VIPKid Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took a week. I interviewed at VIPKid in May 2018.

Interview

There was an application and a test and then a mock class. They give you everything you need and are very supportive. There are coaches to help you with the lesson and you can redo parts of the interview.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at VIPKid (Cary, NC) in September 2016.

Interview

Applied online. Got a quick response by email asking to schedule an interview over video chat (like Skype). Got a job offer right away after the interview and was asked to schedule a time/date for the 1st practicum. Basically you need to watch about 4-5 hours of training videos, take a short quiz on the videos, do some practice, and then you're ready for a practicum where you "teach" an experienced teacher who is pretending to be a 5 year old student. The practicum is time for them to give you tips and answer your questions. You get 2 chances to pass the practicum. I think you can pass it on the first try but from what I gather, most people have to do 2 (I did 2). After the first one, the person you worked will send you a detailed copy of your practicum evaluation, so you can see how many points you got and where you need to improve.
After you pass the second practicum, you can start scheduling yourself for classes right away! It's awesome!

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at VIPKid (New York, NY) in August 2016.

Interview

It is long but worth it. It weeds out the non serious applicants. Plus these kids needs good teachers. Parents pay a lot of money per 25 min class ($42)

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 3 days. I interviewed at VIPKid (Richmond, VA) in October 2016.

Interview

Once you schedule an interview they give you a demo lesson, and videos and prep material. The interview is in 3 parts. They ask a few questions about your teaching background, you teach a demo lesson to the interviewer, who acts like a five year old, then you get to ask questions. However, the way the lesson is taught in the video is different from the direction given on the actual lesson. I was docked points because I followed the directions on the lesson instead of doing what was in their youtube videos. For example, one slide says to only have the student act out the words, but apparently the student is supposed to say the word too which wasn't specified on that slide. It was specified on other slides. There was another slide that the interviewer told me I needed to print out and put on a white board, but the directions didn't say to print out the page, and there was nothing in the prep materials that said I had to do that. I was also docked for not having props which the interview prep said was optional. I didn't have any props on hand to support the lesson, and I'm sorry but I'm not going to go out and buy props for an initial interview that I will never use again if I don't get the job. I explained the discrepancy in the written directions vs. the videos shown to the interviewer during the feedback. If you interview, when you come across slides where the directions differ from what they do in the video, follow the video. Some of the feedback was accurate. I've never taught that way before, so some of it was hard to remember with only 2 days to prep. Even though I was docked points for things that I don't believe I should have been docked for, I was still offered a contract with pay on the upper end. I just wish that their demo directions had lined up with the videos they sent, and that if props are required that they would have said so instead of saying they were optional.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at VIPKid (Remote, OR) in May 2016.

Interview

It began with an online application, followed by a phone interview, and two Skype-like interviews teaching mock classes. The mock classes did require some preparation. I think there were also some initial videos to watch to help prepare for the interview. Overall, it wasn't a hard interview process. I think VIPKID is constantly looking for teacher, so they probably hire a good number of people that apply--at least if they show any kind of potential.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 4+ weeks. I interviewed at VIPKid in September 2016.

Interview

They are very quick in the first part of the interview process. Initially, you will get an interview with staff from the main office in Beijing. It is just a quick screening . It would be quite difficult not to get through the first stage. The company is expanding rapidly. I recently heard that they are trying to match up to 5000 students.

My impression is that the company wants to make sure they have enough teachers available so that their clients can have enough options available. You will have to give a trial class. So that partially explains why they want you to sign the contract as soon as possible. Most jobs require more extensive screening and then they hire you.

Once I signed the contract. I did ok in my first practicum. The second one, I did well. Probably my performance in the first on affected their decision to fail me. The second practicum evaluator liked my performance very much. But what is the point of doing the second one? However, I did not "get the job offer" though I signed the contract. They call it "canceling the contract".

I do not want to apply again. It does not make sense to sign a contract with a company when they are not really offering a position. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW THEY PHRASE IT. They are just binding you to a job when you do not even know what it really is like. they want to keep a good supply of teachers. A representative from VIPKID somewhere on Glassdoor or another review site wrote that online teaching is very different. If they do not like you enough then you are essentially "fired" or "your contract is cancelled" If they like you enough, you will be bound to the contract for six months and you won't be able to work for other companies.

Remember when they "hire" you and you sign your contract, they are not really committing anything to you except an opportunity to test you and for you to prove your qualification. They are not committed enough to train you before "practicum" via video conferencing. Practicum is really a test for you, not an opportunity for you to train. And it costs money to pay those practicum evaluator so that won't happen. So keep that in mind. I am not sure if the teacher can cancel a contract, too....I believe that it should be like any other jobs - non binding since they are essentially hiring you as freelance. I have not see c2 Education or Huntington doing this. On the other hand, you can work from home. Once you are used to it, it is easy to do and it can be a great job for many people.

If you are experienced in teaching young children (ESL), it can be a great opportunity. Otherwise, it may not be the right company for you.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at VIPKid (Remote, OR) in December 2016.

Interview

Way too long. The interview process was ambiguous and backward. You sign a contract that includes pay, but then you're not guaranteed to get the position. Makes no sense. The people that review the final interview ensure that it is very arbitrary. When I wasn't accepted I sent an email and got no response.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at VIPKid in March 2017.

Interview

It started with a five-minute greeting, taught a simulated class, was provided with feedback, and was offered job on the spot! It was fairly easy and seamless. I was impressed by the immediate feedback and job offer. The interviewer was kind and understanding! I'm excited to begin my journey with this company!

