VIPKID: A Legit Stay-At-Home Job

If you have a Bachelor’s Degree listed on your Facebook profile page, odds are that you have been seeing an ad for VIPKID.

It’s a work-from-home teaching gig where you teach children in China how to speak English. 

I have seen and heard many people calling VIPKID a scam, and you may be reading this article to find out if that’s true or not.

Well keep reading. It may change your life.

Is VIPKID A Scam?

Nope. 

Simple as that.

I enrolled in the program and went through the process, and am now teaching classes that I am getting paid for. It DOES NOT cost anything to apply for VIPKID, so there is no pyramid scheme or anything of the sort going on.

Many work-from-home programs are scams, but VIPKID is a legitimate way to make an income from home. This is especially great for stay-at-home moms who want to help contribute to family income not only by saving on childcare costs, but to also add a little money to the pot as well.

So how can you get into the VIPKID Program?

Keep reading for an in-depth analysis on the requirements for the program, how to sign-up, what the interview process is like, how to set up your classroom, and other great tips on how to make your VIPKID experience a success!

Requirements To Get Into VIPKID

In order to get into the VIPKID program you need to meet the following requirements:

1. You must speak fluent English (fluency in Chinese is NOT required)
2. You must have a Bachelor’s Degree in any subject
3. You must have 1 year of experience in working professionally with children
4. You must be able to work in the United States or Canada
5. You must have access to a computer and a fast internet connection

How can you teach English without knowing Chinese?

The program is an immersive English as a Second Language class, so your job is to immerse your students in English, by speaking no Chinese back to them.

They learn through your Total Physical Response (TPR) actions, your clear speaking, and any props you choose to supply that will help illustrate the point you are trying to make.

The VIPKID Signup Process

You can start the signup process for VIPKID by using my referral link. I get a commission if you make it into the program, but on the flipside I will help you through whatever questions you have along the way! 

Comment below and I will be sure to help!

Once you are signed up, you fill out an application, which will take you approximately 5 minutes.

After that it will tell you if you qualify and will have you schedule an interview, or record an interview on your own and submit it, which is what I did.

This step in the process is basically you teaching a class to no one. They want to see your process in teaching ESL, and see if you have TPR skills right away.

Once you complete the interview they will let you know if you have passed and at this point you are very close to being hired. You will also get an email from VIPKID giving you some feedback on ways you can improve for your Mock Class.

The next step can take up to a couple of hours, it did not for me due to my psychology degree, but you have to pass a quiz to get certified in one or more of the VIPKID teaching levels, and then you will be able to schedule a mock class.

Not everyone passes this the 1st time, but if you don’t, no worries, you can try again!

After passing the mock class, VIPKID will run a background check with no cost to you, and offer you a contract.

You will also enter information about you, a couple pictures of yourself (2 casual and 1 professional), and write a short bio that parents can see so they know more about you and you are more likely to get hired for classes!

You may also need to get certified in Tesol, which is a new regulation in China come 2019, something I did not have to do right off the bat but I am thinking that may be in the process as well, so look out for that!

This process for me was all done within a week or so but the background check can take 7-10 days. They like you to do each step within a few days, and they will send you reminders, so be prepared to keep on it when you are ready to get started.

This whole process can be an intimidating, especially at first, so do not hesitate to ask me any questions

It will help you be more prepared for a successful process!

The Mock Class

Once you pass the quiz for whatever level of certification(s) that you plan to get, you can then schedule a time for a mock class with someone at VipKid.

Once you schedule this you cannot cancel or reschedule, so keep this in mind.

They will give you 2-3 different PowerPoint lessons that you should be prepared for and they will tell you which lesson you will teach once you start the mock class, so be ready for all of them.

There are a lot of videos and preparation materials that you can watch within the VIPKID portal to help you prepare. Take advantage of this, it helped me a lot!

Once you are at your interview, after you are told which lesson you will be teaching, they will talk to you for a few minutes and explain everything before you start the lesson where they will act as your student.

