If you are looking for an online teaching job for the first time, you will need some guidance, especially when you don’t have any previous teaching experiences.
Lucky for you, there are many opportunities and support these days for people seeking online teaching positions. There is also a whole community based around the world of online English teaching jobs that you can tap into.
With teaching online, you can earn a decent income meanwhile enjoying a rewarding career at the same time. If you’ve ever wondered how to become an online teacher, there are some main steps that you have to consider in order to make it work for you.
Step 1: Make Sure You Have the Right Qualifications
There are some qualifications that you have to meet in order to determine that you’re going to be a reliable hire for online English teaching.
This is the same as any job opening that is above entry level, after all. Different online platforms will have different sets of requirements for characteristics, including experience, education, and availability. There are some other qualifications that you should meet, however, across the board.
Educational requirements
A lot of platforms will only specify an educational background that meets minimum post-secondary requirements (ex: B.A), but it’s a good idea to make sure that your educational background is aligned with what the platform(s) are looking for.
This is also the case when you are online teaching in a more specific platform. For example, ESL often requires that you are a native speaker of English in order to apply.
When you are online teaching with a specific job group (engineering, for example), you’ll often have to hold related degrees in order to make sure that you are an authoritative speaker in the category.
Interest in the job and age groups
This seems a little obvious when you’re looking at how to get an online teaching job, but it really is important to focus on.
For example, if you don’t like teaching kids, don’t go for an online position with kids, specify adults. If you don’t like the idea of teaching ESL, perhaps consider other specialized options. You will need to make sure that you have the right mindset to win these positions.
Time management and organizational skills
When you work online and you are considered a remote worker, you will be responsible for making sure that you stay on top of your own time management and organization.
If these are both things that you struggle with, you’ll want to make sure that you are ready for the potential challenge they may bring to your day to day life.
Comfort in online communication
Since you are teaching online through video (in most cases), you’ll want to make sure that you are comfortable communicating through online means. If you prefer a phone and don’t like video, this is something to consider.
You’ll also want to pay extra attention to the training that you get to make the most out of the video chatting itself.
Step 2. Determine Your Availability
After you meet the requirements for an online teaching job, you’ll want to take a look at how much you really want to work.
If you can look at full-time availability, go ahead and apply for those positions. If you want to look at something more flexible or part-time, then you can specify that kind of timeframe and ramp it up as you need to.
You’ll find most positions are designed to be part-time or flexible in order to be most convenient for your schedule. However, some positions will also have a fixed timeframe that online teachers need to adjust as well.
Step 3: Bump up Your Online Presence
Since you’re applying for an online job in particular, you’ll want to consider bumping up your online presence.
This could be in your social media accounts, but it could also be in a blog or an online portfolio in which you define yourself professionally and send it out to the people that want and need to see it.
Step 4: Professionalize Your Profile
When it comes to that online profile, you’ll also want to make sure that you have it as professional as possible.
If you don’t want to link our personal profiles to any job applications (which is understandable), consider the option of creating a professional alias profile on LinkedIn or other popular platforms that are designed specifically with professional connections in mind.
Step 5: Don’t Settle for Anything Less than You Want
This is a big one, and arguably the last step to apply for an online teaching job.
Sure, a big motivator is money when it comes to applying for an online teaching job. But, you also need to focus on the fact that you are getting what you are looking for.
Are you enjoying the hours that you want? The rate of pay that corresponds to what you think you’re worth? Are you teaching the age group that you enjoy?
These are all details that you’ll want to focus on when it comes to settling into a new job. You deserve to have a path that feels right for you and that will be worth your time and effort at the end of the day.
Conclusion
Without question, online teaching is exciting and fun for all those who are looking for the right kind of match and fit into their modern lives. As the internet gets more popular around the world for career options, this will only increase.
When you want to use the internet to earn money and also enjoy a rewarding career path, teaching online is a fantastic way to do both of those things and still have time for the rest of your life and the people in it. However, you also need to be willing to take the challenges that come with it too.
The steps above to teaching online will show you that it isn’t as hard as you might think. So, get on out there and take a look at what is going to be a match for you!
