VIPKID HIRING & TEACHING RESOURCES
BY KARLI CORR
Hey there! I'm so happy that you're interested in becoming a part of the VIPKid family!
On this page you'll find some helpful information about VIPKid & the hiring process. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions!
ABOUT VIPKID
VIPKid is an online education company. It contracts native English speakers who have a North American accent to teach Chinese kids English online.
The classes are full immersion and entirely in English. (So, nope, you don't need to know Chinese!) The classes are one on one (only one student at a time) and 25 minutes long. The company prepares all of the teaching content, so you are not coming up with what to teach. In every class there is an interactive slide that both the teach and student can see and use. The student can see you and you can see them. Both the student and the teacher use an app for class. (It’s basically like you’re teaching a PowerPoint over Zoom, except this is way cooler than Zoom 😉).
Here's a screenshot of what the classroom looks like!
THE HIRING PROCESS
Think of the hiring process as your training. The way VIPKid is set up, the training happens during the hiring process. During this time, you'll learn how to teach the program and get certified to teach different levels.
There are 4 steps to the hiring process:
Step 1: Applying - this is to make sure you are eligible to teach. VIPKid wants to make sure you have a college degree and at least 1 year of experience with kids. This refers to any type of experience - babysitting, raising your own kids, helping at church, etc.
Step 2: Demo - There are 4 options on how to complete this step. This may contain some reading material, videos to watch, a short quiz, and a video recording of you teaching based on what you've learned. Don't worry - I will help you with this!
Step 3: Certification/Mock Classes - This is really the training part. VIPKid will give you lots of information to read and watch on how the program and classes are set up. They'll show you how they want you to teach. Then you'll have to schedule a Mock Class. This is where you will practice teaching an experienced VIPKid teacher in the classroom setting. If you pass, you get certified to teach certain levels. If you fail, no big deal! You just take it again until you pass. Many people take the Mock classes multiple times (again, think of this as training). I will help you be prepared for this. We can set up zoom meetings to practice!
Step 4: Contract & Documents - At this point, it's mainly just paperwork. You will submit the required docs, and also take a TESOL quiz. You'll also be making your profile for the parents to see. This is really important! This is what helps you get bookings. I have lots of helpful resources to help you have a good profile. Once everything is submitted, you sign your contract and are officially hired! Congrats!
After you're hired, you will have access to your teacher portal in the app which has tons of resources for new teachers! You can watch videos, download pdfs, take workshops. All kinds of things! I also have plenty of resources I can send to help you as you navigate your first few weeks of teaching.
Ready to take the next step? Email me (hello@karlicorr.com) & I'll send you a specific link that allows me to be your coach.
These classes are an extracurricular and not part of their public schooling. Many of these kids take these classes when they get home from school or on the weekends.
There are 8 levels that students are in based on their English capabilities. They progress through the levels with each class. You can choose to get certified in different levels during the hiring process.
The hiring process has 4 steps. During these steps, you will get trained and coached (by me 😁) on how to teach with VIPKID. After being hired, there are SO MANY resources to help you be a successful teacher.
When you are officially hired, you sign a 6 month contract. You can teach as little or as much as you want. There are no requirements. You have full control over your schedule.
You are paid per class (25 mins each), and can teach 2 classes per hour. The base pay per class is between $7-$9. This is determined during the hiring process. There are other incentives that can be added to your base pay.
Classes and bookings are not guaranteed by VIPKid. Parents have total control over what teachers they book classes with. As a new teacher, it takes some time to attract parents and to build up bookings. I will help you build your profile and give you some tips to help get bookings.
So that’s a little bit about the company. I will be here at every step of the way and help you through the hiring process and the first few months of teaching. It’s an amazing company and a really fun job.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Read the cool story about the VIPKid founder, Cindy Mi. I love how she took her struggles & used it to help others. >>>
MEET YOUR COACH
Hey there!
My name is Karli Corr. I've been a VIPKid teacher for over 9 months!
What started as a way to make money from home grew into a love for working for one of the best companies! I absolutely love teaching with VIPKid - those little bao baos (babies) are so cute!
It's my hope that I can help you become a VIPKid teacher so you can experience the joy I feel from teaching from home every day.
I love the connection I make with my Chinese kiddos, and I love being able to make money from home (while wearing my pajamas)!
When I'm not teaching with VIPKid, I'm making art and growing my online art business. If you'd like to learn more about that, check out my website.
I'm so happy you're here. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions!
FAQ
Who can teach with VIPKid?
You must have the following:
A North American accent. You don’t have to live in the USA or CANADA- but, because of recent laws, VIPKid can’t hire anyone living in California.
A Bachelor's degree. You don’t need a teaching certificate - although if you have one, that's good! You can display it on your profile.
At least 1 year of experience with kids. This refers to any type of experience - babysitting, raising your own kids, helping at church, etc.
A reliable internet connection. If your wifi is a little spotty, that's okay! You can hook up with an ethernet cord and it improves your internet greatly! (That's what I do.)
A computer with a webcam or tablet with a camera
Headphones and microphone. It doesn't need to be fancy. If you got an iPhone recently, the earbuds have a microphone in them!
What's the company like? Is it shady?
