Teaching English online can be a great—or a horrendous—experience. Avoid the latter by choosing awesome, reliable, trustworthy companies from the get-go.
Here’s our comprehensive list of the best and most reliable companies to work for when teaching English online. But first…
What to look for in trusted online English teaching companies
Regardless of which company you ultimately decide to work for, make sure it ticks off the following boxes and doesn’t wave any red flags:
The staff is responsive, supportive, and helpful
You can’t necessarily judge all of their staff with the same levels that you would a native English speaker (remember, sometimes these folks are second language learners themselves!), but you should feel a genuine interest from the staff in guiding you through the process and answering all of your questions. If they ask you immediately for payments or make you feel in any way like your time or skills aren’t valued, move along to another option.
You feel like the company is on your side
Even online, you can’t escape the sometimes-complicated relationships with parents of your students. You should get a sense in advance whether or not a company will shield you from helicopter parents or how they support you in instances where parents are being overbearing (and not all too helpful).
They will support you with lesson planning
Not every company will give you a ready-made curriculum, but great online English teaching companies will certainly have a bank of resources available to their teachers to inspire new lesson plan ideas. Tips, tricks, what works, what doesn’t should all be readily accessible to current hires—there’s no need to recreate the wheel!
Transparent payment structures
Don’t sign the dotted line of a contract without having a full understanding of your pay, how your work hours are tracked, when payment is remitted, and how payment is remitted. Any company worth its weight will hopefully offer up these details without you having to inquire in the first place.
They offer contracts that don’t make you feel icky
A contract is a legit commitment, but you don’t want to work for a company that’s holding you hostage. Make sure you fully understand the consequences of ending a contract early and the steps to move through to ensure you still get your last payment(s), for instance.
Prefer you hold a TEFL certificate
Many companies won’t require that all teaching applicants have a TEFL certificate, but this is a surefire way to increase your chances of landing jobs at more legit companies. You may speak English, but teaching others to speak English is a whole different beast. As the onset of online English language tutoring continues to rise, more and more certification programs are becoming available to help you specialize in the complexities of a virtual student-teacher relationship.
Check out Premier TEFL’s online English teaching certificate program to hone in your online teaching skills today!
Our 5 favorite companies to help you teach English online
VIPKID
This Beijing-based online English teaching program works with 4-12 year old children and provides fully immersive one-on-one English language instruction to Chinese kiddos. This company requires applicants to have at least a Bachelor’s degree. Contracts must be a six month minimum and you can work from anywhere—so long as you have a stable internet connection!
- Earnings: You can earn $14-$22 an hour
- Highlight: They provide the lesson plans and communicate on your behalf with your students’ parents. “You just need a computer and the passion/skills for teaching.”
- More info
ALO7
Alo7 provides one-on-one, one-on-three, or group session online English classes for students from 5 to 18 years old. Sessions are either 25 minutes or 50 minutes long, not including an online report that all tutors are required to submit. ALO7 only hires native English speakers—AKA those from US, Canada, UK and Australia. Like VIPKid, ALO7 requires all teachers to have a Bachelor’s degree at minimum. You’ll love the direct deposits into your bank account from VEEM!
- Earnings: You can earn $17- $22 for a 50 minute lesson
- Highlight: We love their handy chart on Peak Tutoring Hours to plan ahead for your commitments based on your time zone
- More info
Fluentify
Fluentify’s 30 minutes one-on-one English instruction sessions step away from the pack because they’re 100% personalised—the student decides what they want to discuss, or if they’re not quite sure, they can choose one of the topics from their individualized learning plan. Every Fluentify student is given a placement exam upon enrollment, which is followed up with their own plan that includes a set of grammar and speaking topics that students can address with their tutor during sessions. Fluentify’s classes focus on: fluency & coherence, accuracy, pronunciation, and sustained monologue. Who will be YOUR favorite student?
- Earnings: Make up to 10EUR + bonuses per 30-minute session
- Highlight: Fluentify focuses on English speaking lessons for business professionals—the perfect fit if you’d rather work with adults.
- More info
Da Da ABC
This Shanghai-based online English teaching company requires new hires to commit to a minimum 12 month contract, including two, two-hour working days per week at minimum. This is awesome job security for individuals who want some level of guaranteed income and working hours each week. You’ll primarily be working with children in their after school hours—roughly 6-9pm Shanghai time—and all curriculum is yours for the making! Another upside? You’re not required to hold a Bachelor’s degree OR be a native English speaker to work here.
- Earnings: Teacher salaries at DaDa can range from $14 – $19
- Highlight: They give you some money up front for props. It’s not a ton, but it’s a good way to get you started!
- More info
MagicEars
MagicEars’ has a 1-on-4 students classroom model and each class is 25 minutes long. Rather than parents booking individual teachers, parents simply book a class and the MagicEars system assigns their child to an available teacher—this model is helpful if you worry about consistent work or not being a student’s “favorite.” All citizens of the US or Canada who hold a Bachelor’s degree are invited to apply, and all curriculum is provided to teachers. Woot!
- Earnings: You can earn $17- $22 for a 50 minute lesson
- Highlight: We love their handy chart on Peak Tutoring Hours to plan ahead for your commitments based on your time zone
- More info
Other companies to check out
We haven’t had a chance to work with and vet these organizations yet, but we’re sure there are some golden apples in the bunch! Use this cheat sheet to launch your own research on potential jobs teaching English online.
- Qkids
- Cambly
- Italki
- Teach Away
- iTutor Group
- GoGo Kid
- 51 Talk
- English Hunt
- Kaifu English
- Oakary
- English Gang
- Fluency Tutors
Don’t delay—start teaching English online today!
Teaching English online is a brilliant, up and coming, and profitable way to earn money on YOUR terms. Continue traveling the world, share a relevant skill, and sustain your ice cream fund.
Read next: Ultimate Guide to Teaching English Online
The post Teach English Online: 5 Awesome Companies to Choose From appeared first on Premier TEFL.
