Would you turn down working from home? Why not teach kids English every morning? With so many online teaching companies out there, it can be tough to figure out which are legit. EF Online, which is part of the EF (Education First) family, is the OG of teaching companies. EF Education First has been around since 1965 and has mainly focused on sending teachers abroad to work. They’ve found their sea legs in the online education game and are setting native speaking teachers up to teach kids English online. So, trust me when I say, this is legit.
Sound too good to be true? It’s not.
There are just a few things that you need if you want to work with EF Education First. You must have the ability to connect with people. No brainer, right?
You’ll also need to make yourself available in the early hours of the morning, which is great if you want to earn some cash before the kids wake up. Eligible teachers must be from the US or the UK and will need a 40 hour TEFL certification (not as bad as it seems). Finally, you need some type of teaching experience. You don’t have teaching experience? Stop selling yourself short; coaching, babysitting, mentoring all count. It may go without saying, but you’ll also need access to a headset, computer, and the internet. So, unless you’re on a deserted island a la Tom Hanks in Cast Away, you can do this from anywhere in the world.
You can make some good cash through EF Education First, enough to replace your day job (unless you’re Mark Zuckerberg). You can earn up to $20/hour through a mix of base salary and incentives. Average base pay is $13.20/hour, but there are a ton of incentives to increase your take home. Teaching during busy hours, keeping your class time, and teaching more than 45 classes within the month will all earn you some extra cash. To sweeten the deal, EF Online has a great milestone program. The more you teach, the more you earn right up to $1000. Sign me up!
Hate lesson planning?
Another major perk of EF Education First is they give your teaching materials ahead of time. All you need to do is log into the portal and familiarize yourself with the content. The lessons are mostly conversational practice, so specific teaching skills aren’t necessary. Each lesson is 25 minutes, so you can do quite a few per morning, and have the rest of the day to yourself.
This all sounds fine and well, but how do I apply?
If you want to teach kids English with EF, it is super easy to get started. Go to this website and hit apply now. You’ll fill out a brief bio, then select a few interview times.
EF will contact you during one of your interview times to discuss your qualifications and your comfort with the platform. From there, you’ll receive an offer of employment. You’ve got this.
There are two things to consider with EF. First, you must be living in the US or the UK to be eligible. If that doesn’t apply to you, move on. Second, you must be TEFL certified. TEFL is a document that proves you’ve completed basic training on how to teach English as a second language. There are a few ways to get this document: in person or online. Since the name of the game is working from home, I vote the latter. Learn more about TEFL and some cheap courses through this article.
The companies out there advertising online teaching jobs are plenty. So long as you are living in the US or UK, EF is a sure-fire way to make some extra cash without ever leaving your home.