*Disclaimer: This article may include affiliate links, for which I may receive a minuscule kickback.
Teaching English online with Qkids changed my family’s life in the best ways possible. I started with Qkids in July 2019, and I have loved every moment of it. I’m one of those people who will not shut up about how great my job is (and how you should get into it, too) at any chance that arises.
“Did I just hear someone say they saw a commercial for a cool new restaurant? So fun! Do you know what a restaurant is? A company. You know what’s another cool company? QKids. Have you heard of them? OMG– the best. Are you looking for a job, by any chance?”
That’s me bothering the guy who’s just trying to enjoy his shrimp puff.
I understand that I am a QKids elevator pitch in human form, but I really cannot help myself. I adore this ESL company and its platform, and I feel both grateful and shocked that I am able to do what I do.
So why am I a walking advertisement for teaching English online with QKids specifically? Because I genuinely love my job. How come? I could go on and on forever, but to spare time, I’ve narrowed it down to these 12 reasons:
Reason #1: It’s 100% remote
I’ve worked for myself for a few years now, holding various types of remote jobs. What has irked me about some of them is that they weren’t truly– fully— remote. One company required a software installation that was only downloadable onto one desktop. So, I could work from my home living room, but nowhere else. Others mandated regular, in-office meetings.
On the other hand, teaching English online with QKids is completely, five-hundred-percent remote work. I can download the platform through which I teach onto my laptop or desktop, and so long as I have a quiet working environment and strong internet connection, I can teach from anywhere in the US or Canada. I also have an app on my phone that allows me to check into my portal, communicate with staff, and view upcoming classes any time.
I never have to drive, which saves a ton of time and money on gas and maintenance, as well as minimizes the time I’m around other, potentially dangerous drivers (the amount of people who use their phones while driving seriously scares me!). I also wear pajama pants with a solid-colored hoodie pretty much every single day. I call it my “work uniform.”
Reason #2: It doesn’t involve sales or customer service
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was actually a legitimate job that allowed you to work from home, pick and choose your own schedule and take off whenever you need, make great money, and not sell your soul to the devil– ahem– I mean, to a pyramid scheme?– AHEM, sorry– to a multi-level marketing ploy? One that didn’t require you to sell anything at all, that also allowed you to avoid dealing with angry or confused customers all day? Enter: teaching English online with QKids.
Take a look online at the remote jobs that exist. Type “remote work” into any job finder, and watch your screen fill with classifieds from MLMs, commission-only sales “opportunities,” grueling customer service jobs, work that makes you pay to join, and a slew of other scammy, suspicious offers. QKids eliminates all of that and leaves you with a job you’ll actually enjoy.
Seriously, my friends. To get paid teaching English online is a dream job within the sea of pushy, scammy alternatives.
Apply now to start this dream job! It takes five minutes!
Reason #3: The pay is hard to beat
QKids’ salary is awesome. I make a minimum of $16/hour teaching English online, but I have actually never made that “low” of an hourly rate. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I make at least $20/hour, and during extremely busy rush seasons, I can make $24/hour or more with extra bonus incentives. Let me explain:
QKids pays all teachers the same: a base of $8 per 30-minute class, giving you $16/hour. But then you also get a performance bonus of $1 per class for every class in which parents rate you a four, a five, or leave no rating. This bonus sounds harder to achieve than it is; I’ve only missed earning this bonus for maybe five classes TOTAL (losing five dollars) since starting in July 2019. With my performance bonus, I make $18/hour.
You also get an attendance bonus of another extra $1 per class for every class that you teach once you teach 15 or more classes in a week and have no major attendance issues. The attendance policy is very forgiving (more on that below), and your bonus eligibility resets each week. In other words, even if you have one bad week, it will not count against you moving forward. With my attendance bonus, I make $20/hour.
