Teaching English online has never been easier. The demand for English language teachers for students around the world continues to grow like wildfire. The number of companies that employs online English teachers is continuing to grow as well.

I started out by teaching ESL in China and loved it! It gave me the opportunity to live and experience another country while traveling to nearby Asian countries.

After that experience I discovered English teaching online. I could not be happier! There are so many benefits to being an online English teacher that I can’t help but share

I work for the BEST online English teaching platform VIPKID, learn more about them below!

Freedom

This is the number one reason I love teaching English online. You have the freedom and ability to work from anywhere. You are not tied down to having to go to a classroom everyday. You can work from the comfort of your home and even wear your pajama bottoms if you want.

Simple hiring process

If you meet the basic requirements, the hiring process can at first seem overwhelming when you look at it but, it really is simple. The basic requirements for VIPKid are you must be either a US or Canadian citizen, its good to have a little bit of either formal or informal teaching experience, a bachelors degree (in anything) and have a computer or laptop with high speed internet. Then you can apply and you are asked to do an interview and demo. It may seem intimidating but trust me, it isn’t. There are videos to walk you through and give you examples of exactly what to do and you can look over the lesson materials. You can do the interview with a live person or choose to record it.

Lesson Plans Provided

Having lesson plans done and ready for you makes life so much easier. VIPKid has an excellent easy to use platform that loads the slides and lessons into the classroom for you, so all you really have to do is show up and teach. It is a good idea of course to look over each lesson prior to prepare extra materials & to prepare yourself but you do not have to come up with any of it yourself, which is awesome.

Easy to Use Platform

I touched on this above but really I just want to express again that the platform for VIPKid is really great to use. Not only does it have your lessons but you can learn about your student, send your student messages, give them gifts, apply rewards and much more. There are also tips given throughout your lesson and a person to contact if you are experiencing any issues in the classroom, technical or otherwise. Everything you need is at your fingertips in order to be an excellent teacher and provide a great classroom experience for your students.

Travel & Work

You can take your work with you. It does make it a little more challenging than just working from home, but it is so worth it. You do need to be sure that a few things are in place while you are traveling. You must have reliable WIFI in order to conduct your classes affectively. You need a quiet space and a neat background behind you. These things just take a little extra planning but it is very doable. I have taught from across the world. The time is also important to note, be sure you update your time zone so you are on time for your classes.

Create Your Own Schedule

This is such a huge bonus as well! The students are located in China so there are certain times of day that are the most popular for student classes and certain times when students of course are not available and sleeping. The popular times for you will vary depending on your location.

Regardless, you have the ability to open the time slots you choose, when you choose. You can work everyday, just an hour a day, 4 hours a day or just one day a week. It is totally up to you. That flexibility is amazing and so freeing wether you work at home or while traveling. When you first begin it make take a few weeks to get your classes full, but trust me at VIPKid, they are the biggest online English teaching company, so they have plenty of students that will start filling up your calendar.

currently visiting Istanbul, Turkey while working online

Incentives

The base pay at VIPkid starts out really good, it is roughly $20 an hour depending on your experience and demos. Beyond that there are so many opportunities to earn bonuses on top of your hourly rate. They give referral incentives, bonuses when you sign up new students, incentives for opening time slots and more. They also clearly update you and let you know when and how you can receive new incentives.

Extra Cash

As I talked about above, you get to set your own schedule. There is not a minimum number of hours or days each week that you have to work. If you already work a full time job and are looking for something extra on the side this can be a great opportunity for you as well. The contract is just 6 months so you do not have to commit long term if you don’t want to.

Sweet students

You may not get to work with your students face to face but there is still opportunity to build great relationships and build rapport with your students. You will realize that they are so sweet and will grow to love them. After you start teaching for a few weeks you will get some regular students that you are lucky to work with each week. Seeing their progress is exciting and so rewarding.

Promotions & Experience

Enjoying Bali while traveling and teaching

With VIPKid they give you so much opportunity to also learn and grow as a teacher. VIPKid has many courses that can be taken for additional learning, growth and development as a teacher. They even have their own TEFL course. You can do additional demos to be able to teach different levels of classes, creating an opportunity to gain more students in a variety of ages and levels. You can also qualify to do trial classes for new students. There is much room to grow, earn badges and take different roles in the company over time. You are not stuck just as a teacher, your possibilities to build are endless.

I could continue to go on and on about all of the wonderful reasons to teach online! I of course highly recommend you work with VIPKid if you meet the basic qualifications, there is no better company out there!

Get your interview with VIPKid schedule NOW

if you live in another country or do not meet the basic requirements there are many other companies you can search for that may hire for your country. it is still worth looking into and you will have no problem finding other opportunities through a google search.

If you have any more questions about my personal experience with working for VIPKid or teaching online in general feel free to DM me on Instagram @journeywith.court I am always happy to help!

Health, Love & Happiness,

Courtney