I have been a teacher in the brick and mortar school for six years. Like any job, teaching has its pros and cons. A huge con of going into a career in education is the pay. We all know that teachers don’t go into the profession for the huge paychecks, but rather to make an impact and to do what they feel they’ve been called to do. In my time teaching, there were so many of my colleagues that had “side gigs” to make some extra money. This is how I found VIPKID.
If you’ve never heard of such a thing, it is where you can teach children who live in China the English language (and you don’t need to know any Chinese to do it!)! Pretty cool, huh? There are other similar companies who have this same concept and each one varies a little. Since I’ve had so many people interested in teaching for VIPKID, I figured I’d write my list of pros and cons. I have worked for this company since February of 2017 and I have never worked “full time”, so my thoughts may differ from others who have worked longer/more hours.
First, in order to be eligible to teach for VIPKID you must be a native English speaker, have a bachelors degree, and have experience working with children.
Payment: is paid per class, not per hour. Classes are 25 minutes each and the payment ranges between $7-$9/class, and this will equate to around $16-$22/hour.
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You get an extra $1 per class for being on time and an extra $1 per class when you teach 45 classes a month (and an extra $0.50 per class when you teach 30 classes a month)
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You are considered an “independent contractor” so taxes are not taken out of your paychecks so you would want to plan for that. This, obviously, makes the hourly wage listed above seem a bit less. It is advised to put 20-30% of your paychecks into a savings account so that you’re ready to pay when tax season rolls around.
Students: The kids range in age from 3 years to 15 or so. You teach just one student at a time (this is a huge perk to VIPKID in my opinion). The parents pay big money for these classes for their child(ren)!
Classes: There is generally no planning or prep work needed before classes. Everything you teach is provided for you on a slideshow (similar to a PowerPoint) with little reminders/teacher directions on the page in case you need them. You are the one changing the slides that you and the student see.
Teaching Time/Hours: China is a 12-13 hour time difference, depending on the time of year (daylight savings time). Peak times to teach are around:
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4AM-9AM Every day
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6:30PM – Midnight, Friday & Saturday nights
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Midnight-8AM Saturday & Sunday mornings
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March-November everything is one hour later
Forbes #1 At Home Job in 2018: Forbes 2018
If this is something you’re interested in, you can click below to apply using my referral code. And of course, comment below or message me privately if you have more questions! Apply Here!
After doing this “side gig” for a year now here are some of my personal pros and cons.
Pros:
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Online Facebook pages to connect with other teachers.
- VIPKID offers great professional development opportunities to become a better online teacher. One con to this- none of this training is paid. This is something that kind of drove me bonkers- I hated that I wasn’t getting paid for my time.
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Fair pay for the amount of work you do. Some teachers put in a ton of planning, but I found that after a month or so I didn’t need to plan too much ahead of time for my lessons.
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It’s EASY and usually pretty fun.
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It’s a real job that makes real money! You can choose to get paid monthly or bi-monthly.
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Flexible scheduling. If you want to work, you open up slots that parents can book. If you don’t want to work, you just don’t open up slots.
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You can work at home, and this is the best. I would often wake up at 5:45 and be teaching a class by 6:00AM.
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You can travel and work if you need to. There have been many times I’ve been out of town and still brought my computer and a few props to teach a class.
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There are some really great kids you get to teach!
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You learn about Chinese culture and meet people on the other side of the world!
Cons:
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The hours can be hard with the time difference… especially if you don’t enjoy waking up early.
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Let’s be honest- there can be some kids that get on your nerves. It can be hard to build a relationship with a student (especially when it’s your first class with them) due to your interaction being on a computer screen and due to the language barrier.
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Just because you open up a slot to teach, doesn’t mean you’ll get booked during that time (especially when you first get hired. Sometimes it can take some time to get booked, depending on when you’re hired) So, sadly, if you’re counting on VIPKID for a steady paycheck sometimes it isn’t always guaranteed. Once you’ve been teaching a while, though, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll always be booked when you open up slots.
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Taxes are not taken out of your paycheck so the hourly wage isn’t as worthwhile.
- Classes can get a bit redundant. Sometimes it can wear on you if you’re teaching the same lesson several times in a week.
- It is not a work from home job that you can have distractions around you. You must have a quiet workspace and a great internet connection.
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A contract is 6 months long. You can have 6 “teacher no-shows” or “cancellations” during a contract. This usually isn’t a big deal, but if you have a family emergency that comes up or a health issue, you really have to watch how many cancellations you have. There is more information and specific details about this on the VIPKID website.
All in all, I would definitely suggest giving this company, or others, a try. You’ll find that the interview process seems a bit intimidating because it is multi-step and involves sending in videos and scheduling a time to meet online with an interviewer. However, it is worth it once you’re hired and get to start teaching! As always, drop your questions below if you have any!
Happy teaching!