Step 1 – Before you apply…

Before you go ahead and apply to the website, a couple of key points:

In the video it states that, the company will take you if you do not have a Bachelor's degree, however, this has now changed and you do need a degree.

I highly, highly suggest that you go out and get your ESL, English as a second language teaching certificate. You can do a TEFL, a TESOL. Those are the most common, those two. You can do it through Groupon. There are ones that are as cheap as $20, and you can do it in a weekend.

But I highly recommend that you get your teaching certificate. Why? Because other people are applying and you want to have something to say that…

“Look, I'm a good candidate for this job. Take me. I have this qualification.”

Your ESL certificate never expires and it kind of just gives you a rung up on the ladder. Also, make sure that before you apply, make sure that you have some kind of teaching experience or teaching English to second language learners experience or with kids.

Most of us without even realizing it already have the experience. Don't worry if you're not a teacher or have a formal experience. Don't feel like you have to be a teacher or a mom. I am neither. I am a scientist and I don't have any kids yet, but in college I did tutoring. I tutored young children to make some money.

When I was a microbiologist, I also had interns that shadowed me and I had to teach them, so that counts. I also participate in some volunteer work teaching on a volunteer basis, and I use that as my experience.

On the off chance that you truly don't have any experience in that, go out and get some before you apply.

Go volunteer or go teach in an after school program or in a community center. You do need to have some kind of teaching experience.

Once you have the qualifications you want, your certificate, your experience, you get to apply.

Step 2 – Apply

With many of these online companies, you apply online. You go to the company's website, the link is below, and there is where you apply:

You don't send anybody your resume, you can apply directly there on the company's website.

You go to the website, there will be a place that says “Apply Now.” You apply with your email address. Just make sure that it's an email address that you want forever, because this is going to be your forever login.

That's what your login will be for when you become a teacher and throughout the interview process, so make sure you choose a good email.

Create your email, your password, you create your account. Once you fill in that information.

Then you have to fill out all the jazz, your name, your experience, a section to upload your CV.

Usually I say resume, but when it says CV it stands for curriculum vitae, which is your resume. It is mandatory. You do have to upload some kind of resume.

Again, if I were you, I would tweak your resume to be directly towards an English teaching position. Like I said, I'm a microbiologist by profession, but you better believe that my volunteer work and my tutoring were at the very top and featured in that resume that I submitted just for them.

So, tweak your resume to reflect your teaching experience and your experience with kids.

If you have a teaching English certificate, they want you to upload a copy of that. If you have the paper or the PDF they sent to you when you graduated the course, that's fine. I just uploaded that to the system. Or if you have a physical certificate, just take a picture of it with your cellphone and upload that picture.

There will also be a section to fill in your Skype name. It is mandatory too. Maybe you don't have a Skype, so you go out and create one.

They want you to fill in your Skype because when you do get hired, which hopefully you will, they use Skype a lot for communicating with their teachers for now.

Be sure to fill in all of your information very complete, and then you can hit submit.

Then you wait two business days. Don't freak out. I was waiting and checking my email every hour, but I didn't realize they take 48 hours. I think I applied on a Tuesday and by Thursday I got the email inviting you for an interview.

That brings you to step three…

Step 3 – Sign up for your Interview/Demo

You get an email saying yes, you've passed the application process, we'd love to invite you to interview with us. Now you can choose the option to do it live or a recorded interview. What's the difference? Nothing.

The same techniques, just one will be with a person one on one, and the other will be recorded, but you still need to pretend that you are talking to a person. Ask the question and respond.

If you're doing the recorded, of course you would introduce yourself in the first five minutes.

“My name is Danielle, I went to X school, I have X experience, and I have X certificate.” Things like that. A basic introduction, and then you will pass onto the demo.

If you are doing the recorded, just do the same tips as I would do live, same techniques. If you want to know what techniques are, I have another video for that, it's below, on tips to pass your interview, some techniques that they're specifically looking for:

But regardless if you do live or recorded, it's the same principle, so be sure to practice, practice, practice.

About Your SayABC Demo:

Beforehand when you apply for your interview, they will send you an email with a PDF, a 32 page PDF, and it has three different PowerPoints in it for a level zero, a level one, and a level two. You do not do all three. You get to pick which one you want to do.

So, don't freak out. “Oh my gosh, how am I going to do this in 15 minutes?”

No, it's not that. You choose one of the three and that's the one that you will demo. No matter what, go and review that PDF they send you, practice all three, and then you choose which one you think you do best or which one you feel the most comfortable with and that's the one you go for.

