Pros and Cons of Working for VIPKid

Pros and Cons of VIPKid 

Like with any work, working for VIPKid comes with both amazing pros and some cons as well.

Cons

Schedule - The Peak Peak hours (those that are the most likely to book) are late nights and/or early mornings. I have never opened a Peak Peak slot and I doubt that I will anytime soon. The company is open from 5:30pm - 7am on the West Coast (arguably the hardest US time zone to work in) and Peak Peak slots are 3am - 6am. However if you live on the East Coast your available hours are 8pm - 10am, with peak hours 6am - 9am. (During Daylight savings time). Friday evening, all Saturday slots and Sunday mornings are also PT or PPR. After one month of not opening any PPT and rarely a few PT, and I'm still growing faster than average. So there's hope for you too!

Time Zone - If you are like me all of the conversions are a pain to deal with. Since working with VIPKid Google has become my best friend. 

Bookings - It can take a while to get your first bookings. Some people do not want to wait. There are many things you can do to increase your chances of getting booked and I will work on this one-on-one with my referrals. I had my first booking within 24 hours of opening the slot. It is possible, but it takes some prep work to be prepared when you sign your contract. Feel free to join my Branding Yourself group on Facebook to get started on some of these things from day 1. 

Prep work - With anytime of teaching there is a decent amount of prep work in the beginning. You do have to learn the platform, and work on your bio, and find props, and learn the skills specific to online teaching. There is a steep learning curve. I am one month in and everything takes A LOT less time to prep. 

My profile on the Inside

Interview/Demo Process - There is a lot up front. The interviews and demos are more stressful than actual teaching. One way to look at this is like intensive training. You do a decent amount of training and you repeat this until you are ready.

Technology - We all know tech issues can get the best of all of us. Sometimes, especially early on, there is nothing you can do (or it seems). This is possibly the biggest downside for me.

Degree Required - I'm not sure that this is a con, but I have talked to some young people who are absolutely qualified in many ways and have more experience working with children than many adults, but Chinese parents are willing to pay for American (and Canadian) teachers with education and experience and that is what VIPKid promises. Requirements listed here. 

Pros 

Pay - This job really does pay well. I averaged $19 an hour for my first month. I expect that to reach $21 per hour with in 3 months (maybe two). Pay is advertised at $14 an hour for the lowest tier. As far as I can tell, you would need to start at the lowest pay grade, work less than 15 hours a month, never open short notice slots, and be late to every class to make $14 dollars an hour with VIPKid.

Pay scale

Flexibility - You get to set your own hours and work as much or as little as you want. There are incentives to work more and specific hours. I don’t take part as I’m pretty stubborn about when and how much I will work. 

Bookings - Bookings usually come in slowly at first and on average it can take up to a month to get your first class. I had one class my first week (and took several workshops), my second week I had 2 classes, my 3rd week I had 6 classes ,and some pre-bookings and my 4th week I had 7 classes and some pre bookings. My 4th week is when I’m typing this ;) And it is the week of a big holiday so everyone's bookings are wonky. For me, this gradual increase was perfect and allowed me to work my way into teaching. I didn’t teach back to back classes until week 4 and I still made over $100 in my first 3 weeks. goog_520935754

Interview/Demo Process - once this is complete you really are ready to teach. You have all of the skills.

Peak Peak Time incentive.

Incentives - There are always new challenges and offers available. Since you are your own boss you have complete say in whether or not you say yes. I opt out of the peak peak time incentives. 

Creativity - This is a great job for anyone who loves to create things. I have really enjoyed crafting many of my props and the others I have made on Adobe Illustrator and some in word (don’t worry, if you are my referral, I will email you my PDFs to get you trough the hiring process and more if you would like, you don’t need a graphic design degree to do this. Once you are a teacher there are groups on Facebook that give access to both free and paid props)

Cultural Exchange - There is something really special about being invited into life of someone else especially from another culture. If you enjoy learning as you teach, this job can be more than just a job! 

The Children - Some of the conversations I have had with the kids are so much fun. It has been interesting to watch them learn and grow and have a ton of fun, just being kids while they learn.

My profile inside the Hutong

Variety - I am currently certified for levels 2 - 5 and may certify for trials soon. I love that I can teach about Martin Luther king and math conversions in one lesson and in another we are going back to learning ‘he, she and it.” I really enjoy the upper levels of teaching history and science. Though if you want to stick with levels 1 and two you can. The level 2 and 3 lessons take a lot less prep for me and use my props more, but the more advanced lessons are a lot of fun and you can have great conversations.

Brand - I love the VIPKid brand. They have done a great job of creating community. There are a ton of facebook groups you can join. Many are full of loving wonderful teachers will to encourage and support you in your online teaching journey. VIPKid was the number one work from home job on Forbes list in 2018 and it made top 10 in 2019.

Gamification - This is not as big of a pro as the other things, but I LOVE when daily tasks are turned into a game of some sort. VIPKid has some great incentives, offers badges and all sorts of things. 

The Houtong - This means alley way in Chinese and it is where all the fun happens...but you have to get hired to join in...

More Pros 

Complete challenges to earn tokens and learn about Chinese culture!

You can wear sweatpants to work, or yoga pants, or no....never mind please wear pants

Your commute is to your home

You can work from a closet, spare room, garage, or a corner of your living room

I love this work. Every job has its cons! And this is no exception, but I can't speak highly enough about how much of a blessing it has been for me to work for VIPKid. 

Work With Me <3 

If you are interested in joining this crazy journey, be sure to use my referral code (FELIC0078 <- those are zeros) or this link. I would love to help yo get hired. I have PDFs to help you get through the interview and mock classes and am willing to talk you through the process, and once you teach your first class I'll send you some physical props as well. If you are serious about getting hired come join my Facebook group about branding yourself as a teacher and get some feedback, so you are ready to get bookings early on!