Ideal Tips To Make More Money By Teaching English Online
Let’s Teach English has helped many teachers to get the best online English teaching jobs. We have heard plenty of great tips and tricks from teachers as well as HR departments. Also, we know everything related to teaching English online since we have considerable experience in assisting candidates during the hiring process.
These are our ultimate tips to expand your potential in earning more money and escalate your opportunity to get the most significant payment by teaching English online.
These are our top tips to maximize your earning potential and enhance your chance to get the best pay by teaching English online.
1. Upgrade Your Resume
Nothing could beat the importance of a great resume in applying for a specific job. You are a representative of the company to their students as an English teacher, and you need to put a clear profile photo in your resume to show off your professionalism. A photo with an online teaching style background will help.
Check out this free resume template here.
2. Online Teaching Preparations
An appropriate and professional online teaching preparation is crucial as it influences how you convince the recruiter to give you a better salary.
• Technical Necessities
A top-notch technical provision includes a high-performance computer or smartphone, a camera with HD resolution (at least 720 or 1080), a typical headset that comes with a microphone or separated microphone, and an Internet speed of 10MB/s for uploading and downloading.
You might get by with 5MB/s, but you will lose many opportunities to work with a company that pays better. A computer is not always necessary because some companies teach via smartphones, such as Cambly and Palfish. However, keep in mind that most online teaching jobs will use a computer.
• Environmental Necessities
A perfect teaching environment must have good lighting as well as an undistracted background. Some companies demand you to use a whiteboard or white background. Puppets and posters are not always recommended, but they can help you get a higher pay rate, and it makes it easier for you to attract the attention of young children. You need to prepare yourself with a good knowledge of online English teaching jobs.
3. Pay Attention to Companies with the Higher Payment Rate
As you can see, any companies that provide a more significant basic payment usually have higher standards, and they are more selective during the hiring process. Besides, it is difficult to know about the salary because some companies provide base rates with multiple bonuses or standby payments. You need to clarify the total compensation with recruiters during the interview session to ensure that you are making a higher rate as you can. These are some questions that you should ask them about the salary:
- What is the base payment?
- What type of bonuses are available?
- How to earn the bonus?
- What is the payment method? (The most common are PayPal, Payoneer, bank wiring, or direct bank deposit.)
- What currency do you pay?
- What is the salary schedule? (The most common are weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly)
Magic Ears, Landi, Whales English, and DaDa are examples of great-paying companies.
Awareness
Be aware of the payment rate for some companies because it may vary according to various circumstances.
- The country you live in now – A company like iTutorGroup pays differently based on your own country. The wage for Americans living in the United States is different compared to Americans living in Southeast Asia even though they have similar qualifications.
- Compensation structure – The advertised salary rate has many conditions. The payment rate is usually the combination of the hourly base rate plus a performance bonus.
- Native English Speaker versus Non-Native English Speaker – Salary differences could be drastic between native English speakers and non-native English speakers. iTutorGroup is one of the companies that hire non-native English speakers, but they provide a huge difference in the payment rate.
- Class reservation – Several companies have a fairly good salary and conditions, but students are not enough to give you full bookings, for example, VIPKID. Companies do not have a fixed schedule, and you have to teach students in different classes. You can check out Whales English for those dedicated to fixed schedules with the same students and excellent teaching experience.
Company Allegiance
Company allegiance affects the potential of your income, especially for companies that have a bonus structure that relates to the length of time and hours you have taught and the assessment you have accumulated over time.
One of the companies that can be a great example is Palfish. Palfish shows the total of your teaching hours and hard earned assessments on your profile page and consists of social elements such as sharing posts and photos on the community board with students and fellow teachers. If you can prove yourself as an excellent teacher, there is no reason to go elsewhere as the payment increases over time.
The disadvantage of this kind of reward system is that you may have trouble finding students if you are a new teacher. You need to note that some companies require students to choose teachers by themselves, but other companies will assign students to you.
Class100 and Micro Language are online ESL companies that include company allegiance.
4. Get an ESL Teaching Certificate
A certificate is not always necessary to be an English teacher, and most candidates can get hired without a TEFL/TESOL/CETAL certificate. If you have enough experience teaching English either online or offline, you may not need a TEFL certificate to work at the school.
However, most candidates of teaching English online jobs will obtain a TEFL/TESOL/CELTA certificate because it can enlarge their opportunity to receive an interview invitation.
Bear in mind that some schools like iTutorGroup do not require a certificate during the hiring process, but they will ask you to get it within a specific time after hiring.
Upgrade your teaching skills with self-learning substances, including well-known ESL teaching books.
5. Get Ready for Your Interviews
You should know about the interview process of each company and their expectations because it will help you get ready for it. Every school has different expectations due to the variety of teaching curriculum and their targeted students.
Different types of students in the class:
- Younger Children
Total Physical Response (TPR) and other energetic actions are needed for constant engagement. However, the teaching material is simpler, and teachers do not require intense preparation to do it.
