Last Memorial Day weekend, I saw a post on Facebook from a friend. She’d recently begun teaching online. I messaged her, to find out more about it. At the time, I was looking for a summer job. Little did I know that I would land the job, and still be teaching online a full year later.
My friend introduced me to VIPKID, which is a company in China. Teachers in English speaking countries work from their home each morning, and teach English to children living in China. The lessons are pre-made, so teachers simply follow the slides. I was interested.
How Do You Get Hired?
My friend coached me through the interview and Demo Lesson process. Let me be clear, teaching online is a job. Many people who apply to teach online are not accepted. Definitely do your research, and practice your Demo lessons before submitting them. It is a convenient job, and one I am truly grateful to have. That being said, please take the interview process just as seriously as you would for any other job. I followed my friends’ advice throughout the interviews and demo lessons I taught. Happily, I was hired. If you are interested in teaching online for VIPKID, please feel free to reach out to me via Instagram @thosewholoveteaching. The hiring process is a lot easier with support.
I set my own hours, which allows me to teach year round. I usually begin teaching around 6:30am and then I have the rest of the day to do what I want. Since the lessons are pre-made, my daily prep includes looking over the presentation slides the night before and pulling a few props. Each class lasts 25 minutes. Your rate of pay will be based on your teaching experience, degrees, and ESL experience. Typically the pay is between $21 and $22 per hour. It is not necessary that you have a teaching license, VIPKID does count experience working with children during the hiring process.
What surprised me most about teaching online?
I was so surprised by the way I bonded with my students online. As a brick and mortar teacher, I thought that teaching online would prevent me from getting to know my students. I WAS WRONG! I bond with my online students, and get to know their personalities the same as I do with my face to face students.
At the end of the summer, I chose to continue teaching part time with VIPKID. I wasn’t sure how it would work teaching courses in the morning before my full time job. Once again, I set my own hours. I taught very few classes at the beginning of the school year, because I was putting extra hours in at my brick and mortar school. By October, however, I began teaching each morning for about one hour before heading to my school. The extra cash during the school year has been nice too. In fact, teaching online has helped me accomplish more of my savings goals. To see what I mean, check out this post on the ultimate teaching self-care routine.
My one year anniversary with VIPKID is this spring, and I can barely believe it. It has changed my life for the better, and I now feel ready to coach some new teachers through the process. If you are interested in teaching online with VIPKID, you can click my referral link here. If you do choose to apply, please reach out to me via Instagram @thosewholoveteaching for free help with the interview process. Happy teaching!
No Comments