I'll be honest, when I first heard of VIPKid, I thought it sounded shady. I didn't know anyone who actually did it and found out about it through a random YouTube video. But once I started looking into it, I was open to seeing what it was about. I can tell you from the inside, it is an amazing company. Like, seriously. Not only is it not scammy, but it is one of the coolest companies ever. I am so proud to be VIPKid teacher. The company has such a cool founding story and a really great mission. Read this cool article by Business Insider. Throughout the past year of being with VIPKid, I have felt heard and cared for by the company. They send out survey's like crazy. And what's so cool is that they actually listen to what the teachers say and make changes. There have been so many awesome upgrades just from when I started. They have fun community challenges, ways to win tokens, and so much more. There's always ways to get involved, connect, and have fun. Plus they have some cool perks from other companies just for being a VIPKid teacher. I LOVE this company.
You don't have to take my word for it. It's been featured in Bloomberg, Business Insider, Fortune, Forbes, The Economist, and CNBC.
"World's Most Innovative Companies." -Fast Company
"Top 10 Best Places to Work 2020". -glassdoor
I couldn't agree more!
Do you have to teach at a certain time or can you set your own schedule?
You have full control of your schedule. VIPKid doesn’t book your classes - Parents book the teachers. You choose how many classes to teach, which times you want to teach, and how often you want to teach. There are some limitations - you can only teach when China is awake. So - depending on your time zone- this is usually during the night and early morning hours. For CDT it's 7:30PM - 8:00AM. There are “peak times” when classes are in higher demand. The peak times for CDT are 5:00am-8:00am, Monday-Friday. Pretty much all times during the weekend are peak times. The classes are 25 minutes long. So, basically, you open the 30 minute time slots that you're available. The parents can choose to book the slots they want. Please note: You are not guaranteed slots. By opening more slots during peak times you have a greater chance of being booked.
What are the times that you teach? How does this work in your life?
This is my main source of income right now, so I teach 8-10 classes a day, 6 days a week. I average between 48-60 classes a week. I open my schedule to teach from 3:00am - 8:00am, Monday-Saturday. It's important to note that I did not start out teaching this many classes. I've been building my business the past year and have worked my way to being able to book regular students.
As for how this works in my life, I work from home and don't have kids. At first, I had to do some adjusting to starting my day so early (i.e. taking a lot of naps). Now, it's part of my life. I love that I’m able to work and make money before the day technically "begins". I have the rest of the day to do art and build my online business.
Can you do this work full-time or part-time? Do you have to meet a quota of teaching time per week?
There is no quota. You don’t have to meet any type of minimum classes, and there’s no cap on how many you can teach. You can choose to take a day off, a week off, months off. You can teach one class, decide its not for you, then never teach again (but, you're going to love those bao bao's).
I do want to add that classes usually get booked 2-4 weeks out. If you get booked and decide that you don’t want to teach that day and cancel all of your classes, it can have negative effects. Obviously if there’s an emergency or something, that’s okay. But if you want to take off, just don’t open slots.
Is there any costs to start? How much does the average teacher make?
There is no cost to start! If you have all of the things necessary, you don’t have to spend a dime of your own money! I’ve never given VIPKid any money or anything.
VIPKid hires teachers as independent contractors. The contracts are 6 months long. The pay really varies per teacher. The pay can also depend on how long you’ve been with VIPKid, & how many classes you teach per month. You get paid for every 25 minute class that you teach. It can range from $7-$9 per class.
What happens after you get hired? Do you teach immediately?
Because the training is done during the hiring, you can begin teaching immediately! Or you can choose to ease into it. It's important to realize that It does take some time to build up your student base. You likely won’t have a full schedule right from the start. This isn't a get rich quick thing. It may take some time to reach your teaching goals. If I'm your coach, I will definitely help you navigate your first few months!
What is it like to teach one on one behind a camera?
I love it! There’s some adjusting at first to get used to seeing yourself on camera. Learning how to hold things up in a camera can be a little awkward when you start, but then it becomes second nature. As far as teaching effectiveness, I find that I have similar results to teaching in person. A positive about teaching through a camera is that I can teach and don't really have to deal with behavior issues.
Is the language barrier a factor?
There’s definitely a difference between talking to an English speaking kid versus a Chinese speaking kid. But, VIPKid does a great job with preparing you for how to teach and communicate with the students. You'll learn how to communicate in visual ways when verbal ways aren't working. Most of these students begin learning English at a very young age, and they all take it in school. There are also levels that the kids are placed in. So you won't be having in depth conversations with a beginner. Even with students in lower levels who can’t have extended conversations, I still feel a connection with them and create a friendship with them.
Are all teaching resources provided?
Yes, everything is provided. You have access to all of the lesson content and objectives before you teach the class. In addition, each class has tips from other teachers and even videos of experienced teachers teaching that same lesson. VIPKid helps you go into each class feeling prepared and confident.
You can definitely add to things - such as having extra props and rewards for the students. I personally love having extra props and rewards, however they are not needed.
There really are SO MANY FREE teaching resources that can aid in making your class easier and more fun. If I'm your coach, I will make sure you find all of the best resources to help you be the best VIPKid teacher you can be!
What do you enjoy most about being a VIPKid teacher?
When I began teaching, my favorite thing was that I could make money from home and have time to build my business. While that is still very important to me, I would say that I really enjoy being a VIPKid teacher and being apart of this amazing company. I absolutely love these kids. I wasn’t expecting the sweet connections I would make with my students. I look forward to seeing them each week and watching them grow (physically & in English). I also love learning about the Chinese culture. Their culture is so ancient and rich. I love being able to compare cultures and find similarities.
How do I know if this is the right for me?
If you’re even slightly interested, please reach out to me. hello@karlicorr.com You can tell me your individual situation, and I can help you decide if it’s right for you. It’s an amazing company and opportunity, but it isn’t always right for everyone. I'll give you honest feedback based off my own experiences if this could work and fit into your life.
© 2020 Karli Corr. All rights reserved.