Your demo is to be 10 to 15 minutes. Again, when you practice, regardless if you're doing live or recorded, make sure that you're timing yourself to ensure that you have the proper pacing. They're looking for that.

Here are three videos for each of the levels

Level 0 – SayABC Demo Class

Level 1 – SayABC Demo Class

Level 2 – SayABC Demo Class

Step 4 – Wait for you Interview/Demo Result

After your interview, don't freak out. Wait, again, another 48 hours minimum.

If you interview on a Friday, it's 48 hours business days, so don't expect that you're going to hear, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, I'm going to hear.

If I don't hear, “Oh my God, I didn't get it.” No, it's two business days. So, if you interviewed on a Friday, that means you wait Monday, Tuesday. By Wednesday you'll have your result. Again, wait two days. Don't worry, don't stress out.

Step 5 – Schedule and Complete Your Training Session

Yay, hopefully you've passed your interview.

Your next part will be to schedule your training class. What is this?

They set you up with a current SayABC teacher or trainer and they're going to walk you through the platform. By the way, on the interview, don't worry too much about manipulating the platform. That's what this training is for.

Your trainer will show you how to skip slides, turn off a students mouse, move the students into the screen, interact with the students, how to press play on the audio, how to give reward cards. All of those things will be covered in this training session.

You don't have to really prepare, just show up, but if you have any questions about the platform or the process, that's a good moment to do it, in your training session with your trainer. They will be very happy to help you.

Step 6 – Evaluation Class

If you are from VIPKID like me, that would be what you would think is your mock class, but it's different from VIPKID, because your mock class was with a VIPKID mock class mentor, which was another teacher who just had to pretend to be a kid and you taught them.

With Say ABC, it's a little different. They throw you to the wolves. Your evaluation class is a live actual class with four or less, but usually four students. You're teaching them a normal class.

They don't know that this is your evaluation class, so it's a real live class, which I actually think is a little better than the VIPKID one with a mock class mentor, because it kind of threw me off pretending to teach an adult like a child the whole class.

This one, it's real kids and it's show time.

They just let you hit the road running. But a key tip is unlike a one on one class, you have four, so make sure that you are giving each child individual attention.

Make sure you're spending time to give each individual student a chance to answer and participate. Another thing about your evaluation class, you are paid for it. For the 40 minutes, you will get paid the base rate of $15. They do pay you for that.

Here's a video on 7 tips to pass your SayABC evaluation class:

Again, step seven, guess what you have to do?

You already know…

Step 7 – Wait for your Evaluation Class Result

After your evaluation class, you have to wait another 48 hours or two days minimum. Don't freak out. Relax.

After your evaluation class, you can have one of two results. One is that you passed, woohoo, and you can get to go sign your contract, or option two is that if you did well but not good enough, that they think you can do better, they will give you a second chance to do your second evaluation class.

They will let you know what you did wrong if you didn't pass. They'll give you points of your good and your bad and what they want you to improve on, which is nice, so that you know what they're looking for.

They will give you a second opportunity to do your second evaluation.

Now on to step eight…you are a teacher. Well, not yet. You have to sign your contract.

Step 8 – Sign Contract and Upload Paperwork

They send you their contract. It's a three month contract as your pay rate, the incentives, the trial conversions, all of that is really laid out very well, so take your time to read that. They're going to want you to submit your banking information.

They need your bank number, the routing number, and your beneficiary name, your name, who's getting paid, your pertinent teaching certificates, your diploma, all of that jazz.

From what I hear, they do not do a background check as of now. Maybe this will change in the future, but that's all they require for now.

They also want some kind of identification, a copy of your passport or your drivers license, and they want you to fill out your W9, the tax form for an independent contractor.

A lot of people ask do they need your social security number. They don't ask your social security number for SayABC itself, but in the W9 form, there is a part where you do have to fill out your social security number.

Then you send your documents all back in and you are officially on board.

That's it for now. That's what I know about the hiring process from start to the finish. It was a very intense hiring process, although I'm not opposed to the hiring process because if I was going to pay a stranger halfway around the world to teach my kids, I would hope the company had done quality control, so I do appreciate the quality control.

Comparing VIPKID with SayABC, I would say it was much easier getting hired with SayABC. It was a little bit more easy going.

Like I said before, the vibe of SayABC, I find they are a bit more relaxed and teacher friendly or more understanding, at least for now. They probably might change in the future. Who knows? If and when they do, I will try to update you guys as much as I can.

That's it with Say ABC about the hiring process. I hope this is helpful for you. I hope it helps you know what you're getting into. Overall, I think they're a great company. They're growing and they're really trying very hard.