This post contains affiliate links. When you click on an affiliate link, we get a small compensation at no cost to you. See our Disclosure Policy for more info.
Living and working abroad, or even just working remotely in your home country, is something many people dream of. While there are thousands of ways to live and work abroad remotely, one of the easier ones to do is teaching English online with VIPKid.
Mike has been working part-time for VIPKid for a year, and while there are pros and cons, it’s a solid job that works as a perfect side hustle or can be your primary job depending on your expenses.
If you are unfamiliar, VIPKid is a Chinese company that employs native English speakers to be English teachers to Chinese students who want to learn English. You teach students lessons that are already prepared, so there’s no lesson planning involved. Plus, you will make about $18-22 per hour working for VIPKid!
You may be saying ‘Working from home? Teaching English online with no lesson planning? Where do I sign up?!’
Well, if you are just like screw it and want to sign up without reading more about the VIPKid teacher experience, here is our VIPKid referral code. Otherwise, keep reading for more information about teaching English online with VIPKid.
How to Get Hired with VIPKid
Well, getting hired for VIPKid is a little bit of a process, but it’s not too difficult. You will have to apply, and if accepted, do an interview and a mock class.
The mock class will be with a veteran teacher who will act like a child during your mock class. It’s a weird experience, but generally they provide you with helpful feedback which will either improve your teaching down the line or, if you fail the first mock class, pass the second.
Mike actually failed his first two mock classes and has now been teaching part-time with VIPKid for a year, so don’t worry if you fail your first mock class.
Find out How to Pass Your VIPKid Mock Class and Interview!
What It’s Like Working for VIPKid
Once you are hired, you can start opening up time slots for when you want to teach classes. Students will sign up for your available time slots. Keep in mind that the students are located in China, so the busiest times for classes are at a time convenient to them, not necessarily to the time zone you are living in.
For example, we currently live in the United States’ Central Standard Time Zone, so the majority of Mike’s classes are from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. This varies a little bit with Chinese holidays and summer as students have more free time in the summer or over school breaks.
When you first start, you may have a lot of open time slots that don’t get filled. That’s because you are a new teacher and need to build a little bit of a following before your schedule gets booked up. This generally does not take that long, depending on your availability.
Check out the Pros and Cons of teaching for VIPKid.
Your First Class Teaching with VIPKid
Before teaching your first class with VIPKid, make sure to preview the lesson in advance. This will make you feel more comfortable teaching it and will make it go smoother overall. Each slide does have some ‘teacher tips’ on the side that tells you what you and the student should be doing. Many slides are intuitive, but others are not.
Previewing the lesson before your first class will help you get whatever props you are going to use ready too. The props for VIPKid could be as simple as a whiteboard and marker, or you could go all out and have a prop for every little thing in the lesson.
Generally, the older the student, the fewer props you need. Keep a positive, upbeat attitude and encourage the student. That works better in keeping the student’s interest better than any prop.
Once you have taught quite a few classes, you will realize many of the lessons have a similar format so previewing them won’t be something you really need to do.
Overall, teaching English online with VIPKid is a great job, whether it’s full-time or on the side. You can do it from your own home or anywhere in the world with a solid internet connection.
If you are interested in working for VIPKid, click here to get started, and shoot us an email if you have any questions along the way!
