As the demand for online ESL teachers grows, overseas companies are making a greater effort to connect with qualified teachers across the globe. However, many ESL teachers struggle to choose the right company to work for.
Recruitment companies like TwoSigmas are attempting to solve this problem by bridging the gap between teachers and international teaching companies. Today, we’ll take a closer look at TwoSigmas and explain everything you need to know about working with them and their partner companies.
About TwoSigmas
TwoSigmas is very different from many of the other online teaching companies we’ve reviewed on ESLAuthority. The company started as the pioneers for an interactive ‘Whiteboard Open’ chat room, which was designed to help teachers conduct their lessons online. Since then, they’ve branched out into the recruitment space and now they focus on helping teachers find teaching jobs online.
Basically, instead of being a direct company that connects you with students, TwoSigmas acts as a middleman between you and their partner schools. According to the TwoSigmas website, this makes life easier for teachers searching for a position, as they only have to make one application to apply to all of the schools that they partner with.
TwoSigmas Partner Companies
TwoSigmas partners with numerous online teaching companies. Some of them you may already have heard of while some are lesser-known. According to their website, the companies they partner with include:
- SayABC
- Class100
- RED Education
- Early Birds
- Landi
- HelloKids
- LimeEnglish
Related: The Complete Guide to Teaching Online with SayABC
The staff at TwoSigmas will decide which company you are best suited to after you’ve applied. All you have to do is make one application to all of them, simply by clicking ‘apply to all’ on their website.
What are the requirements to teach TwoSigmas?
TwoSigmas recruit teachers for several different companies, and as such, the exact teacher requirements differ. However, the company does list the qualifications of their ideal candidate.
These are:
- Hold a Bachelor’s degree.
- Hold a TEFL certificate (e.g. CELTA) or a teaching license.
- Have a neutral accent and a high level of spoken English.
- Have the legal right to work in the US, Canada, the UK, or Australia.
- Be enthusiastic and have a high energy level.
After taking a look at each company’s requirements, it seems that some of their partner companies have quite high entry requirements, and because there is no shortage of applicants, they can afford to be picky.
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You can look at the specific entry requirements for each company on the TwoSigmas website, or, you can leave it up to their staff to choose the best company for you.
What does TwoSigma pay?
It’s hard to say accurately what you’ll be paid if you work for TwoSigmas, as it completely depends on which company you end up working for. All of the job listings that I have checked out for TwoSigmas state that the pay rates are $20 and above. The companies with higher teacher requirements such as HelloKid and RED Education could pay as much as $30 or more. $20+ per hour is about the average pay rate for most online ESL companies that work with children, but you may get lower rates of pay when working with adults.
What is the interview process for TwoSigmas?
Before you can be interviewed for any roles with TwoSigmas, you’ll need to complete the online application form. You’ll be asked to fill in details about yourself, your qualifications and your experience. After that, it isn’t really clear how exactly you will be interviewed, but my best guess is that you will be interviewed by someone from the specific teaching company that is selected for you.
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What the website does specify is that the TwoSigmas staff are available 24 hours a day to assist applicants in the interview process. They even state that they can help with interview preparation and help you to test your equipment before the interview begins.
When it comes to online teaching, most interviews are fairly similar regardless of what company you choose. Usually, you’ll have an informal conversation over Skype with a member of the company’s teaching staff. If this goes well, you’ll often be asked to do a demo class with a real student, or a member of staff. If you’re looking for guidance on how to pass an online teaching interview, check out the video below.
What is theTwoSigmas teaching schedule?
Most of the companies that partner with TwoSigmas are based in China, and this means that the peak teaching hours will be evenings and weekends (Beijing Time).
When it comes to time commitments, all ESL companies are different. Some companies might ask you to commit to a certain number of scheduled hours per week, and others may allow you to choose your teaching hours as and when you are available. If you want to know more about the scheduling and commitment requirements for a specific partner company, you can find this information on the Apply page on their website.
Understanding the TwoSigmas Teaching Platform
TwoSigmas does have its own online teaching/chatroom platform that many online teachers use to teach private lessons. However, if you are employed by one of the partner companies, you’ll likely be using that company’s bespoke platform. For example, SayABC and Landi both have their own teaching platforms for teachers to use.
From what I can tell, you may be interviewed using the TwoSigmas Whiteboard Open meeting room. If you’d like to learn more about how to use it, this video summarises what you need to know.
TwoSigmas Reviews
As TwoSigmas is a recruiting agency rather than an actual teaching company, few people talk about them online. After looking around on various ESL Facebook groups and Glassdoor, I did manage to find a few reviews of people’s experiences with TwoSigmas and they were quite positive.
One reviewer said ‘Two Sigmas gives a good amount of support to those just starting out’ and many other people confirmed that the company helped them find positions with online ESL teaching companies.
TwoSigmas – Final Thoughts
Overall, it seems that TwoSigmas could be a great company to work with. At no extra cost to you, they will help to find the perfect online teaching job.
However, the number of partner schools working with TwoSigmas does seem somewhat limited, so it may be better to explore the option of applying independently to different teaching companies. Our website is filled with guides on various online teaching companies that may help you when you’re in the application stage and they are definitely worth checking out!