VIPKID

What: VIPKID is a largely dormant site that paid fluent English speakers to teach English online to Chinese students

Expected pay: $14 – $22 per hour

Husl $core: $$$$

Where: National

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree;
• high speed internet connection;
• computer with an HD camera or web cam;
• a resume;
• pass interviews and other employee screening

VIPKID Review:

Hundreds of teachers reviewed VIPKID on both Indeed.com and Glassdoor and the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, noting that base pay starts at $7 – $9 per half-hour (depending on your credentials) and can be increased through a series of bonuses, allowing teachers to earn as much as $22 per hour.

The catch? The Chinese government changed the rules regarding tutoring school-aged kids in 2021, making much of what VIPKID does illegal. So, the site morphed to teach adult learners. But these students are rare.

Recent teacher reviews say it’s rarely worth getting up in the middle of the night (to tutor on Beijing time) to snag the rare remaining job here.

Complaints

The site remains online an actively recruits tutors, but it’s unclear why. It could be that VIPKID will pull off a revival at some point. For that reason, we’ll note that when the site was still vibrant, teachers did have a few complaints.

The main complaints about the company appear to be about technology and cancellations, which get you fined $10 per cancellation and can ultimately cause you to lose your position.

Teachers are also not guaranteed work. They’re chosen by the students and the students may be bigoted. African American teachers complain that they’re less likely to be chosen than white males.

Unlike normal teaching positions, you get very little additional pay for advanced degrees. And, you apparently are more popular as a teacher if you act silly while teaching in your orange VIPKID t-shirt. The bottom line: This can be an attractive opportunity, but perhaps, not for everyone. We’ve included an unusually large sample of reviews to help you evaluate whether this side hustle suits you.

Recommendations

You may want to consider tutoring with Wyzant, AmazingTalker or iTalki, all vibrant tutoring sites that allow you to tutor English and other subjects. 

What their teachers say:

“I have been with the company over a year. I love everything about it. It is a great job. The hours can be a challenge. As an independent contractor there aren’t any benefits, but the job itself and the company is an excellent work from home teaching position.”

“I was skeptical at first because it looked like a scam but I tried it anyway. It’s a time consuming interview process but if you practice and follow all directions it’s easy. I passed and have been teaching for 3 months now. Everyone is very supportive. The children are adorable and so eager to learn it makes waking up early or staying up late manageable 🙂 Their cancellation policy is very strict. However you’re in charge of your own schedule so just don’t sign up for what you can’t handle.”

“This is truly one of the best jobs I have ever had. Throw on my orange shirt and walk down to my home office (while the rest of the family sleeps} and teach sweet, loving children across the world. You have to get up early, but it is so worth it to be done by 10am. “

“On the East Coast, the best hours to teach are 5-9 am (winter) and 6-10am (summer) and on weekends. I work about 10-12 hours/week and make about $950-1000/month. There are lots of incentives/bonuses available. I do not qualify for all of them, but that’s OK b/c I’m already getting paid $20+/hour.”

“Orange shirt required (not that big of a deal, but I look bad in orange.)”

Tough cancellation policy

“Cancelling a class for ANY reason is highly frowned upon by the company. Exceeding the allotted number of cancellations (roughly three working days per six-month contract) can result in termination with no consideration for a teacher’s overall rating and attendance record.”