VIPKID Review: Scam or a Legit Way to Earn $3,108 Teaching English Online?

In today’s post, we offer a full VIPKID teacher job review.

We tell you how it works, what the requirements are, how to get started as a teacher and of course how much you can make.

What is VIPKID?

It is an online education platform, which focuses on teaching Chinese children how to speak English.

The company’s headquarters are in Beijing, but it provides an international service.

All of the company’s classes are carried out online – so students and teachers meet in a virtual classroom, and lessons are taught that way.

VIPKID teacher requirements

Before we talk about how teaching on this site works, it’s important that you understand the requirements for becoming one of the company’s teachers.

You do need to have at least a Bachelor’s degree to teach on the platform.

This means that if you’re without a college degree, then this opportunity isn’t for you.

Aside from holding a Bachelor’s degree, you must also have:

• A stable internet connection.
• One year of experience in any type of teaching, tutoring, mentoring, coaching or counseling. You don’t have to be a certified teacher, but you do need experience in some type of teaching.
• Legal eligibility to work in the United States or Canada.

There are also a few more technical requirements for becoming a teacher.

You’ll need a:

• Desktop, laptop, MAC or Surface device.
• HD external camera or an HD integrated camera – this comes with a lot of laptops.
• Headset with a microphone.
• Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, or MAC OS 10.8x operating system.
• Intel Core i3+ CPU.
• At least 4GB RAM.
• Wired DSL internet connection – with a speed of at least 20 Mbps.
• The latest version of Flash.
• Version 51 or above of Google Chrome or version 47 or above of Firefox.

How it works

Okay, so if you fit the above requirements, you could work as a teacher with the company.

As a teacher with the brand, you teach children in China that are aged four to 12.

The application process

If you’re interested in working for the company, then you have to go through a pretty extensive hiring process.

It’s not as simple as just submitting an application form and waiting for approval.

Here’s what you’ll need to do to apply:

1. Apply online

To get started, sign up for VIPKID as a teacher.

You’ll have to send in a copy of your resume.

The company will screen it to see whether you fit the requirements and have the necessary teaching experience.

2. Participate in an Interview and a Demo

The company will book an interview with you.

The interview lasts around 30 minutes, and you have to showcase your teaching skills by completing a demo lesson.

You can do your demo session live with a company recruiter.

Or, you can record it at your own time, and then a recruiter will evaluate it.

Make sure that you enter the classroom an hour before your interview starts to test your equipment beforehand.

It’s important to take this step because it’s not just your teaching skills that the brand wants to evaluate during the demo.

The company also wants to evaluate your equipment to see whether your internet connection is capable of maintaining a smooth connection with a server in China.

During the demo, you have to show that you are able to:

• Explain activities clearly to a foundation level student.
• Get complete answers from a student.
• And, display your ESL teaching and time management skills.

3. Undergo Training

After your interview, you’ll get an introduction to teaching on the platform.

You’re required to watch training videos about things like their technology and curriculum.

This stage of the hiring process can take up to three days.

4. Hold a Mock Class

Now, it’s time for you to participate in a mock class.

Basically, this is a practice class.

You practice teaching a full-length lesson with one of the company’s teachers.

You will receive feedback on your full-length mock class from other teachers on the platform. This outlines your strengths and what could be improved.

This phase takes up to six days.

5. Sign your contract and provide your information

At this stage, the company sends you a contract that you need to sign. And, it sets up your online teacher profile.

You will need to send the company your information in order to create your profile.

Now you’re contracted and ready to start booking classes.

The company will give you a 6-month contract if you pass the screening process.

Booking Lessons

Once you’re hired, you can start booking lessons.

Parents can view your profile and book you for lessons.

You just need to put your time slots on your portal.

What’s great about working with VIPKID is that you get to choose how many lessons you teach.

But, the company does recommend that you work a minimum of 7.5 hours per week.

You can also choose to teach during times that suit your schedule.

Every lesson includes 25 minutes of active teaching time, plus a few minutes at the end to leave comments.

So, in total, a lesson lasts around 30 minutes.

As a teacher, you have to provide your weekly availability one month in advance. Your schedule will be sent out each Saturday at 10 a.m. Beijing time.

VIPKID peak hours

While you can work at any time you want, the brand suggests that you make yourself available for classes during Beijing peak times.

The most requested time periods in Beijing time are:

• Monday to Friday, 6 to 10 p.m.
• Saturday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

You don’t have to complete full shifts during the times above. But, making yourself available for lessons during those times increases your chances of being booked by one of the platform’s students.

So the platform recommends you teach during those hours when students are available for classes.

Make sure that you check your emails and schedule in the system on a daily basis, so you can view your upcoming classes.

