What to Consider When Getting An Online Teaching Job

Are you thinking of getting an online tutoring or teaching job? Well, many people are now turning to the internet to get a degree, to get help with their current studies, or simply to learn some new skill. And with the boom of online teaching, you might as well take advantage of it—that is, of course, if you want to teach and got something to teach.

Unfortunately, desire for teaching and being knowledgeable in a certain field of study aren’t enough to land you a teaching job online. Somehow, online learning centers have put up standards to maintain their credibility as well as the quality of education they offer.

Almost all online learning institutions require applicants to have at least a bachelor’s degree. Of course, depending on the education level that you will teach, they may require you to have a post-graduate degree; you must have finished a masters or doctorate degree.

In language teaching, however, you may not be required to have a degree. As long as you are proficient in the language you’ll be teaching, you may get hired. You’ll get bigger chances of landing the job, though, if you are a native speaker, have prior language teaching experience, and/ or have passed language proficiency certification programs (which are sometimes required).

Now, if you fill in the educational background requirements, proceed to the other not-so-hard-to-meet-but-equally-important requirements. Firstly, do you have a stable net connection and a reliable computer? Many online tutoring are done real time through voice chat. If you have a lousy internet provider, you better change it. You wouldn’t want to start your three-hour teaching session with how to divide fractions only to end it still discussing the same thing, just because you and your student couldn’t hear each other because your net connection keeps on lagging.

Taking on the job when you know your net connection or computer isn’t dependable is simply unprofessional. Everyone has a right to commit mistakes or to have emergencies that sometimes prevent one from delivering their job properly. However, knowing beforehand that you’ll be having many of those preventable glitches is a different matter.

After the technical stuff and educational requirements comes your working environment. Chances are you’ll be teaching from your home—the usual setting of most online jobs. Now, working at home does have its benefits. You wouldn’t have to be caught in traffic jams to “meet” your student. You can easily grab a bite in the kitchen if you get hungry. And you don’t have to really dress up for your session. However, the question is: Is your home conducive for online teaching sessions?

If you have kids at home running around and creating all sorts of noise all the time, then you should know that it’s no way a good condition to teach in. Even if you’re good at tuning out such disturbances while at work, you can’t always get a student who can do the same. Unless the tutoring job involves only correcting and answering assignments via email exchange or IM chat, you better find yourself a room in your house which you can keep to yourself during sessions.

If you meet all these necessities for online teaching, then what are you waiting for? Polish your resume and brush up on your mentoring skills for that teaching job you want—now!