You usually do this lesson for about 10 minutes, be prepared for the whole lesson, but do not expect to get through the whole thing. I did not get through and it was no big deal. I still passed. After all, a regular class is 25 minutes long.

After they stop you they will give you feedback and you will also get an email later with feedback telling you what they liked about what you did, and what to work on. You may or may not be asked to do a 2nd mock class and you will find out within a few days after that if you passed and will move on with the contract and background check step from there.

VIPKID Pay and Taxes

How much will you make with VIPKID?

That depends on a couple of factors.

You have the potential to earn up to $22 per hour. 

I was started at $8 per class, and classes are 25 minutes long, so essentially $16 per hour.

That being said, there are a few bonuses that can bump up your pay. If you are on time for your class, you get a $1 bonus for that class. If you teach 45 or more classes within a 1 month period, you get a $1 bonus retracted back onto those classes and any other class you teach for that month.

So with my example, I make $8 per class. I’m always on time (+$1). If I did the 45 classes for the month (+$1) I’d essentially be making $10 per class or $20 per hour.

Payments are made through direct deposit to your bank account.

As for taxes, you are not an employee with VIPKID, but instead you are a contractor. You will be required to fill out a W9 every year that you work with them, and they will file the form for any year you make over $600 with them.

Your VIPKID Schedule

You have no set schedule.

You have no minimum hours.

No joke.

With VIPKID you get a calendar where you open up time slots that you want to be available. 

Parents in China will see what slots you have available, and book you based on those times.

That’s not to say you won’t get other suggested times if a parent really wants to book you to teach their child, but you can always turn those classes down.

I’m loving the flexibility of the scheduling process. It allows me to work around family and my other part-time job schedule.

The Chinese and North American Time Difference

One thing that you should always be keeping in mind when working with VIPKID is the time difference between the United States (or Canada) and China.

Depending on what time zone you are in in the United States, you will be between 13 and 16 hours behind the time in China.

What does that mean for us?

Well that means we will usually be working some late nights or some early mornings.

If you are not a morning person, VIPKID may not be for you.

The Most Popular Booking Times For VIPKID

So where does that leave the most popular booking times to be?

Since I am in the Central Standard Time Zone (CST), the most popular times for classes are between 4am and 8am, with 5am to 7am being extremely popular.

This would make it 6pm to 10pm in China, so it makes sense that children would be taking ESL tutoring classes after school.

Required Classroom Supplies

This is where it will cost you some money to get started.

While VIPKID doesn’t charge you a fee to start with them, you will be required to have some props to help illustrate your points to the children.

It would be near impossible to teach immersive English without props.

I was able to get through my mock class with a simple magnetic white board, some magnetic letters, and some toys that my daughter had lying around the house.

Once you are accepted into the program and know you will be making some money soon, you can begin to invest in more props, and backdrop, and whatever else you see as necessary to make the best learning environment for you VIPKID students.

I would try to spend as little as possible until you figure out if you are actually in. This way you can cut your losses if you don’t make the cut.

Teaching Your First VIPKID Class

My Review of VIPKID So Far

So far I really am enjoying VIPKID.

I definitely still get nervous. I have taught 7 classes so far and have more tomorrow, Monday, Wednesday and Friday scheduled so far.

Some children are definitely easier than others because they are all different but it is really so much fun! It is so exciting to watch these kids learn and i feel happy and fulfilled after each class.

As time goes on as I am learning, and you will also. You will learn how to adapt your teaching style more toward each child and how much they know or don’t, and what excites them and more for rewards.

When you have regulars you will even begin to have a real relationship and feel free to send cards to your students through VIPKID.

This is the most legitimate and amazing way to make money at home, at least as a stay at home mom.

You make your own schedule, and you get to bend the lessons to your own teaching style to whatever gets the message across best.

I have definitely had to get up earlier than usual to get the hot spots when parents book times for their kids most often, but it makes me feel so good, and it is worth it!