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at VIPKid (Atlanta, GA) in April 2017.

Interview

The interview itself was, for lack of a better word, weird. I am an extremely experienced teacher. I have both a B.Ed and an M.Ed, along with three other post graduate certifications, reading specialist, teacher support specialist, and gifted certification. I have over a decade of experience teaching in the public school setting with very diverse populations, including a very high percentage of ESOL students. I have also taught in the private school setting and the homeschool community. I have taught in both formats, in person, and online.

I was thoroughly prepared for my interview. I had researched and prepared all my materials according to the powerpoints, made sure I was pointing to my mouth and cupping my ear, made my reward system, (and remembered to use it.) used my whiteboard for demonstrating, along with the computer. I read reviews here on glassdoor and others, and watched so many videos on youtube. I made a very colorful background, as a classroom with various images, my name being prominently displayed, along with a United States map, and an alphabet letter T. (The lesson I was given was the letter T.) I wore an orange t-shirt. To demonstrate tongue, I had a dragon puppet on my hand, with a "tongue" that forked out. I used a tiger stuffed animal for the tiger. I even had a swim mask and snorkel for the warmup, and used a swimming motion for the warmup, when asked to have the child act out what you say. I had bread with me, as I imitated eating, again using these props, and hand motions while I said the word.

The interviewer said she liked my dragon tongue prop, especially, and she loved my colorful background. She said that I needed to make sure to circle the item I was pointing to, instead of pointing to it with the mouse, because they student can't see that. However; no one tells you that, before hand. The instructions stated the objective was to have the student circle an arrow that pointed to that item, so I had no way of knowing the item couldn't be seen on the student's end without circling it. Also, the interviewer said I needed to use more hand movements in my lesson, but then said I did a great job with all of my props and other materials. From the feedback, I'm still not sure where the problem was.

The interview portion itself was nothing...just basically reading over the application. No difficult interview questions. However; it was very difficult to hear because the interviewer was in a call center and there was a lot of background noise.

I have a feeling the company is looking for a certain type of person that can be easily programmed as a robotic clone, a caricature or cartoon animation. I'm open to criticism, but the feedback I received was very, very confusing.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at VIPKid in April 2017.

Interview

The process is long and involved, and it requires a lot from you. After the first interview, you are led to believe you are basically hired because they tell you they are offering you a certain amount of pay, but in reality, you have to study for at least six hours for a quiz, and then go through two mock interviews before you are truly hired. That is not completely clear after they have made you an offer of a certain amount of money per class. There are Power Points that you must master in terms of teaching them to a five-year-old student, but in these Power Points there are activities that are difficult to figure out how to teach if you have never seen them modeled. An example is that you have a slide with several pictures on it, and if you incorrectly identify one of them, the student is supposed to stand up if the word is wrong. They are to remain seated if the word is correct. You have two minutes to get through this slide with a student who may have had a couple of English lessons before this. This type of activity is very challenging for someone who has never taught online, but there was not a clear model for how to do it before you are expected to teach it. That's not much time for this activity, and it seems too complicated for that level. Also, the video format is not highly complimentary. On my regular camera application, the background looked better and it was more flattering to close-ups of my face. On theirs, the quality is greatly diminished, but you don't know what it's really going to look like until an hour before your interview when you can go into the "room" and practice. It was disappointing to see how bad the video would be when it had been so much better with my camera app. I feel like they have expectations of people as new online teachers without giving enough direction. The directions on the slides are very minimal, so they can be confusing, but there's no way to clarify because you don't have someone to call and ask. Also, I was told that I would have 15 minutes to do my first mock lesson, but then in the interview, he said I only had 10 minutes. So I had to rush, which made it harder to do well. The people are friendly and encouraging, and their emails are upbeat, but their process is too hard on potential teachers who truly are led to believe they are basically hired but just need the mock process to get them ready, and then they get an email saying they have not passed and they will not be hiring them. I also got feedback that I had been speaking in incomplete sentences when that was not true. I never speak in incomplete sentences. I think the connection made it hard to hear, and I did agree that I was learning to speak much more slowly and I would do that in the future. I admire their energy and their desire to have upbeat teachers, but I think some of the upbeat hype is too much. I think some of the ladies who have made videos are great teachers and I learned a lot from them, but the company needs a better process. They should supply a lot more support to their Power Point instructions, and instead of needing to watch hours and hours of videos, there are some activities that could be better taught by providing links to short videos showing someone teaching that particular activity. Finally, the expectations that you should complete each step within just 48 hours or two to three days after the last stage is unrealistic for people who have full-time jobs. I spent a good 20 or more hours preparing for a lot of this, and then was not hired (after being offered a particular amount of money per hour). I think they lead a person on too much and require them to spend way too much time on their process, and then risk not being hired. I could have spent that 20 hours making income doing some other side jobs. They make you learn a lot of things about the company during the "quiz phase" that is not necessary for the mock process. They should require a lot of that AFTER you have been hired, not before. I spent several hours learning about their curriculum structure and their "firemen" and all of that, and I did not need to know any of that to prepare for the mock classes. They shouldn't waste a person's time who is not officially hired with cramming on knowledge about the company. There were several other activities I am involved in that I missed out on or had to rush because I was spending so much time learning about VIP Kid.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at VIPKid (Mount Pleasant, MI) in December 2016.

Interview

My interview process was simple. I actually did not have a good internet connection for the interview, but because I had prepared, based on the information and lessons I was provided, the person interviewing me, recommended me for a wage competitive with my master's pay scale and sent me through to the next level.

Interview Questions