VIPKID interview tips

Handily enough, VIPKID gives a few tips on how to be successful during the interview:

• Practice the demo lesson PPTs.
• Visit this page and view the company’s Applicant Performance Indicators. These show you what the company looks for in teachers and should increase your chances of passing your interview!
• Conduct your demo lesson from a place that looks neat, tidy, professional, and well-lit.
• Make sure that you have a good, stable internet connection.

Teaching with VIPKID

If you’ve passed the screening phase and started a contract with the company, don’t worry if you don’t get many bookings initially.

According to the company, it can take up to a month for you to develop a steady stream of classes.

Once you do have a few bookings, it’s time to start teaching.

You teach students one-on-one – which is great because you can focus on educating just one student.

And, the curriculum that you teach is based on the U.S. Common Core State Standards.

The company provides you with all of the teaching materials you need – including, of course, the curriculum.

But, you will have to review your own lesson plan and prepare for each class.

So, you’ll need to properly review the class materials before each lesson.

Handily enough, the company allows you to preview class materials on the teacher portal 6 to 12 hours in advance.

So, you have plenty of time to set up and plan your lessons.

Classes are taught online, on VIPKID’s education platform. It is sort of like teaching on Skype.

You and your student each appear on video camera. Two boxes appear on the screen – one box displays you and the other shows your student.

Then, there are slides in the center, which you use to teach.

There’s also a chat box available.

The platform is super easy to navigate and facilitates one-on-one teaching.

It’s important to note that on the platform, you don’t always teach the same students.

You teach any students that book your class.

And, you don’t have to communicate with the parents either. The company’s office staff is responsible for communicating with parents.

Teacher salary: How much can you make?

The company pays its teachers pretty well.

As a teacher with the company, you’re an independent contractor. This means that you don’t receive a salary. Instead, you get paid for the work you complete, based on minimum rate.

And, you’re also responsible for handling your own taxes.

Minimum hourly rate

As a teacher on the platform, you earn a minimum rate per lesson.

Lessons are scheduled in 30-minute slots.

You can earn between $7 and $9 per 30-minute slot.

This means that you could earn between $14 and $18 per hour teaching on the platform.

And, you don’t even have to leave the house. So you won’t have the expense of public transport or gas required to commute to work.

Based on your demo lesson that you did during the hiring process, the company sets your minimum hourly rate.

Once the company comes to renew your contract, your hourly rate will be assessed and you could potentially get a raise.

So, there’s the opportunity to increase your income.

Bonuses

And, what’s great about this company is that the earnings don’t stop there.

Teachers also get paid bonuses.

These incentives are paid based on factors, like how many classes you participate in each month and your completion as a teacher with the company.

There are two main incentive payments:

1. Participation Incentive: This pays up to $1 and it’s based on whether you start your class on time, and teach the lesson according to schedule.
2. Finished Class Incentive: This also pays you up to $1. This incentive is based on how many classes you complete each month. If more students keep booking lessons with you, then you are rewarded.

This means that including incentives, you could earn between $14 and $22 per hour.

VIPKID teachers online also state that there are also bonuses available, like one for taking classes booked on short notice.

So, there are a lot of opportunities to bolster your income through the website.

Reddit user made over $3,000 in one month!

One person on a Reddit thread posted a copy of their pay stub. It detailed what they earned in just one month of teaching on VIPKID– it was $3,108!

This person teaches an average of 70 to 80 classes per week, which works out at about 35 to 40 hours per week, and gets paid a base hourly rate of $8.

You can view the pay stub here.

So, as you can see, you really could earn yourself a great income from teaching through the platform.

How do you get paid?

As we mentioned above, the company doesn’t pay you an annual salary. Instead, you get a payment for each lesson that you do.

The company sends payment via direct bank deposits between the 10th and 15th of each month.

This is a great way to get paid, because it’s not slow like checks are, and you don’t have to transfer the money to your bank account yourself, as you’d have to if you were paid via PayPal.

Is VIPKID Legitimate?

VIPKID is definitely a trustworthy, reputable and legitimate company.

It is a great platform to make money teaching from home.

It’s incredibly well reviewed online.

On Glassdoor, it has a high rating of four stars.

And, it’s been featured by a huge selection of well-known media outlets, like:

• Forbes
• Los Angeles Times
• The Huffington Post
• Wall Street Journal

Closing thoughts

If you’re looking into making money from home teaching English online, then we’d highly recommend VIPKID.

It’s such a well-known reputable platform, which offers a really great earning opportunity.

If you fit the company’s requirements, then consider submitting an application.

You could get hired and earn yourself a great part-time or even full-time income by working with VIPKID.