If you help a friend get into teaching English online with QKids as well, then you’ll receive a minimum of $100 as a referral bonus. Sometimes they offer higher referral bonuses during times of increased need. They will also offer increased attendance bonuses sometimes when they have high demands for classes. Last month, my hourly rate averaged out to be almost $26/hour.
I even get paid when no one shows up to class! If I wait in class for 10 minutes, then I can leave and have 30 minutes to myself while getting paid $8. For doing nothing! I usually grab a snack or work on a blog. You really cannot beat this job!
If you also want to get paid to teach English online with QKids, then click here to apply!
Reason #4: I control my own taxes
Teaching English online with any ESL company, QKids included, means that you will pay your own taxes. Think of yourself as a small business– a sole proprietor– and think of teaching English online as the service you sell. Since you work for yourself, you will file a Schedule C business tax return. Doing so allows you to write off any expenses associated with the job.
I write off everything I need to perform my work: half of my monthly internet bill, half of my phone bill, a portion of my mortgage for my home office space, the props/decor I buy and use, my headset, part of my utilities, my desk, my laptop, my ring light, everything! Call me crazy, but I love controlling my own taxes instead of having the government take an automatic cut and return a percentage of it a year later. I prefer to keep more money in my pocket longer while seeing exactly how much I owe and why.
Reason #5: It’s actually fun
Teaching English online with QKids is hands-down the most fun I’ve ever had while working. And no, this isn’t like 85% of other jobs that are like: “Work here! You’ll love it!! We have a foosball table here! We know how to have fun!!” No.
I get to be silly without the embarrassment or increased physical exhaustion of being in front of a group. I get to sing and dance and make stupid faces and try my best to make kids smile and laugh. And I get paid pretty stinkin’ great to do this!
The core of every class is entertaining or interesting, and the stress associated with my job is extremely low. I can genuinely say I enjoy myself every single day that I work. How many people get to say that? Hashtag blessed.
Reason #6: Work stays at work
This job perk is new to me. As a recovering perfectionist, people-pleaser, and overachiever, my work has never stayed at work. For me, work has always consumed my life. Clock in and out? Yeah right. Every line that separated my job and my personal life has been blurred for as long as I can remember. Work/life balance was more like an urban legend than an achievable practice.
That is until I started teaching English online with QKids. The only time I take outside of teaching my classes is two minutes to glance over my lessons for the day. That’s it. I am not expected to work on my own time (or my own dime!), and nothing overlaps into my personal life. When I sign off for the day, my work remains out of sight and out of mind until I’m on the clock teaching again. It’s wonderful.
Want work/life balance? Apply to become a Qkids teacher.
Reason #7: The classes are awesome
QKids uses a set of animated cartoon characters– most notably, Koby Koala and Momo Monkey– within almost all of its lessons. The lessons are upbeat, funny, colorful, interesting, and they operate like a computer game. Everything is immersion-based, with zero time spent on explaining the technicalities of English. You will never explain how grammar works or why.
QKids offers English classes to kids ages 3-13, with varying expertise levels. Most teachers teach what are called the “general courses,” which is where all teachers start. After some experience and a review from the internal staff, you could also get invited to teach phonics courses to beginner students, expert-level classes to advanced students, or even science classes. I’ve been promoted twice now, so I teach everything except for science (so far.)
Each type of class is outstanding in it’s own way. General courses are always amusing, phonics classes are high-energy and fly by, and the upper level courses are seriously interesting. In my advanced courses, I have learned about art, about the lives and work of Leonardo DaVinci, Jackie Chan, and Charlie Chaplin, about climate change and how it affects various ecosystems, about the history of the Great Wall of China, about space exploration, and much, much more.
Reason #8: The platform is super easy to use
I am mildly technical, and that’s being generous. I’ve been tinkering online since I was ten years old, and I was an early adopter of Facebook, but that’s about it. Although my undergraduate degree is in television production, I used to write and produce my colleagues’ stories in exchange for their editing work. I don’t know how to use Photoshop, and I’ll probably be left behind by technology by age 40 at the latest.
