representative

Berlitz Corporation

When I first started with Berlitz, I was very excited to work for them.  I had completed their training course, to which I devoted an entire week of serious study, and which I quite enjoyed.  I thought their system was intelligent and probably very effective, and I couldn't wait to get started.

However, Berlitz never actually gave me any hours after my first two days working there.  They gave me students whose level their training had not prepared me for (I was mostly trained for lower level students, and was immediately given two high level ones), whose level of English competency and whose current coursework was not well documented, and my supervisor did not respond well to questions.  In addition, their teaching materials were poorly organized, and in one case did not include materials for the particular test the student wished to prepare for.  

I believe that my lack of success with one student in particular, one who both had a poorly documented learning level and who wanted to study for a test there didn't seem to be materials for, is part of the reason I was ghosted. (She was the only one I wasn't successful with; the other student I worked with actively liked me)  I believe my appearance (I'm a fat woman) was the other reason; I didn't fit their paradigm of small, attractive, female teachers, and so my significant success at their training was deemed insufficient to deserve a second chance.

While the people who worked there seemed pretty nice, I was immediately warned that the hours would be sketchy at best.  However, sketchy is not going five months without seeing a single student.

​I am writing this review to share my experience working at this company, which has been highly disappointing. Throughout my time here, there has been a recurring pattern of broken promises regarding job roles, growth opportunities, and working conditions.
​Key concerns include:
​Unfair Compensation: Pay is stagnant despite the heavy workload and the amount of time required. It feels as though there is no recognition for effort or professional growth.
​Poor Management: The management style is disorganized and demanding, leading to cycles of burnout. Employees are expected to work relentless six-day weeks without adequate support or appreciation.
​Logistical Issues: The lack of support for basic work necessities—such as reliable transportation or efficient processes—makes an already difficult job much harder.
​Lack of Professionalism: The overall environment feels exploitative rather than supportive. It is disheartening to see talented people treated poorly in a way that feels systematic.
​I would advise anyone considering a position here to proceed with extreme caution. The reality of the day-to-day operations is far from what is promised during the hiring process. It is a shame to see such potential wasted due to poor leadership and an unsustainable work culture.

Berlitz pays the lowest salaries to teachers worldwide. The hourly rate  in the U.S. is no different for new hires than it is for instructors who have worked there for many, many years. In fact , there hasn't been a raise  for  teachers in over a decade!  
There is no paid vacation either. 
Also, as of 2020, all classes are recorded on video and you have to have your face online all the time, for students ( or who knows who else...) to watch anytime. 
There is also ( in the new Berlitz platform)  LOTS  of unpaid extra time required outside of the classroom---filling out  the students' pedagogical cards,  sending the school detailed  information about new students who are allowed to pop up in your classroom etc. 
In Sum: It is only worth working there if you are VERY young and on your very first job ( you'll be exploited,  but you'll acquire some work experience)  or if you are already retired or rich enough and don't need the money ( You just want to do something  "useful" during the day, other than just stay home depressed,  cleaning the house...)
Berlitz Teachers are spread out all over the world.  Therefore, they don't know each other and cannot share their experience.  So,  they are exploited,  they don't complain and can't do anything to improve their lot. 


A typical workday begins arriving at least 20 minutes before the students, giving me time enough to prepare my class and planning a topic to teach. After that, I always double check any student's possible question or doubt they could have on the previous lesson.
I have learned to be punctual being on time to have my mind and concentration prepared.

The contact with management is permanent. From the morning greeting, the interaction with reference to the progress of our students and the requirement of any additional supporting material necessary for the best development of the class.

Communication with colleagues is always about interaction and companionship, especially with those with the same language sharing new instruction strategies.

I think the hardest part of the job is to ensure that students do not translate literally all from English to Spanish and just interpret the idea and core concept.

Finally, the most enjoyable part of the job is when I see my students with all the confidence and attitude in simple conversation showing everything they have learned.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Staff is extremely helpful and supportive.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Having a Teacher Manual to take home when working with school children.  Also having more than one CD player available would be most helpful.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Fun but professional.  Staff is very friendly.  Students are interesting because they come from various countries.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Come in half hour early to set up.  School age students often are taking classes while their parents are attending classes in another room.  Classes are four hours with a 10 minute break every hour.  School age students use Student Books and Workbooks.  Homework is given out of Workbooks.  Online Ped cards are used for attendance.  Rooms are supplied with a White Board and a Flat screen.  Classes can be up to 15 students.  Students sit either at a table or student desks.  Fluency activities are mandatory for every reading activity.  Students from South America are on Summer Break in January and February so a lot of motivating games are highly encouraged.

