Phone Interview
In this kind of interview, it is a little bit nervous because the interviewer or caller will call you anytime and wherever you are. So I advised that if you are in the stage of receiving a phone interview, better to set your schedules to stay more at home so that you can concentrate on answering the questions. It will take for 5-8 minutes call only. I can recall when I was asked to sing nursery rhyme songs. This is to test the pronunciation skills. The common questions asked were:
- Can you tell me about yourself?
- State your educational background and experiences.
- Questions about how to handle students and your roles as a teacher.
Video Interview
This is a set schedule interview. You have still the time to be ready to set up your tools when you will have your video interview. To make it successful and your interviewer will get impress you, you must have stable internet, good lighting, and wearing formal attire to look more presentable. There is a possibility that through video interviews, they will check your equipment too if they are qualified to use it in online teaching.
Walk-in-Interview
The advantage of a walk-in interview is that you don't have to prepare more in setting up your equipment because you have to face your interviewer personally. Based on my experience, this is the type of interview I like the most because there is a real person you can see and talk to what I mean, can meet her or him personally.
Demo Interview
This is a lot of work to do because they were combined as one. I had this interview in my other job. I booked a schedule that I prefer to conduct my demonstration and I was given 25 minutes to introduce myself, rewards, learning materials, and what students expect from my class. After that then I did the lesson until I finished at the last minute. The good thing about this is that I don't have an actual student in the video class. I have to be the student and teacher as one. They will base my performance on the demonstration if I pass that level.
When we say technical requirements, it will be more focused on the availability of your equipment and tools. You cannot tell a lie to them because they can easily detect if your equipment did not pass in the tech check. They will send links and applications to use to trace if they are a match and usable in online teaching.
Having a stable internet connection is a must because it is the way we are connected to our students most especially students from abroad. Some companies will require you a wired connection where it can be a form of DSL or Fiber and must have at least 25-30 mpbs. You don't have to worry about that if you don't have a wired connection because there is a company that accepts wifi or even using your data connection but you know the risks for it. It has limited data and a set consumption of connections.
So if there is a desire on you to teach, then you have to invest in your internet connection.
As you can see in the pictures there are two kinds of hearing tools which are the earbuds and the headset. To clarify something, headphone differs from a headset as you can see that a headset has a microphone and we badly need that to deliver a clear and understandable message to the students.
E.S.L Companies really required the teachers or applicants to have a noise-canceling. This will help us to avoid any noise or distractions. This can contribute a lot because this will save you from complaints of the students or parents. As part of our goal is to provide a quality education so we must find ways on how to not conduct a lesson that is noisy and we don't want it to happen.
If there are some people who are not aware that there are earbuds that are noise-canceling too. I love using it because it very light and easy to wear unlike the headset it's way heavier and the longer it is on my head, the more pain I feel on my ears. So you really have to find a comfortable and good quality noise-canceling headset. So I recommend you the Plantronics brand because out of the 4 headsets that I used before, that's the only firm, quality, and light headset to put on.
This time, we are in the equipment that sometimes failed us to pass. Others find it too expensive to invest and the SPECS from it. When it comes to computers and laptops, it must have a windows 10, with an inter-core of i5 and above, and the memory must have at least 4GB of RAM. We have to understand its operating system since we are expecting to have heavy files and more things when you are officially a teacher. Then if you want to have the phone, it has fewer specs required compared to the computer or desktop.
A camera with a resolution of 720p and above is totally good. There are built-in cameras on the desktop or laptop or to have an extended camera. We avoid having blurry video or low-quality video because this can affect your lesson with your student. They want their teacher to be visible as they can in a clear form.
When we say conducive environment, it is an environment that is good for learning from any form of distractions. You must have good lighting to brighten up your surroundings. Your tarpaulin or background must be educational and friendly to the students. We should not over-decorate it. Now if you have pets at home, you have to make sure they are in the right place because if your noise-canceling headset is not good enough, It will detect animal sounds, vehicles, and even when people talk. They hate to hear some extra sounds especially when the parents are with them.
Mock demos are a surprising demonstration. This can be done after the training to test if you fully absorb the lesson and see if there is a capacity within you to teach. On the other side, the trial classes are classes that you can practice until you master the topic or lesson material. It serves as your ground to stand. Every single demos given to you must be taken seriously. It's the time where they observe your way of teaching. In my final demonstration, I was able to face actual students and in my other job, my student was a Chinese evaluator. I am glad that I passed everything I'd been through.
They prefer to have a neutral accent. Our communication skills should be evident because students look up to us to learn and imitate. Speaking, pronunciation and grammar are important to deliver a quality lesson. They enrolled their children specifically in the ESL industry is for them to learn basic English and develop it to the next level.
Wearing formal attire will help you to look presentable. Even though we are working at home, we must not let ourselves wear home clothes. We should always be reminded of our profession and role. Based on the company I am working for, we are allowed to put on make-up but not too bold. What I did, since the company itself did not provide a uniform, I bought 3 pieces of yellow plain shirts as my daily uniform to keep on track and less thinking of what to wear for the next days. Wearing of over fashioned jewelry is not acceptable too and I respect what the company required me not to do and have to do.
You must show your best if you are wishing to be an Online Teacher. Having strong confidence will help you to boost and prepared for whatever situations you will encounter. I can remember during our training we are a total of 30 applicants I think and we were given an hour to prepare for our mock demo. They want to see those applicants who are smiling, responsive and confident. I follow carefully on their requirements and luckily I made it. I am so blessed that I have this kind of confidence that helps me most to get into any job I applied.
With a massive of applicants, they became more strict on the requirements. They need a certificate as proof that you are qualified. For those who have licenses in teaching, they are accepted for some companies but if you don't have one then you must have at least one for the following: TESOL, TEFL, TEYL. Please be wise in letting yourself get trained in the certificates so that you will not be scammed. Some people online are selling very low prices which is far beyond the real actual price of the certificates then when you apply, it was detected that they are fake. So be extra careful.
The last one is the schedule. You will be given two options from the company. If you want a flexible time, you make your own schedule but if you want to have a fixed one then they can give it to you as well. You must commit your time to those classes that are booked from your account because it's a great chance for you to gain regular students.
I am about to end this blog, I do hope that it can help you and share with your friends who are interested to have a part-time or full-time job as an Online teacher. Thank you everyone and until next time.
Images were created by @missdonna through source