Teaching at home sat at your laptop with zero commute whilst working to your own schedule. Sounds like a bit of a dream right? But is it really as simple as that? And how do you become an online English teacher?
Anyone can become an online English teacher. You can start right away by creating a teacher’s profile on a community website, such as italki.com. Or, you could apply to teach for a large online brand like VIPKid. Finally, you could attract clients for yourself and teach as a freelancer.
Each of these options has their own procs and cons which we shall take a look at in a moment but it firsts pays to get really clear on your motivations for wanting to teach online first. I suggest asking yourself the following question to gain some clarity:
Are you doing this in order to make a genuine attempt to start a new career, or are you looking for making a bit of cash on the side, or as a stop gap between jobs?
Let’s take a look at the best ways to become an online teacher based on your motivations.
1. The ‘Quick Cash’ Short Term Teacher
If you just want to jump in and start making some money teaching online then simply create a teacher profile at italki.com, or preply record an introductory video of what you have to offer, upload a profile pic, write a blurb about yourself, determine what classes you will offer at what price and then let the market place deliver you students.
It is possible to build up a reputation over time on platforms like this by securing good students ratings. Higher ratings obviously attract more students. However, there are notable downsides to platforms such as these.
Firstly, your entire business depends on this one platform so if they ever change their terms of service, close, or make other changes that you do not like then your business is essentially over as well.
Websites such as these don’t allow you to exchange contact details and work together privately. You will get banned for trying to do so as afterall they make their money by taking a cut of your fees.
That said, it is by far the easiest way to become an online ESL teacher but by basically being a casual worker you are foregoing so many crucial fringe benefits.
For example, you aren’t going to get sick days, holiday pay, a pension plan, professional development, and a whole host of other items that you would typically expect from a job.
Another surprisingly important oversight that a lot of people make is that although online teachers are sat comfortably at home talking to lots of different people it can actually be quite a lonely experience.
You do not have a staff room to go and socialise a little bit and catch up on the latest gossip. You do not get to make friends with colleagues and arrange to go for drinks afterwards. You do not even have people you can moan about your employer with so it can be a very lonely existence.
I had a friend in this exact position which was made even worse because they were teaching students in China from the UK and so their sleep pattern even deprived them from catching up with their friends.
However, if you are only planning to do this for a short time, or just to gain experience then it is a way to get started just be aware of what you are missing out on.
2. Make Online English Teaching A Real Career
The next option is for people more serious about online teaching as a career. There are a growing number of reputable online language companies out there that need a steady supply of labour that can fulfill their students’ needs.
These companies offer much more secure employment, often predetermined contracted hours, a steady schedule, a fixed rate of pay usually more than the community teaching platforms. Typically $18-25/hour depending on your background.
However, in return they are looking for candidates that fit their criteria. People who they feel will represent their business in the best possible light, follow real teaching methodology and be every bit the professional online teacher.
What are online ESL teacher companies looking for?
- A degree
- A teaching certificate (CELTA/TEFL/TESOL)
- One or more years teaching experience
There are always exceptions to the above so it is always worth putting yourself out there and seeing what response you get so don’t be too discouraged. Often extensive experience will get you out of having to have a TEFL certificate and sometimes even a degree.
To be honest, if you have two out of the three then you are in a pretty good position to be able to make online teaching as an employee for a real company happen and there are some really big advantages of working for a proper company.
The main one being is that you won’t have to find all the students for yourself.
You will usually either say what your available hours are and students will be assigned to you, or, you will find your profile put in front of potential students and their parents where they get the chance to look at your profile before they select a teacher, a bit like Tinder for teachers I guess!
I should mention that you may have to go through a selection process whereby you have to teach a model lesson online. Just make sure you are familiar with the style of teaching they prefer and ask what the level of the students are that you are being expected to teach and what they want you to teach so you can prepare properly.
Who Are The Best Online Companies To Teach English For?
Here are some of the most reputable companies to work for and what they require from you to become an online ESL/English teacher with them:
Skooli
Teach middle school, high school and university level students. Pay is dependent on qualifications and experience and a degree in English or a related field is required. Work is full time or part time and they are after people who share their passion for language learning.
