VIPKID Virtual Teaching: The Nitty Gritty

If you've made your way here, I am sure that online teaching with VIPKID has at least crossed your mind to some degree. Four years ago, I was in the same boat! Teaching kindergarten all day, checking Instagram and seeing people who were teaching from home, skipping over to the VIPKID website to read more about the company.....and then freezing. It all sounded so intimidating. I waited another 2.5 years before actually clicking "submit" on my VIPKID application and these are some of the **essential** questions that helped me to make the best decision ever!

What is VIPKID?

VIPKID is one (of many) online teaching platforms for children ages 4-12 who mainly live in China. All classes are in a 1:1 environment and completed through the VIPKID app, which works similarly to Skype. You can see the student. He/she can see you. There is also a slideshow with the lesson content on the classroom screen. VIPKID classes are immersive, English language instruction classes---meaning that you and the student will speak English (only English) throughout the class.

Do I need to speak Chinese?

:-) See above! These are full English immersion classes, so student and teacher will both speak English. There is no need to know any Chinese.

Do I need a teaching degree? short answer- NO

Anyone who applies to VIPKID needs 3 things:

1- A Bachelor's degree --- in ANYTHING-- A teaching degree is obviously a huge plus, but is not necessary to be hired.

2- At least one year of teaching experience- This can be coaching, tutoring, babysitting, teaching. When you apply- be specific about all of your experience with children!

3- Eligibility to work in the United States or Canada

What kind of commitment is there?

There is NO MINIMUM TIME COMMITMENT!

When you are hired, you will sign a 6-month contract. During that contract you can work as much or as little as you want. You create your schedule and make your hours from week to week. VIPKID (as opposed to other ESL companies) does NOT have a minimum teaching requirement each week. You are in complete control of your schedule! (yes, you read that correctly and this is MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE part of working for VIPKID).

What are the classes like?

VIPKID classes are 1:1 and each class is 25 minutes long. VIPKID will provide you with the lesson slides (similar to a PowerPoint). Within each slide, VIPKID has also given key questions to ask students and modifications if you have a student ready for a challenge vs. a student who is struggling with the content. These tips and tricks are essential for scaffolding a lesson to meet the needs of an individual student. It is so important to remember that no two students are the same. VIPKID recognizes this and does a great job of providing content to reflect various abilities.

How does scheduling work?

Like I mentioned above, you create your own schedule- usually a week or two in advance. You will open time slots and then families can begin to book your classes. Just because you open these time slots (especially at the beginning) does not mean that they will get booked. It may take some time before families begin to find you and book consistently.

The hours that you will potentially teach will vary based on where you live and also the time of year. I live on the east coast and could potentially teach from 7:30PM- 8AM. These times will change a bit during Daylight Savings Time- shifting to 8:30PM- 9AM.

As of fall 2019, students in China will no longer be allowed to book classes after 9:00 pm.

Take a look at my upcoming week:

The blue spots represent slots that I have opened, but no student has booked yet. The green spots are booked classes. Gray spaces are those that I have not opened. As you can see, usually take 2 days off a week and outside of when I first started teaching with VIPKID, I never teach at night. That's not to say that those spots wouldn't book, but I just prefer to wake up early to teach and have my nights to myself.

Below you will find a chart outlining PEAK working hours for your time zone.

***If you are already a full-time brick and mortar teacher and only want to teach for VIPKID in the summer or only on the weekends- that is absolutely possible!

And the question that you've all been waiting for....

How much can I earn???

The average VIPKID teacher will earn about $22/hr. When hired, you will be given a base pay ranging from $7-$9/class. (Remember: a class is only 25 minutes- so this equates to $14-18/hour) In addition to that base pay, you will also receive additional pay for various incentives each month. To keep it simple, the more classes you teach per month, the more incentive money you will receive.

How long does the hiring process take?

From start to finish I applied, did my demos and passed a background check in 8 days. If you're really anxious to get started, it is absolutely possibly to comfortably move through the process in 7-10 days and be ready to open up time slots to teach. The hiring process has (very) recently been changed, but that 7-10 days timeline still fits even with the new steps. I will follow up with a more detailed post about the specific stages of the hiring process, but here is a basic outline.

Step 1: Basic information- Visit www.vipkid.com/teach and fill out the short application. Make sure to note all relevant experiences working with children.

Step 2: Demo Stage

You will have 3 options to choose from and I *highly* recommend picking the Smart Demo. This is the simplest and quickest way to move the hiring process along.

Step 3: Mock Class

You will pick a route for certification and then teach a full mock class to a veteran teacher who will act as a student. This will be a 1:1 environment and your mock class mentor will provide you will feedback at the end. Again, VIPKID gives you the lesson. It is your job to use TPR to deliver the lesson.

Step 4: TESOL- If you do not already have the TESOL certification, you will need to take the TESOL VIPKID Certification course (~10 hours) Many have shared that they were able to complete the coursework much quicker than the 10 hours allotted.

Step 5: Uploading Documents- The FINAL stage! You will upload your diploma and then you just have to wait for your background check to go through (1-2 days typically). And then you're IN! Time to open up slots, book workshops and get on board the VIPKID train!

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By now, you probably have a gut feeling of "Oh, this is something I'm totally interested in! Let's jump in!"

Or maybe you're still in the boat of "ehhh...I just don't know if I can do it. I've never taught English as a second language." Shoot me an email! (onesmartcookieESL@gmail.com)

I was there! I was there for 2.5 years! Looking back now I WISH that I would have jumped in when VIPKID was in its beginning stages rather than waiting until word spread about this amazing opportunity. I will be completely honest and open while answering any questions that you have! My main goal is to help lead others to this "needle in a haystack" opportunity to have flexibility and control while teaching.

Where do you stand? What do you still want to know? Here we go!

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If you're ready to take the leap and use the referral code KARA00137, you will have access to our private Facebook group for others in the hiring process to receive support, encouragement and mentorship. You will also gain access to a free hiring guide to help navigate your way through the Demo stage and Mock classes. Once you have used the code KARA00137, send me an email and I will add you to the group and send the hiring guide your way! onesmartcookieESL@gmail.com