HOW DO I GET STARTED?



Learn more about what you need to secure your next teaching job



How Do I Get Started?





Once you understand the basics of what TEFL is, and depending on the route you decide to take, sometimes, being a fluent English speaker is enough to start having conversational lessons with learners. However, in order to open yourself up the best opportunities, some of the following are usually required (or a combination of the below):


1. Native or Fluent English Speaker

2. Newish PC, Laptop, Tablet (with webcam) or Smartphone

3. High speed internet connection

4. A quiet and bright environment

5. Noise cancelling headset

6. Qualified – Bachelor’s Degree/TEFL Certificate

7. Teaching English Experience


The best paying and most well-regarded opportunities are usually reserved for the most qualified and so whilst it’s not always necessary, we do recommend that you qualify as a TEFL tutor. There are 100s of different courses to choose from, that vary in budget, time required, and skills/experience gained. It’s up to you to decide what will suit your needs, but, make sure the course you pick is at least 120-hours, accredited and recognised across the world.


There are 3 main different ways that you can get paid to teach English online:

• Work for a school/company

• Join a create a profile website

• Find Your Own Students


If you’re just getting started with teaching English online, consider a combination of working for a school and a create a profile website. It gives you an opportunity to test the waters and find out what teaching style best suits you. If you are interested in making this your full-time income, sometimes it can take a while to build up to full-time hours as students/parents take the time to get to know you so even when you feel ready to go alone and start your own teaching business, you may still need to utilise a teaching platform alongside your own until you are satisfied with the number of clients that you’ve secured.



Work for a Language School



If you like the idea of having regular income and being able to just turn up and teach with all the materials supplied for you then you should definitely consider teaching with an online language school. Bear in mind though that many of these companies are based in Asian companies and as such, laws may vary greatly to your expectations. Make sure that you are comfortable with the conditions of the contracts you sign. Working with a Language school is probably the quickest and easiest way to jump start your teaching English online career.


PROS

• Guaranteed work

• Regular income

• They provide the lesson materials

• Little/no preparation time – just turn up and teach

• You’ll usually get paid even if students don’t turn up.

• It’s an easy income stream when almost everything is provided for you

• Good work/life balance as you can make work fit around your life.

• You may save money, there's no expensive commutes or daily café trips


CONS

• Hours may be limited to peak hours which may be unsociable depending on the time difference

• How much you can earn may be limited – rates vary greatly between companies

• Companies may have a set teaching style

• You may have to wear a uniform/specific colours

• It can be difficult to take time off

• Laws in the company location may be very different to your home country which means you may not be as protected as you are used to


Where to start: We have a list of over 100 companies that you can apply to with varying requirements and conditions. Check out our huge list here to get started:


Search Our Big List of Companies

Join a Create-a-Profile Website



If you’re looking for lots of flexibility then you should a website that allows you to build your own profile. With these websites, students are free to choose their tutors at any time they would like to have a lesson. These platforms are more likely to be open 24 hours a day as students may be based anywhere in the world. With these platforms, you can also usually set your own rates giving you greater earning potential.


PROS

• You can usually set your own rate

• Most companies have 1000s students eager to learn

• Work as much or as little as you want.

• A lot of flexibility in the time you can work

• Most of these platforms involve conversational lessons which can be very casual and relaxed.

• Good work/life balance as you can make work fit around your life.

• No start up costs, you may actually save money with no expensive commutes or daily café trips


CONS

• It may take some time to create a full and regular schedule

• The company will take a commission, sometimes as much as 30%


Search Create-a-Profile Sites

Find Your Own Students



If you’re very confident and would like complete control over how you work then you should definitely consider starting your own teaching business. You’ll need your own website and will need to come with a marketing strategy to attract new students but you’ll have lots of freedom to work on your own terms.


PROS

• Work as much or as little as you want.

• Set your own rate

• Freedom to teach what you want

• Freedom to teach students of your choice

• You can develop your own teaching style

• All the money goes direct to you


CONS

• You have to develop your course and all of your own material

• You will have to spend a lot of time marketing to find your students

• You may have to spend money to get traffic to your website

• You may have to offer free/discounted lessons to build up your portfolio



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