VIPKID
A North American accent is required here as too is a bachelor’s degree. Student’s are all Chinese from kindergarten up until 9th grade and the pay is up to $22/hour. This is made up of a base salary of $7-9 per 25 minute lesson and there are various incentives on top of that. Lots of flexibility of teaching hours.
DaDa
Preference is given to bachelor’s degree holders who would be teaching Chinese students from kindergarten up to grade 9 for $25 per hour. An American accent is NOT required for this company – lucky me!
Total physical response is the teaching strategy that you are required to follow and your base salary will be set based on how well you can do this in your interview.
Qkids
Another company only hiring graduates with an American accent pay up to $20/hour and require you to teach Chinese students online from Kindergarten to 6th grade.
iTutorGroup
Non degree holders are welcome here but you will need a TEFL certificate or be willing to obtain one. You would be teaching children and adults based in Taiwan for up to $18-24 an hour. A certain number of hours need to be during peak hours.
Gogokid
A decent payer with an hourly rate of between $14 and $25 per hour for teaching Chinese kindergarten to grade 6 students online. North American accents only though again.
Whales English
These guys hire fluent English speakers from around the world and pay up to $26 per 50 minute class with extra bonuses available for good performance. Elementary to high school students from around the world. Parents select teachers here so your profile video needs to be strong and immersion English is the name of the game here.
English Hunt
Employs people with at least 48 college credit hours or who possess an ESL certificate. Teaching is to Koreans of all ages for approximately $20/hour.
What Questions Should You Ask Online ESL Companies?
When you go through the interview process with any of the above companies here are a few questions you might want to ask to make sure you are crystal clear for both sides. Remember, the internet is still a bit wild west-ish so it pays to know exactly where you stand:
Requirements:
- Do I need a degree to apply?
- Do you accept applicants from my home country? ( some companies are accent bias and only want North American accents)
- Do I need to get an ESL certification, like a TEFL certificate?
Teaching hours:
- Is there a minimum number of lesson/hours I have to complete per week?
- Are there any peak teaching hours that I am required to teach within? What are those hours in my timezone? How often can I make changes to my availability?
- Can I make last-minute changes to my classes if I have personal business?
- Is this a location dependent position?
Lessons:
- What are my students’ age ranges, ability levels, nationalities?
- Do you provide lesson plans and resources?
- Do I need to purchase any particular tech equipment or props to teach?
- Are there any specific internet requirements?
Pay:
- Is the pay hourly or by number of lessons taught?
- Are there any bonus incentives?
- Are there are financial penalties, for example, if I am a minute late to class?
Cancellations:
- Do I get paid if a student cancels on the day of the class?
- Do I get paid if my student does not show up?
- Is there any sick pay?
3. The Freelance Route
The dream for many online ESL teachers is to build their own business, their own brand that attracts its own students. This provides so much more possibility for flexibility, fulfillment and for earning more money.
People are happy to pay for quality and if you can get the testimonials from happy customers then you could start to make this happen. The reason people don’t go this route is that it is basically hard to get started on your own.
You may well find that you spend more time looking for clients than actually teaching them. This is obviously going to cost you valuable time that you would spend actually teaching students if you were working for a company.
If you have some marketing skills or are prepared to learn then you could go down this route. Over a few months it could be possible to get this up and running. Social media, email marketing, word of mouth are likely to become a staple part of your days as you look to bring in new clients.
The good news though is that there are a number of ways for you to actually build a really cool looking online ESL school including all materials but branded so that it looks like it is your school.
Of course this is going to cost you but the fees are reasonable. I have used off2class.com in the past and for $400 per year you can have access to all their teaching material and systems for running a successful online school.
Another option is Learn Cube who again provide an all in one solution. The one off fee is $1,497 which for a beginner online ESL teacher this would be too much risk but if you are confident in your own ability and you know this is what you want to do then I would certainly go down this route.
Finally, you could of course pursue a mix of all three different approaches and really diversify your income streams. We are fortunate to be in a time when the online ESL teaching industry is booming and is going to continue to do so as more and more people get internet access worldwide and want to learn English.
You might also be interested in Is Teaching English Online Easy? Legit? Worth it?