Become an Online Teacher at VIPKid

Because almost all learning has moved online due to the pandemic, the need for online teachers has never been greater. Of course, not everyone is cut out to teach calculus, biology, or even art online. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be a great teacher.

VIPKid connects eager teachers with Chinese students who want to learn English. As long as you can speak and teach English like a native, you might be the right fit for VIPKid.

What Is VIPKid, and What Do They Teach?

VIPKid is an award-winning English language-learning services company. Founded in 2013 and based in Beijing, VIPKid provides ESL education to Chinese children up to eight years old.

With a workforce of 100,000 teachers, VIPKid hires remote teachers around the world for legitimate, virtual teaching jobs. Teachers can work from anywhere and at almost anytime, making this a fantastic remote and flexible online teaching position.

A Growing Field

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, online education has been a growing field. A 2018 report found that nearly 350,000 students took at least some classes online, up 5.7% from 2017.

Our sister site, FlexJobs, found that its education and training career category is among the top 10 career fields for flexible jobs. And the teacher/faculty/tutor/instructor job title is the third most popular work-from-home job title in its database.

What Skills Do You Need to Work at VIPKid?

Online ESL teachers at VIPKid must have a bachelor’s degree, but it can be in any field. You also have to be eligible to work in the U.S. or Canada, but you can live anywhere in the world when you teach.

You need at least one year of teaching experience, but that doesn’t mean it’s limited to the classroom.

Teaching experience can include:

Mentoring
Tutoring
Coaching
Sunday school
Alternative education

VIPKid also has technology requirements for their teachers. While you can use a desktop, laptop, and some tablets, you also need a headset, camera, and certain operating systems. Although you’ll use your own equipment, VIPKid employs IT support to help out their teachers and students if they run into technical issues. Their site details the technology requirements.

VIPKid Interview Process

As part of the application process, you’ll do an online interview. Then VIPKid sends you a lesson plan and videos to help you prepare for the next step: a mock class with Chinese interviewers. Those interviewers assess how well you prepared for the class and whether you’d be a strong fit.

VIPKid Pay

VIPKid ESL teachers make a minimum of $14 to $18 an hour, with some teachers earning as much as $22 an hour. While there is no maximum or minimum amount of hours you can work, most VIPKid teachers work 7.5 hours a week.

That said, it’s important to note that once you commit to a certain amount of hours per week, you need to keep up that commitment. And you are expected to work on Beijing time. While the hours are flexible, the peak booking hours are Monday through Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Beijing time.

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