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Teaching English online is a good way to make money and work from home while pursuing a career in the entertainment industry. You can earn $20 an hour and not have to leave your house. It might not sound like a legit “work from home” job opportunity, but it definitely is. You have the flexibility to set your own schedule and get money directly deposited in your bank account!
Like any job hiring process, there are a couple steps to get hired. I wrote this step-by-step guide to break down exactly what happens along the way. Just take it one step at a time and soon you'll be making $20 an hour from the comfort of your home!
So who exactly will be paying you to work from home? It's an online English teaching company called Qkids.
Qkids hires native English speakers to teach English to ESL children in China. They usually only have classes in the morning and evening because kids are at school during the day. But currently, children are staying at home in China, so Qkids has now added more classes throughout the day.
Since Qkids has more classes available, they need more teachers. They are actively hiring as many online English teachers as they can to meet the demand. Qkids has over 800,000 students staying at home right now. There are as many work from home teaching positions as there are people who want the job.
I worked for Qkids, and it was fantastic. Other pros about the job:
• Qkids provides the lesson plans. You just show up, no prep necessary.
• You only teach 1 - 4 students at a time. You’re not having to wrangle 20+ kids like a traditional preschool or elementary school teacher.
• It’s fun seeing kids get excited about learning English. And the lesson plans are legit fun to teach.
Qkids does have a few requirements to be hired as an online English tutor, so make sure you qualify.
• Able to legally work in the U.S. or Canada
• Bachelor's degree
• Owns a computer with a webcam
• Has a stable internet connection with minimum upload speed of 2Mbps and minimum download speed of 4Mbps (test your speed at https://www.speedtest.net/)
• Owns a smart phone
• Can be energetic on camera for kids
• Educational experience (if you’ve been a tutor, mentor, or camp counselor, you’re good)
• Able to teach for at least 6 hours a week (12 lessons)
That’s it. Each online class is 28 minutes, so you teach two English classes an hour. You can make $10 for each class, which means you can work from home and make $20 an hour!
These are the steps for how to get hired quickly for this job, work from home, and start making money by teaching kids English online.
In the link is my referral code PRLOVD. Because I worked for Qkids, I can access the status of your application. If you use my referral code PRLOVD, I’ll be able to track where you are in the hiring process and give you feedback and advice along the way. It also fast tracks your hiring process because you are linked to me. Be sure to use my code so I can help you secure this job!
It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. This is just a video to demonstrate that you can be cheerful and engaging on camera. You can record the video within the application process or just link to a video that you’ve uploaded to YouTube. All you have to do in the video is:
• Cheerfully introduce yourself
• Say where you live
• Say where you graduated college and what major you had
• Mention your teaching experience. You can say tutoring, mentoring, or being a camp counselor as your teaching experience if you’ve never been a “teacher.”
• Tell or read a short story for kids. You can tell one off the top of your head or check out a book to read from the library. Or you can even just print out a story from the internet to read.
The intro video doesn’t have to be longer than a minute. Here’s a sample video I did of what yours could be:
It’s easiest to have a story to read. You don’t get extra points for reciting a story from memory.
Some other quick tips for a successful video:
• Record in a bright place where you can be clearly seen
• Speak loudly and clearly
• Wear a colorful shirt. Something that would look great on Disney Channel. You’re teaching kids, so wear something a kid would love to see!
• Smile as much as you can in the video. Qkids wants to hire happy teachers!
• Bonus points if you put up a colorful, kid-friendly background behind you, but it’s not necessary.
After you record the video, click apply!
You will hear back from Qkids within 3 business days. After they accept your application, they will send you a link to download their software for your computer and smart phone.
Within their computer software is a practice room where you can practice for your upcoming interview. They have video demos to guide you through the whole process. WATCH EVERYTHING AND PRACTICE EVERYTHING. You have to nail the first interview to move forward to the second one!
You need to have a couple things for the first interview:
You use a headset to teach classes so you’ll have good sound. You can get a headset for $21 here on Amazon.
You need to use the right click mouse feature a lot when using the Qkids software and it’s really hard to do that with a laptop touch pad. You can get an external mouse for $10 here on Amazon.