•	Used Session Façade design pattern to simplify the interface to the subsystem consisting of session beans in EJB
•	Implemented model 2 (MVC pattern) using struts to separate the presentation from the business logic
•	Used the spring framework loose couple the application by using the IoC and AOP features.
•	Developed SOAP based Web Services and their corresponding WSDL files
•	Developed Java Server Pages using JSP tags, struts-tags, minimal scriptlets, and client side validation in HTML
•	Coded Struts along with the Validator Framework to validate front-end data submission.
•	Implemented the Hibernate framework to act as the DAO layer and wrote HQL and Criteria API
•	Utilized CRUD commands in RDBMS using MySQL database management system.
•	Developed XML configurations for web applications and web applications framework including web.xml, struts-config.xml, hibernate.cfg.xml
•	Developed middle tier POJO’s to handle business logic
•	Tested and logged class functionality using J-Unit and Log4J respectively

Environment: Oracle WebLogic Server, Java, J2EE, JDBC, Java Beans, Servlet, JSP, Struts, Spring Framework, Hibernate, EJB, HTML, XML, MySQL, SQLYog, Ant.

What is the best part of working at the company?
A lot of (unpaid) training helped me fine tune my teaching skills. They provide all materials, down to what questions to ask the students. You don’t really need to prepare for the lessons. They provide absolutely everything. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Irregular hours. They spent a week training me and one other person, but we didn’t get assigned any students until a month after training was completed. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I only worked online. The woman that trained us was very nice and dedicated, patient and encouraging. After I was hired, there was almost no contact with anyone. You found out your schedule the day before by 6:00 pm on a group email. Teachers felt very disposable. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Students were great and the fact that you didn’t have to worry about planning lessons was amazing. However, the hours were very irregular and inconsistent. The day started at 9:00 am and ended at 9:00 pm with long periods of nothing in between.

I've enjoyed my job teaching English with Berlitz, and I love all the cultures represented by our students; it's really fascinating! You never know, emerging from your classroom, how many or which languages you'll hear in the hallways or kitchen/break area, or how many languages a given conversation will go through!
I enjoy my teaching colleagues and the management team. It's small enough to be comfortable. Also, our students are among the bennies of our job; almost without exception, they're interesting and wonderful people to get to know.
In the Cons column, the pay is way too low for professionals; $13.66/hr. There are virtually no benefits unless you have another source of income and can afford to purchase the insurances offered for part-timers with a lot of hours. Work is on-call, and for me, at least, varies from 0 hours per week to 20+.
I enjoy my job, but am constantly on the lookout for something else to 'supplement' my work hours and income.

When I arrive to the office the dynamic of my co-workers  is palpable in the air. We are like a family, and we get along very well. I learned how to retain my patience and how to manage customer in a professional way. In the company the leading team makes sure that we are trained constantly on how to handle accounting, or customer issues, and also how to learn about our product and the campaigns going on at the moment. Since Berlitz is a language school, and we have a centralized scheduling system, I have to manage to coordinate students and instructors availability. Sometimes some instructors are not available and then I have to match the student to another equally qualified teacher. in my opinion this is the hardest part. What I enjoy the most is working as a team and helping each other out. If a certain task has to be completed at the end of the month, it could be as simple as counting the inventory, we decide how to divide the duties in order to finish and be more efficient. In general I loved the years I had worked for the company. They made me grow as a professional.

Although I obtained the position, through a staffing agency, I learned a great deal about working in a fast paced office setting. And was able to lean my duties quickly and become efficient at completing them. My past experiences working for other companies and office settings, retail positions, and managerial experience I have gained along the way I have helped me to work in diverse groups of people and work quickly and efficiently while on a deadline and. I believe through my past experiences with large companies i have gained leadership qualities in the workplace and during the time  I spent earning my Bachelors degree at Rutgers University, where I choose to major in American Studies, so I could take a variety of courses and broaden my leanings to many different subjects, which I feel has and will benefit me and my long term career aspirations of being successful in the business world.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Instructor 105 salaries reported	$31.04 per hour
English teacher 11 salaries reported	$26.82 per hour
Spanish teacher 1 salary reported	$21.00 per hour
Polisher 1 salary reported	$22.50 per hour
Outbound sales representative 2 salaries reported	$60,000 per year

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