That being said, the QKids platform is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. If I can do it, you can do it too. Honestly. If I gave you access to my teacher portal right now and opened one of my scheduled classes, I bet you’d be able to figure out what to click and where to start with zero prior exposure to the platform.
Reason #9: QKids far outweighs its competition
I won’t name names because I don’t want to publicly bash any company. It’s also fair to mention that I also know at least one person from every single online ESL company who has good things to say.
However, I have personally worked with three different platforms thus far, and in my opinion, QKids is by far the best online ESL company to work with.
Other ESL companies have cons to the job that QKids simply doesn’t have. For instance, many ESL companies expect you to do a dog and pony show with each class, mandating multiple props, unique rewards systems, and elaborately decorated backgrounds.
Most companies also have a much stricter attendance policy, including an additional financial penalty if you miss classes. Yes, they will actually deduct money from what you’ve already earned! Bump that. Qkids has the most flexible attendance/cancellation policy by far, making it stand out amongst its competitors.
Some companies seriously lack in the communication department. Others do not book any classes for you– instead, you have to just hope that your profile stands out within a sea of 80,000+ teachers to get your first booking.
QKids has zero of those cons stated above. Every single teacher who has taught or teaches English for QKids as well as other companies says that QKids is the best option out there. I’m sure that you can tell I agree!
Reason #10: The staff is amazing
I absolutely love the QKids staff. I love my coach, Joyce, I love the Central Communications Team (CCT), I love Erin, whom I work with on Qkids events… I love everyone. Every staff member is super prompt, helpful, caring, understanding, and expressive in how much they appreciate you as a teacher. They are wonderful humans.
You can get a small taste of how friendly and great the QKids staff is by checking out their “Meet the Staff” videos on the QKids YouTube channel. You can also read how highly rated this company is by visiting the QKids profile on Glassdoor or by checking out their glowing reviews on the Qkids Indeed page.
All of my emails have been answered in 48 hours or less (even with the time difference!), and I have never felt talked down to, micromanaged, distrusted, undervalued, underpaid, confused, or misguided. The entire QKids team communicates efficiently and openly. For the record, these qualities starkly contrast most of the American jobs I’ve had throughout my life.
Feel appreciated for once by becoming a Qkids teacher!
Reason #11: The students are seriously the best
Of course, the other group of people you’ll work with when you start teaching English online is the students– and they are just as amazing as the QKids staff. My students are astoundingly intelligent, adorable, hilarious, multi-talented, interesting, cultured, enthusiastic, and so incredibly appreciative of their teachers.
Of course, kids are kids and they have their off-moments, but I literally cannot think of one student who was so frustrating or misbehaved that the memory has stuck with me. Any less-than-ideal interactions with students have been so trivial that I’ve forgotten about them by now. Undoubtedly, I teach some of the best students in the world!
Reason #12: Teaching English online can become a career
I juggle too many hats to be able to teach English online full-time, but many teachers work for more than one company and make teaching English online a full-time job. Trust me, I wish I would’ve started this job two years earlier when I was child-free and had the availability to pull in tons of hours. I could’ve saved a huge nest egg, paid off my student loans, or both. Some teachers working with two or more companies and open availability can pull in over $7,000 in one month during the busy season.
The future of teaching English online is expanding rapidly, as is all online education. Thanks to technology and an enormous rise in travel, we are all more connected to one another than ever before. Millions of people around the world are hungry to learn English, and ESL is becoming the norm. This is truly a job that you could turn into a lifelong career.
Teaching children in China has expanded my view of the world and piqued my fascination with Chinese culture. And the fact that I get paid to teach English to some of the brightest kids in the world is a dream.
I absolutely love working with QKids, and I hope to keep this job for as long as possible.
Want to love your job, too? Then teach English online with QKids! Stop putting it off, and apply today!