english as a second language teacher

camp counselor

instructor

digital marketer

accounts receivable clerk

Tamwood International College

This school is not worth your time unless you are in desperate need of a job. They will likely hire you if you have the experience, but staying for more than a year is not a good idea.

Work life: 
 Upper management seemed great; open to thoughts and ideas, listened when you needed a day off, but they overpromised and under delivered. Upper management blames staff for sales troubles or student issues. They treat students terribly, forcing them to stay in awful homestay's, not letting them complain or bring up serious concerns, and dismiss them from their programs without any warning--just like they do the staff. They've dismissed multiple staff members with no warning, not even giving them the benefit of the doubt and listening to them. Your job will likely never truly be secure. 

They have students fill staff roles with low pay and high work demand. They forget about the other campus's and focus solely on the Vancouver location, offering birthday parties and pizza days for staff but no mention of Whistler or Toronto birthdays. They offer one Work From Home day per week, but get upset and moody like a teenager when you try and take it. They're stingy with their money, never paying for activities and parties for the students. They give faculty and staff paper certificates for years of hard work instead of a pay raise. This school does not care about its students. Having students fill out course and teacher evaluations, only to never look at the results or consider the students' thoughts on matters. They place ESL students in too small or too large classes, the wrong class or a class that doesn't exist. They force classes together due to no substitute teachers, combining multiple English levels--defeating the purpose of separate English levels.

The pros was good coworkers and decent work-life balance--for some administrators, though, not for everyone. They'll likely never call you outside of work hours, unless you're upper management. 
Cons: your mental health will likely never be the same. 



Management fires without any probationary warnings (or any conversation or check in) and without cause. Management is either petty, abusive, or incompetent. There’s quite a lot of gossip and a bad culture. You will be guilted for taking vacation and despite having a 1-day-a-week WFH policy, you will be punished for working from home. Management will act suspicious and/or accuse you of doing no work. Bad allocation of funds and pays below average. Many others quit.

Advice to Management

Create an actually transparent line of communication between management and staff. Don’t promise things without executing them. Maintain healthy boundaries and listen to your staff. STOP firing people without cause or assuming that 15-17 people quitting in one year isn't reflective of your bad culture. There is terrible morale because of this. People quitting all the time is on you, not the staff. 

Tamwood is a great place to work. The admin team show excellent collaboration working together to help the school function efficiently. Management are always available for any questions and value the options of their employees. 
In a typical day I would speak to staff in all areas of the company and feel like together we were making a positive difference for the students attending the school. 
At this posting I learnt new IT skills as well as sales techniques passed down from the owners themselves. 
The hardest part of the job was adapting to new procedures for the constantly evolving programs we offer. On the contrary the most enjoyable part of the job is developing new programs to offer our students and finding new educational avenues to explore.

Can't believe it has been more than 3 years since I join Tamwood. The company feels like 2nd home for me. The staff are very easy-going, supportive and reliable. You can easily find co-worker as well as life-long friend here. Management is great. Because of my position, I have a lot of direct contact with President and CEO Matt. Matt is the best supervisor you can find. He is always respectful and considerate. Both of the owners are very dedicated to their work. They are constantly trying to make the company grow. In the meantime, they are also dedicated to create better working environment for all staff. Definitely recommend this company!

Tamwood apparently takes pride in their core values. 'Transforming lives' is one of them. The only transformation that I could observe while working here was happy staff and students joining at first and then after a while leaving the college disappointed and frustrated.

Tamwood tends to hire their own students, for obvious reasons. I have not seen any company with such high turnover.. Who ever complains or expresses concerns about anything here, is either laid off or completely ignored. 

The only pro about this company, they do have diverse teams however most of the 'older, senior' staff is very clannish and exclusive, gossiping about other team members or students.




I've been working as a contractor (started as campaign copywriter), and now I am a consultant for their global marketing, International business + management program launch campaigns and ST Star Voting campaigns.

It's consistent work, some ups and downs, but by and large, rewarding.  I've also learned a lot from Matt.  They are now ranked the top#1 school for ESL in North America for 5 years in a row.  Tamsin also really knows what she's doing and is very driven.

They have collegial staff and team members who are helpful and cooperative.  A great place to work if you are productive, a team player and love to be around students.

I have worked for Tamwood for over 6 years now. It is a good company with good, hardworking people working in each location, including head office.  If you have a question and need help with anything,  staff are available to help you out quickly and efficiently.  Senior management always get back to you if you have a question or a suggestion to help improve the company.

An important feature is that I was asked in my interview whether I can work independently, which I answered "yes".  Management has kept their word to let me work independently within the guidelines of the company.

I understand what it means to feel not valued by an employer. 
Management is incompetent and often brings the workers into the office to threaten them with job insecurity. They pay their teachers the lowest wages. I don't understand how businesses like this run. They will remind staff that they are a business and not a school. They are short on school supplies and refuse to pay for new equipment.They do not care about the employees nor the students.

Atmosphere of the school is energetic and positive. The cultural exchange and value of diversity makes each day new and exciting.

The school manager allows for change and new opportunities and also guides when the team is needed.

Teaching is a continual learning process. The never ending goal of being "better" is my motivation.

What is the best part of working at the company?
You can meet people from many different cultural background.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Communication between supervisors and staffs. Micro Management

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Lots of drama and office politics

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Meeting, meeting and more meeting

Top Job Titles	Average salary
English as a second language teacher 9 salaries reported	$26.33 per hour
Camp counselor 7 salaries reported	$3,950 per month
Instructor 4 salaries reported	$33.13 per hour
Digital marketer 1 salary reported	$39.50 per hour
Accounts receivable clerk 4 salaries reported	$43,500 per year

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