As promised a day late and a dolla short...Sorry I couldn't resist that phrase, while I'm a day (dayssss) late this post is nothing short of a dolla!
Do you have a Bachelor's Degree and any experience working with kiddos?! If so you should consider working from home, making your own schedule, making $16-24 an hour, and loving your job! My referral link is posted at the bottom of the page. If this post convinced you to apply with VIPKID, then PLEASE use my referral code! (It helps me to advance within the company and I might get a referral bonus!) Seriously yall, I would not recommend something that wasn't legit a really good thing!!!
SO...WHY VIPKID?!
You will be unforgettable. You will also have some pretty unforgettable, hilarious, and sweet experiences in the process! As a teenager, I always wanted to be an English teacher in China. One particular family that I knew as a kid shared with us how their calling had been to serve on the mission field of China teaching English, and that there was a big demand for it. They were trying to recruit our family and friends to go and help them! They got to share their lessons, pics from their classrooms, their enthusiasm, and their love for it. It is still seared in my mind as something I knew I wanted to do and could be used to do.
And guess what?! I get to do that in a roundabout way bc VIPKID allows me to be a part of something bigger than I am. What a privilege it is to share my talents with that ginormous part of the world and its little adorable loves!
The whole 9 months before my first sweet babe was born, I prayed about how I was going to financially contribute to our family. Seriously yall. I knew as a young child, that I wanted to be a Mommy! Before the hubs and I got married, I made it plain and clear to him: When we have kids I am staying home with them! He never once put up an argument, but we prayed (and worried) about it A LOT from the day we found out I was preggo and hey, MY GOD PROVIDES IN EXCEEDING AND ABUNDANT WAYS! I just have to give Him the due glory here...because when He calls you to something, as impossible as it may seem, He takes care of you!
I started an entire pinboard and journal with my ideas for opening my own store, toyed with starting a blog and attempting to make money off the ads, debated selling Lularoe, Plexus, trying my hand at painting/embroidery, working from home via a big company like Delta, signed up to do those Mystery Shops (ain't nobody with 2 kids under 2 got time to get out and do that!) anything and everything...I had thought about it, prayed about it, and nothing worked out mainly because ALL of those things required too much of my TIME or lots of MONEY in start up costs.
The financial need never stopped being real, and I never stopped praying for a way to contribute. Then this summer, I saw a Facebook ad for VIPKID, and was like Pshhh...eyeroll and kept scrolling. Like what a gimmick!Who makes $16-24 an hour teaching online in just 25 minutes...yeah right.
A couple weeks later, my Mother in Law tagged me in a Facebook post for VIPKID and said I should look into it. A few days later my Aunt sent me a text saying hey, you could do this! So, finally I read the ad, I read reviews, I read the requirements, and I thought there's no way they will accept my credentials because the college I graduated from is not prestigious enough, but I'll fill in the information anyway. Yall, I was so vague. I mean I had been a classroom teacher for 6 years and definitely LOVED teaching! I had some experience that I really could of hammed up, but I knew this was too good to be true so I briefed it.
Within 24 hours, I had an email asking me to set up an interview and teach a brief 10 minute sample lesson with the powerpoint slides provided in the email. What?! Ok, why not, right?! What do I have to lose?! I can definitely get a child to repeat the alphabet and phonetic sounds right?! It was Beijing time so I think it was like 3 am. The interview was with someone in China in the HR department and was all of 30 minutes. They asked about me, told me about the company, gave me some suggestions, and let me teach. I went to bed and told my husband that it was such a neat and professional experience, but I didn't expect anything to really come of it. Although, true to the advertisement, I was floored with the possibility of bringing in an extra $2,000 a month. Within 24 hours, I had another email asking me to sign up for a MOCK 1 Interview. It was a little more involved (25 slides for a 25 minute lesson like the actual classes are), but was evaluated by a mentor teacher here in the states. I spent hours preparing. I was so nervous. The mentor teacher acts like a 5 year old Chinese student who doesn't know any English. It was pretty stressful, I taught "too long" had a lot of incidental language, and I knew that I bombed it. I honestly went to bed crying that night, but then within 48 hours I got another email asking me to take a MOCK 2. This time I spent less time preparing and more time being genuine. I rocked that interview! I knew that if they didn't hire me, it was because I did so poorly on the first Mock. Within 48 hours, I got an email saying I had been hired! They handle each step of the interview process on a 48-72 hour time sensitive basis...probably because they have a lot of applicants applying!
We were getting ready to go on a family vacation, so I waited until we got back to submit all my required documentation and proofs. When we got back, I opened up my schedule and my bookings started to slowly trickle in, and oh my soul, I stinkin' love it! I'm always so pumped after teaching, and I love that I'm getting to use my talents while staying at home! (Plus this will look good on my resume one day if the door opens for me to step back inside the classroom setting!) I love that the lessons are short and sweet and that there's very little parent interaction, no grading, and the lessons are prepared for you! Oh and my favorite thing is without a doubt...the money. Here are my top 10 reasons why you should consider VIPKID:
1. You can be a part of something bigger than yourself!
2. You make your own schedule! (I work while my husband is home and babies are sleeping so I don't miss any time with them!) If you'd be able to work morning hours, those are the hottest times of the day! I can't because of my littles, but there are a lot of scheduling options.
3. You can make between $16-24 an hour. (My average is $22) There are all kinds of bonus' available, promotional opportunities, and certifications. Seriously yall, my first pay check was about $300, and they have doubled since then. That may not sound like a lot to you...but that's a car payment and then some to me.
4. Classes are only 25 minutes long (28 minutes max if technical difficulties occur)
5. No grading!
6. Lesson's are provided! (based off Common Core standards)
7. No Start up Costs (everything I use, I already had between my former classrooms and my kid's toys!)
8. No parent communication!
9. Work from home! (I teach in a corner of my kitchen!)
10. It's FUN! Your heart will be knit with the culture and kiddos of China!
What are you waiting for?! GO APPLY NOW at VIPKID! AND PLEASE select "click here for referral code" and use: 03T8X7 This will best allow me to mentor you through the process should you need it! They are expanding soon and the need for teachers is great right now! Feel free to email me at jenfouts@gmail.com with any questions or mentoring that you may need. Happy Applying until Happy Teaching!
