VIPKID | THE GOOD THE BAD & THE UGLY

I've been working with VIPKID now for a month and here to give you the newbie scoop on the good, bad and ugly side from my perspective. Should you want to sign up with the company as an ESL teacher click here for their website.

VIPKID is an established company started by Cindy Mi back in 2013. Click the link to read more about her inspirational story behind why she started this great company. VIPKID's mission is provide the American elementary school experience to children from the comfort of their homes. Teachers all across the globe log on everyday from wherever they are to make a positive impact in China by teaching children to speak English. I've actually been inspired by Cindy Mi's mission and want to enroll my own children in their Lingo Bus program that teaches native English speakers to speak, you guessed it, Chinese!

When looking into joining VIPKID I researched countless Youtube videos and read blogs on the company so I would know what to expect and as with anything when there are reviews there's always the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Company

Teaching with VIPKID has been a good experience overall. The company is well established with a very innovative website portal called Freshdesk for teachers to use as their control center. You can find everything you need from your bookings, classroom materials, payroll information to workshops that you can take in the Hutong. The staff at VIPKID has also been very good in my opinion. I have not come across one MCM or workshop presenter that did not ooze the VIPKID "Let's go!" spirit. The happiness of its employees is contagious! The community built online by current and former teachers is quite expansive too. There are plenty of Facebook community pages to join that allow you to vent or get the inside scoop as a newbie or seasoned teacher with the company.

The Kids

The kids at VIPKID are also quite adorable. I'm a mom of a 4 and 6 year old and love teaching the younger age group. I also like interacting with the older students as they allow me to have more mature conversations and extension during class. Both are great but those squeaky voices and lovable faces in Level 2 are so precious. I joined the company in February during the Chinese New Year and have not had any issues booking classes. I actually feel quite blessed to have started off running instead of slowly walking towards the $$$. However, most experience a slow start if they have not taken the workshops and learned to market themselves properly. If this is your case, after a few weeks, you should start getting bookings when you apply the proper techniques. In the month of March, VIPKID has started the first week off with monetary incentives to open up PPT SLOTS to get you some coin! I pretty much have casted a wide net in order to maximize on profit but I also stay at home so I have more liberty than those with a traditional 9-5 job. I've already received over 10 5 apple ratings in my very 1st month of teaching! I'm telling you, go to the workshops and soak up everything you learn then go apply it to your business. Thank me later!

Your Schedule

The very best thing about VIPKID is that you choose your own schedule. I'm on the East Coast so that's about 12 hours difference from Bejing. Although waking up at the crack of dawn has some getting used to I do have the flexibility to take a nap mid-day when my toddler decides he wants to give me a break lol You can work as much or as little as you want. If you have regulars this is great and enables you to have core hours and counting on making a certain amount of money every month. You can also travel with this job and do it anywhere with a good wifi connection and background lighting. How cool is that! We are heading to Mexico next month and I've been debating on whether or not I would 'work' in the mornings during our vacation. As a SAHM turned WFHM I'm already addicted to making my own money again and I really don't want to give that up even if it's only for a few days.

The Curriculum

In my experience, I appreciate that the curriculum is core based and already planned for you; however some of the material seems to be a bit bland, dated and the ordinal sequence is confusing. I've suggested placing the 'goodbye' slides at the very end of the lessons because it makes the most sense. There are often extension slides directly after you say goodbye so you have to skip past the goodbye if you have time to extend and then jump back to the goodbye slide when the lesson is over. Most of the material is quite palatable for the students who are placed in their correct level abilities so I really don't feel the need for the current sequence to stay as is. Otherwise, the company could add more music and animated videos to the lessons to make it more interactive. Since this is not currently the case I do a lot more movement with my TPR and I even include kid friendly bop music played on my iphone during class extension for a goodbye dance party.

The Teacher Cancellation Policy

Life happens right, somethings you get sick with the flu or there's a widespread power outage or a natural disaster strikes or you go into labor and have to be rushed to the hospital. VIPKID understands all of these emergencies but will still dock your pay if you need to cancel or can not show up for work. You get 'charged' or docked $10 if you do not show up at all or cancel within 2 hours and $2 if you cancel within 24 hrs and no fee if your cancellation occurs more than 24 hours in advance. This is why I'm hesitant to work while on vacation because what if something happens with the hotel wifi or a natural disaster strikes then I'm out of potentially $100 if I'm fully booked for the day.

Currently you get 6 cancellations within one contract and while a contract only lasts 6 months and that seems generous, it can add up if you have a fully booked schedule and need to cancel an entire day or gasp 🤦‍♀️ week of classes. Because of this policy many teachers choose not to have classes backed out the ying yang because if you do get sick you either tough it out and teach through your stuffed nose and high fever or you cancel with more than 24 hrs in advance to minimize the damage but who knows how sick they will be 24+ hours from now.

Conclusion

Overall, I love working with the company thus far and have had a good experience. My classes are getting booked and the students have been a joy to teach plus I'm loving reaching my milestones and chasing that coveted $100+ per day goal of mine. VIPKID has been a great addition to my life and I'm glad I decided to take the leap and join. If you want to join the "Let's go!" spirit train please kindly use me as your referral if my information has been helpful to you. If you have already applied but not signed your contract please use my code DOMIN0051.

Happy Teaching!