Welcome to Teach and GO’s iTutorGroup review. They are one of the most popular online teaching companies currently where you teach students from Taiwan and mainland China (most students are in mainland China).
They are an umbrella organization consisting of numerous, smaller online teaching companies with similar sounding names. The advantage of this is that you apply one time and can be matched with multiple online teaching companies that have students ranging from 6 years old up to 65 years old.
The main disadvantage however is that they pay a low hourly rate and your bonus is contingent upon student feedback. Students are not required to leave feedback so no feed back means no bonus.
With iTutorGroup you can teach adults and can be booked 24/7 instead of just early mornings like most Chinese based online teaching companies.
What we like about iTutorGroup is their ease of use getting set up from application to actually teaching. They have a quicker and easier process than VIPKID. However, their pay rate is some of worst around considering the competition. Particularly if you’re North American as other companies will give you a much higher rate.
iTutorGroup Requirements
To get started teaching with iTutorGroup first requires you to meet some basic employment criteria:
- Bachelors degree in anything
- Native English speakers preferred
- Teaching experience
- TEFL certificate
- 10 hour Minimum Availability
Bachelors degree
As with all jobs in the ESL world, you’re required to have a bachelors degree. It does not have to be in education but of course if you’re background is in education that always helps with employment as a teacher.
This is a requirement by law in most countries. Any foreign national who wishes to teach must posses a degree, including popular places like Thailand, Korea and Japan.
Native English Speakers Preferred
One wonderful thing about iTutorGroup is that they are open to hiring non-native speakers who have a neutral accent. But native speakers, particularly Americans and Canadians are always preferred.
1 Year Teaching Experience
They want teachers who have some experience teaching children. They also expect you to be computer literate, professional, enthusiastic and have great communication and presentation skills.
This may seem unreasonable, but it’s simply because some teachers who are excellent in the classroom may not convey their skill well online. This is a subjective part of the hiring process.
TEFL Certificate – Obtain With in the first 3 months
To be a teacher with iTutorGroup requires you to obtain a TEFL certificate. This is a new requirement imposed by various Chinese regulations to govern online teaching.
The good thing however is that you don’t need a TEFL when you’re in the application and hiring process. Once hired, it’s required that you obtain a TEFL within the first 3 months of your contract.
10 Hour Teaching Availability
One thing to note is that iTutorGroup does have teaching minimums in place. They expect teachers to be available 6 hours for weekdays and 4 hours on the weekends.
This may seem like a small requirement but if you want the flexibility to set your schedule week to week then you may want to look at other online teaching companies.
What Companies Make up iTutor Group?
As the name implies, iTutorGroup is a group of online teaching companies:
- TutorABC (blue logo) – Online teaching company for Taiwan students.
- TutorABC (red logo) – Online teaching company for mainland Chinese students.
- TutorMing – This platform is for adult learners. Particularly adults in the corporate space.
- TutorJr – Taiwan based online teaching company for students 6 to 18 years old.
- VIPabc – This company is for Japanese students.
- VIPJr – Online teaching company for mainland China. With a focus on providing multiple subjects, not just English.
- LiveH2H – Language learning exchange platform.
This means that if you’re hired as an online teacher, you could potentially teach adults as the client age range for iTutorGroup is between 6 to 65 years old.
How To Apply to iTutor Group and What to Expect
To begin the application process is a simple process. All you have to do is visit their teacher application portal and apply. It takes around 10 minutes to complete the application and to schedule an interview. You can sign in wit Facebook, a Google account or use email.
Class hours
- For young learners a class session is 25 minutes in length.
- For adults expect to teach a 45 minute class.
- There are 12 different levels or language ability.
iTutorGroup / TutorABC Pay and Hours – Unfair?
TutorABC or iTutorGroup boasts that they have 30,000+ teachers in more than 135 countries. So what can you expect to be paid when working with them?
For native English speakers from the US and Canada the pay rate is $14-$24 USD per hour, however due to the recent changes in China the amount of classes and pay has been decreased. From our interviews with current online teachers for iTutorGroup they claim it’s misleading to claim a max rate of $24 an hour as most native English speaking teachers were paid around the $18 an hour mark before the online teaching ban and can now expect $14 or less.
The main issue previously with iTutor is that the pay range was based on student feedback. So would have gotten could get $7 per class, two classes in one hour is $14. To get more than this your students need to leave feedback which they are not required to do. But now with all the recent changes, they no longer base your pay on student feedback and simply pay a low rate.
For all other nationalities your pay is based on where you live. So if you’re from New Zealand or the UK and you want to live in Thailand, expect to be paid a low amount. This by far the biggest complaint because it prevents native speakers who are not American or Canadian to live abroad and make a good income. If you’re from the UK and live in the UK, your pay will be much higher obviously.
iTutor Group Review – Pros and Cons
So for this iTutorGroup review, what are the main pros and cons for working with this online teaching conglomerate?
Pros:
- Quick and easy application process.
- Can teach adults as well as young learners.
- Can get bookings with ease if you teach the priority hours.
- Flexible hours, no need to teach only early mornings.
- Material is provided for you.
- Students are excellent.
Cons:
- Base pay is too low for native speakers outside of the US or Canada.
- Your bonus pay is based on student feedback. If students don’t leave feedback, no bonus pay.
- Americans and Canadians get $14 an hour typically.
- All other nationalities it depends on where you live and you can be paid as low as $5 an hour.
iTutor Group Conclusion
So iTutorGroup has a unique offer to potential teachers. They have a flexibility that can’t be beat by any other online teaching company. They allow you to teach both adults and young learners and you can teach at different times of the day that work best for you.
But the pay and bonus structure is an issue with iTutorGroup. It’s simply unfair that your bonus pay is based 100% on student feedback. If 75% of your classes don’t give feedback which is about what you can expect, it’s difficult to make a good hourly rate, particularly if you’re not American or Canadian.
For Americans and Canadians you are given a set hourly rate of $14 an hour typically. Other nationalities depending on where you live your base rate could be $5 an hour.
So while we love their flexibility, platform and students we hope iTutorGroup improves their pay to make themselves a bit more competitive in the marketplace.