How we get paid to travel & how you can too!
Let me start by saying, that I never thought this could be possible. I'll have to go back in time by two years. In 2017, a friend had informed my wife, Angelina, who at the time was being an entrepreneur by selling naturally-based makeup products on the internet, that she could make a steady income by teaching kids English online. It's called, An ESL Teacher.
This said friend gave the Mrs. all the info to sign up, but she was very skeptical. It seemed too good to be true. One day she included her resume with everything the teaching company asked for, the very next day she got a response. By the third day, she had a video interview set up with a link to download the company's software. By the end of the week, she was hired.
The company is based in China, as most of them are. There are many of them that offer ESL. This is one of the better-known companies called, QKids. We had a lot of questions. Questions like: How do you get paid? Do you get paid in USD? When is the payout? How do you they handle taxes? How much do you get paid?
At the time of this, I was working a full-time job. Angelina would wake up at 5:25 a.m., grab a coffee, and be ready to teach by 5:40 a.m. She would teach three classes in the morning. With each class lasting a half-hour, you are technically paid $10 dollars each class, untaxed. It is up to each teacher to fill out a 1099 form during tax season.
Here is how payment works
✦ $20.00 per hour.
✧ Maximum of 4 classes a morning, 7 days a week.
✦ Payout is on or close to the 12th of each month.
✧ For having good attendance (not missing classes) and getting a good rating from parents for classes taught, you can also accrue bonuses. The bonuses can run you an extra $100.00 USD or more depending on the time of the year and how many classes you taught.
✦You can also get bonuses for signing up new teachers. It changes throughout the year. I've seen the teacher bonus for new teacher hiring be an extra $150.00 USD.
If you taught all seven days (which we don't) you would have $280.00 a week.
How is this all litigated?
The Company, Qkids, has an app called Juiqu. When you are hired, you are given a teacher login. Once in the software, you have access to your Teacher Portal where you will add your direct deposit account, your resume, also your education. China also does a background check on each teacher and you have to submit to it.
✿Disclaimer: It didn't use to be this way, but CCT (Chinese Government) cracked down on what qualifications you need to be an ESL Teacher. The current requirement is to have at least a Bachelor's Degree or higher. When we started, neither one of us had a Bachelor's degree. What we did get was our TESOL Certification. We were able to find a deal on Groupon to take the 120-hour course online. I will post the link to that below. Also, if you want to start with teaching online, but do not have your bachelor's degree, feel free to email me to discuss other options that work!
120 TESOL: International Open Academy
Be sure to search for this on Groupon as I've gotten this course for $4.00 dollars before.
Below are the steps for getting hired as an ESL teacher.
My email: daniel@dreamdigitalimages.com
⦿ I recommend building a LinkedIn profile and saving your resume from there.
⦿ Next, once your resume is ready, go to QKids Website and apply.
⦿ When asked to put in a Referral Code, use this one: AVAZHT
(This is Angelina's Teacher Referral)
Feel free to also use my Teacher Referral: CGNYZA
⦿ Allow for a day or two for QKids to contact you by email and follow their instructions.
⦿ Side Note. QKids is not the only company. There are VIPKids and SayABC. I have nearly worked for SayABC and may still do so in the future. In my professional opinion, the best to work for are in the following order: QKids, Magic Ears, SayABC, VIPKids.
The hiring process for all of these companies is very similar. SayABC has its own app as well and uses Skype at the same time. Qkids works on Mac and PC. I have used it on both and am currently on Mac. Qkids recently developed the program and the teacher portal for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. I can check all of my classes on my phone and my MacBook. I can cancel classes and contact my coach through their messaging within the application. The Qkids application can now be accessed through the Apple App Store, you will, however, need a login to use it.
On top of building websites, the steady income of being able to teach from nearly anywhere in the world gives our family the opportunity to travel. On days I don't have big website projects, our work is done before 8:30 a.m. During the Summer, we're able to pick up extra classes and teach night classes. All of this gives us enough to continue to travel and maintain a steady income. Other country's currency will allow your money to go further. It's also important to note that when you're teaching from a foreign country, you do not need a work permit for that country because you're technically e-commerce.
Things we are always aware of when traveling, and is a must, is that we have steady internet in the location we're staying. If that is not possible, we normally don't stay for too long and we have to cancel our classes in advance.
We were in the mountains in Cabrera, Dominican Republic, and we had very good Wifi. So, not having internet is few and far between.
In some cases, there are places you will stay that have internet that is not fast enough for video-to-video teaching. You can personally ask that the internet speed be increased for the time you are there. We find that most places will honor this as long as you pay the internet bill during your stay. I am not talking about Hotels. HomeAway and Airbnb are how you find the kind of travel destinations with these options. In up-and-coming, or third world countries, the price for internet is not the same as it is in the United States. It's important to plan ahead.
The process at first may seem daunting, but it actually happens quickly. Once you're hired, there are facebook groups you can join to talk with other teachers. You will be assigned a coach that you can always reach out to if you have questions or concerns. Getting paid while traveling is a reality and I hope others are able to accomplish it.