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Mike Risko Music School

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Do not even bother - Anonymous employee Mike Risko Music School Employee Review

1.0
18 Oct 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The majority of the students were great to work with. My coworkers were great because we all had the general consensus of when to quit and find a better job. A lot of them even asked for lessons on the side due to the lack of interest in the school itself. Of course you are obligated to say no which I did.

Cons

The pay rate is terrible compared to how much money the parents are paying for the kid to take the lesson. Also expect to not get paid for sitting around since there is a huge gap between lessons. I had to wait once for 2 hours just for a student to cancel AND I still didn't get paid for that canceled lesson. Every time I walked in, there were new people and people who left which is never a good sign. That simply means that no one wants to stay with the job due to all the issues. Not to mention, I did not get paid the correct amount of money and the money would always come in late. They have an assigned day but more than likely since they are unorganized they will misplace it. The last pay I got was only for one lesson even though it should have been for 2 weeks worth of lessons. If you do work here, keep track of your hours because even though they have it written down, they will forget "by mistake". Also Mike will call you and ask if you can teach a lesson with short notice and he will be disappointed if you say no. He'll be very pushy and unprofessional by asking "why not?" "what are you doing instead?" It's possible that you live far from the school so if you are given 10 minutes notice and the school is 20 minutes away, that simply won't work. Also the majority of people that you teach are very little kids because no adult would want to take mediocre lessons with the “mike risko method” unless they want to be in the band group they offer. Also the teachers are pressured to teach instruments they do not play. The expectations to be hired are super low but don’t let that fool you because they will take advantage of you no matter how talented you are.

Explore other reviews about Mike Risko Music School

2.0
27 Sept 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

they often have teachers leave with short notice, so when you start you can start with tons of students. I had two full days from the getgo, which is why I took the job in the first place. the other teachers are usually nice and the teaching, for the most part, is easy.

Cons

the rate of pay is measly and even with a full day, depending on where you're commuting from, isn't worth it. there's a high teacher turnover because of the pay and if you're teaching there, you're going to be teaching students that aren't yours often because of teachers quitting, which isn't great for the students. if the job paid what it should, that wouldn't happen. the school also doesn't turn anyone away and will expect you to teach very, VERY young children (like 2 1/2) a private piano lesson, so good luck with that. there's no pay scale based on education either. I have a master's degree in music and met someone else teaching there with a phD and we were paid the same as another teacher who only had a high school diploma.

1
1.0
8 Mar 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You work for a smaller shop and can always talk directly with the owners, and it's easy to get hired there if you need some cash.

Cons

The pay is poor ($18/hour when I was there), there is high teacher turnover rate, schedules are not provided until your workday starts (so if you're commuting, you don't know how long you'll be working until you arrive), pay only includes the hours spent teaching (so if you have a large break or many breaks between students, you don't get paid for that time), teachers and students cannot have any outside contact (students cannot come see you perform), the rental instruments are low quality, teachers are pressured to teach instruments they do not play, and many, many more.

1
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