Hi I’m Teacher Mark and today I was notified that I have been teaching with VIPKid for 180 days.
Here is a quick review of what my experience has been teaching with VIPKid.
Regarding qualifications I have a CELTA certificate and a bachelors degree so that is more than enough for teaching with VIPKid. I’m also a guy so that helps for some reason (I am told in China they prefer male teachers and that its a cultural thing but really I don’t know).
I honestly hated the idea of teaching with VIPKid because of the ages of the children, and really don’t like clowning around but the pay is better so what the heck I said. I make $20 an hour teaching with VIPKid including bonuses which is not that great but I’m doing this on somewhat of a part-time basis teaching roughly 30 hours a week give or take.
Teaching with VIPKid: Pros
- For me at least, I teach in a timezone that allows me to start in the afternoon to evening so no early or late hours.
- Despite popular opinion and what VIPKid says, you don’t have to be a jittery clown bursting with infectious energy and all that. My teaching style is very relaxed and I barely even use props. My key to success is actually asking the right questions to get kids practicing their fluency and being supportive even if they make a lot of mistakes. I found both parents and kids love that.
- After a while most of your students will be regulars and you will feel very comfortable teaching them. I have 32 lessons booked this week and 30 of them are from regular students.
- If a student doesn’t show up or cancels class less than 24h you will get full pay for that class, which I think is awesome. There was some talk of this possibly changing to getting a percentage of pay but so far so good. With the virus situation student-no-shows have decreased considerably however.
- If you are low on bookings you can apply for certification to teach different levels or trial students. For trial students you may need to be more energetic and you get a bonus if they sign up. I don’t teach trial classes but a friend of mine is booked like crazy teaching trials alongside regulars.
Teaching with VIPKid: Cons
- Unfortunately you can’t block some students from booking you, which means you will sometimes get annoying kids that continuously book you. Or kids that don’t like you at all but their parents appreciate your teaching style.
- If you miss or cancel a class late (less than 24h) they will deduct the pay for that class from you. To be fair though you can apply for a “soft cancellation” presenting proof of why you cancelled or missed the class and they will refund that pay. Despite that I’m not a fan of treating teachers like that and think its a childish setup.
- While you can get a raise, from what I’m seeing it’s not that easy. I think if you demand one they will give it to you upon review but I’m still rather new so I’m not too sure how it works.
Anyways those are my observations off the top of my head for the first 180 days of teaching with VIPKid. I really have been treated very well teaching with VIPKid and have had no major issues with them. Sometimes I see horror stories about them written online but I have yet to experience anything noteworthy.
I know that VIPKid is always hiring and I have seen nothing to indicate that that has changed or slowed down. If you got the requirements then you should be set.
Good luck!
Further Reading:
Teach English Online: The Easy Guide to Getting Started
13 Ways to be a Better Online ESL Teacher
QKids – A Comprehensive Guide for ESL Teachers
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