During the interview, they will want to test your internet and make sure you have a hard line ethernet connection so it’s a stable internet connection. I have a MacBook Air, so I had to get a special convertor to fit the ethernet cord into my computer. If you have a MacBook Air, you can get the convertor for $12 here on Amazon.
Now it’s time for the first interview! Be sure to go into the classroom early before the interview starts so you can check your audio and get settled in.
The interview will last about 15 - 20 minutes long. These are the questions your interviewer might ask:
You can just elaborate on what you said in your intro video.
Say yes. You have to say yes to move forward with the interview process.
Say yes. You can always reschedule if something comes up on one of those days, but you have to say yes to move forward with the interview process.
There are many buttons you need to know how to use: stickers, highlighting tool, text typing, checking a student’s sound. Since you practiced all this before the interview, this should be a breeze for you! All the answers are in the training videos, so watch the training videos! You can really impress the interviewer if you’re fast with the buttons.
It's okay if you don't. Qkids requires that you have an English teaching certificate (TESOL, TEFL, CELTA, or ESL). But teaching candidates can qualify for a fast track TESOL voucher through Qkids before they sign the contract.
After those interview questions, then you will pretend to teach a class. The interviewer will pretend to be a child, and you have to instruct them like you would with a real child. The training videos show how to do this. Just emulate the tone of the teachers in the video.
A couple tips:
• Be outgoing!
• Be animated!
• Be expressive!
• Be excited!
• Use your hands to help explain words!
Notice all the exclamation points I used?! That’s the perfect level of energy for your practice class!
It’s okay if you’re not perfect. The interviewer will guide you with suggestions.
Remember: you are helping them by applying. THEY WANT TO HIRE YOU.
If you did well in the interview, they will contact you about a second interview within 24 hours. Sometimes the second interview happens as soon as a day or two later.
At this point, you’re only one interview away from getting paid! Just like in the first interview, be sure to go into the classroom early before the interview starts so you can check your audio and get settled in. This interview should also be about 15 - 20 minutes.
These are questions your interviewer might ask:
You can say you’re outgoing, you love to perform, or you really like working with kids. Just have an answer ready that demonstrates you’d be perfect for this job.
You can mention your background as a camp counselor, tutor, or mentor. Or you could even say how you have relatives who are kids and you love playing with them. Make the interviewer know that you work well with kids.
This can be whatever you want, but an easy answer is saying the stickers button. Qkids basically made Snapchat stickers that you can put on kids’ screens. It’s pretty awesome.
Say you’ll pull up some stickers and ask them if they know what the sticker is.
Click on the sun sticker to put it on the screen and ask, “What is this?” Wait for them to say the answer. If they don’t say the answer, tell them, ”It’s the sun!” Then ask, “What color is the sun?” Wait for them to say the answer. If they don’t say the answer, tell them, ”The sun is yellow!” You can repeat this with other stickers if the interviewer wants you to keep going.
This is just a technical question. Since you practiced all the buttons before the interview, this is an easy question for you.
Another technical question that you’ll be able to answer easily.
If the interviewer thinks you’re a good fit (and you should be if you prepared for the interview!), they will schedule trial classes for you. And they even pay you for the trial classes, so you’re already making money!
Qkids will send you a link for a background check. Once you’re approved, it’s time for the trial classes!
You get paid $8 for each trial class, with a chance to make $9 a class with a performance bonus if the parents rate you highly. That’s already $18 an hour!
You could teach as few as 2 classes before you get a contract or as many as 5. I think I had to teach 4 before I got the contract. So it’s okay if you have to teach more than 2.
This is what you’ve been waiting for! Qkids is going to hire you! After successfully teaching trial classes, they will send you a contract to sign. Once you sign it, they will start scheduling you for teaching classes!
And that’s it! I know it might seem like a lot, but it really isn’t. Just take it step by step.
Start by applying and using my referral code PRLOVD with this link.
Once you hear from Qkids, you can go back to this article to check what to do for each step after.
If you need extra help with the hiring process, email me at robert@filmschoollife.com with any questions you have. I can track your progress with my referral code to see where you are in the process.
When you get hired for the online job, you’ll start making money from the comfort of your home as you pursue your passion in the entertainment industry. Not too bad for teaching English online!
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