- Older Children
The learning process for older children needs a systemic method requiring some teachers’ preparations—most online English teaching companies emphasize this age group like VIPKID, Landi, and Class100.
- Teens and College Preparation
This group of students is the toughest one because it centers on the practical sections of the English language such as grammar, college entrance examinations and guides students who want to study abroad. Hujiang is one of the companies that focuses on this kind of student.
- Adults
English learning sessions for adults focus on conversational or practical lessons because they already have basic English language knowledge. They will learn how to speak English properly and improve their language ability for work purposes. The name of companies that provide English classes for adults is Cambly, Hujiang, and iTutorGroup.
The Size of the Class
The class size ranges from one-to-one, one-to-two, small groups up to four or large classes that set 15-40 students. Large group classes are generally sent to a local kindergarten or school. There are usually assistant teachers in the local school to maintain the class order.
6. Optimize Your Timetable with Off-Peak Hours
Another way to maximize your online teaching hours is to know where the zone you are in. As we all know, Chinese online ESL companies devise most of the job opportunities during the peak hours of 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm in Beijing time. Some people thought that it is the only time slot those companies provide English lessons.
What would you do with the rest of your time? Now you can see any companies that teach off-peak hours or companies in different time zones. It means that you will be doing some part-time contract work for two or more companies at the same time. One of the Chinese companies with packed off-peak hours (7:00 am to 4:00 pm in Beijing time) is Class100, and they provide English lessons to local schools and kindergartens during regular school hours.
Other companies that have off-peak hours without guaranteed reservation are Palfish and iTutorGroup.
7. Make a Fantastic Self-Introductory Video
Many companies evaluate candidates through pre-recorded introductory videos as the first session of the interview before continuing to a formal session. It is such a brilliant idea for you to prepare and filter your interview as many times as possible. You can look at this guideline: Tips to Stand Out with Self-Introductory Video for Online English Teaching Jobs. Here are some examples of self-introductory videos we found that might be helpful for you.
8. Salary Negotiation
The last step to make more money by teaching English online is salary negotiation. When a particular company records the range of the salary, the scale may be significant. However, you may push the limit a little bit if you have an impressive track record. ESL teaching experience, teaching certificate, and educational background highly influence the potential rate. You also need to check the qualification of other candidates and the expectations and responsibilities of a specific job in the market.
Recruiters know the level of rates for a particular qualification because they have interviewed hundreds of candidates per month. It would help if you upgraded your resume, concentrate on interviews, express your enthusiasm, and prove that you can be their most outstanding employee. It will give you a better influence and put you in a suitable position in the negotiation.
Many qualified teachers get promoted to be trial teachers, which means you will represent the company and monitor the demonstration classes to the new prospective students. The company usually provides additional student enrollment bonuses to those acting as an excellent salesforce of the company.
However, you need to remember that you can reject the offer if you are not interested in it. If you decide to pass up the chance, you can inform HR about your honest thoughts in a respectful way. Being polite is needed in this case, and here is an example of a respectful offer declination: “Dear (recruiter’s name), thank you for your effort and opportunity. I would love to work for you, but the salary is lower than my other offers.”
The company may not offer what you are seeking, but they possibly come back and make better offers. You should know how the rate is calculated and the qualifications to achieve the highest hourly rate.
Basic Payment
Basic payment is the minimum hourly wage if you provided a class without being late or leave early. Most of the courses will not be an entire 60 minutes class, but it could be 25 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour, or anything in between. Every company has its definition of “hourly” wage.
Factors of Bonus Structure
- Good reviews from students
- The number of students attends the class
- Contract renewal bonus
- Students registration or course renewal bonus
Raise
The criteria of students review.
Cancellation Rules
- Urgent cancellation within short notice, for example, within 24 hours.
- Long break for over two weeks.
Fines
- Being late to the class or end the session early.
- The term in the employment contract is typically 6 to 12 months.
Income Tax
There are usually no income tax deductions, but the exemptions depend on the company’s country is established in and your local tax laws. Some companies like iTutorGroup refuse to hire teachers in China even though you are citizens of the United States because they want to avoid tax complications.
Recruiters may give a time limit or pressure you to do your work as soon as possible because their jobs could not be done unless you are committed. You do not have to be afraid of taking a reasonable time (above three weeks) to consider some offers. However, you would have the potential to lose the offer if you make them wait for too long.
Besides, you should find a company with an excellent reputation for punctuation and fair payment. Many companies pass the salary deadlines or do not pay their teachers’ salaries due to their financial problems. We suggest you find well-known companies like Hujiang, iTutorGroup, Micro Language, Landi, and Palfish, where they have well-organized finance and HR teams to make sure you get paid on time.
Are You Excited for Your Job Interview?
Share with us who you are interviewing with, and you can get some suggestions from our community on our Facebook group, which is Online English Teaching Jobs and ESL review group. Good luck with your online English teaching journey!
Are you ready for your job interview?
Let us know who you’re interviewing with and ask for suggestions from our community on our Facebook group, Online English Teaching Jobs and ESL review group.
We wish the best for you in navigating the online English teaching journey!