The Complete Guide to Teaching Online with Yeko

A growing number of people are choosing to teach English online these days, but they may run into a problem if they aren’t university educated. Most online teaching companies will ask for a college degree as a condition of employment. Finding a company who will take on new teachers that aren’t university educated can be difficult, but Yeko is one company prepared to give new teachers a chance.

Yeko, a Chinese-based online English school, is currently hiring teachers to keep up with their growing community of students. So if teaching English online is something that tickles your fancy you may be interested in applying. Here we dig into Yeko, breaking down their requirements, how to apply, what the salary is like and how teaching with them could work for you. 

Yeko Overview

Founded in 2016, Yeko is a relatively new online English school based in China that caters to thousands of students. They aim to not only improve the English of their growing Chinese student base but to also build their self-confidence. Yeko offers one-on-one and group lessons to both children and adults, from beginner English to those who wish to speak more fluently and confidently. 

Although they do ask for a minimum commitment of 20 hours a week, teaching with Yeko gives you flexibility, with teachers able to open and close their schedule freely. This means you can schedule classes to suit your lifestyle. 

What are the Requirements to Teach for Yeko?

As far as Yeko’s requirements go for teaching English online, they are pretty lax. Yeko asks for the following requirements:

• Be a native or non-native (with a neutral accent) English speaker
• TEFL, TESOL or CELTA certificate is preferred but not essential
• Have a positive attitude
• Be open to on the job training

Technical Requirements

On top of the teaching requirements, Yeko teachers must have the right equipment to teach a lesson, which includes:

• Good internet connection (minimum of 10Mb/1Mb download/upload speed)
• Access to Google Chrome
• Webcam  
• Headset

How Much Does Yeko Pay?

Yeko’s website doesn’t mention the hourly rate, but from looking at other ESL sites and job postings, it seems that Yeko teachers are paid between $11 and $15 USD an hour, with $12 USD appearing as the most common pay we came across. As with all online teaching jobs, the more hours you can offer, the more you will get paid…

Yeko offers monthly bonuses for teachers who teach the most slots or get the best feedback and will pay you if a student is a no-show. They also offer an extra $10 USD for demo classes with children signing up. 

How Does Yeko Pay Their Teachers?

Yeko pays its teachers through PayPal.

Taxes

Teaching English online with Yeko means you’re an independent contractor, therefore you’re responsible for submitting your earnings and paying taxes. Luckily there are lots of resources out there to help make this process as simple as possible. For example, the IRS website offers guidelines for American independent contractors and HMRC website for those from the UK.

How To Apply To Teach For Yeko

Applying for Yeko is relatively straightforward – you just fill out an application form and they will get in contact if you’re successful to organize a Skype interview. The Yeko interview questions are very easy and the interview is relaxed.

I. Fill out their online application form with the information below:

• Information about yourself
• Any work experience you have
• Any teaching experience you have
• What your relevant qualifications are (if you have them)
• Upload your resume/CV

II. Wait to be contacted for an interview.

What Is The Work Schedule For Yeko?

An advantage to teaching with Yeko is the flexibility they offer their teachers. You have the power to control your schedule by opening and closing your teaching slots. Yeko does advise that you open your slots a few days in advance, but you can change when you work each week. This means you can fit the classes around your life, not the other way round. 

Yeko Hours

As we mentioned before, Yeko asks that their teachers commit to a minimum of 20 hours a week. Classes run on Beijing time and are every day, Monday to Sunday. 

Understanding the Yeko Platform

Lessons

The Yeko website states that they focus on one-on-one English lessons, but from looking at other ESL resources, it seems as though you can also teach group classes to kids (usually 8 – 15 kids per class). One-on-one lessons are said to be 17 minutes long and group classes 25 minutes in length. 

Students

Yeko has a large community of adult students, many that work for large international companies and tend to be well-educated. Although you’re given the resources to teach from, one-on-one lessons with adults are said to feel more like an informal chat rather than an actual lesson. 

If you’d like to teach younger students, expect them to be aged between 5 and 13 years old. Be prepared for the parents to be the ones leaving you reviews for kid’s classes.

Platform

Lessons are based on the Chinese International Curriculum and are presented using interactive activities over Yeko’s platform. There isn’t much information out there around this platform, but it seems as though you enter the classroom through Chrome. They offer professional development and orientation on how to master and use the technology needed to deliver their unique online lessons. 

Yeko provides its teachers with professionally developed lesson sequences and various classical English learning materials, meaning no additional lesson design is required.

Yeko Reviews

From what we can gather from the little information and lack of Yeko reviews out there, the major benefit to teaching with Yeko is the flexibility they offer. This is great for those of you who already have a busy schedule as you can fit the work around your lifestyle. The requirements are also not too strict, with them happy to employ both native and non-native speakers, and qualifications are preferred rather than essential.

In terms of pay, the Yeko hourly rate may not be that high, but it isn’t too dissimilar from many other online teaching platforms. You will find some who do pay more, and some that let their teachers set their pay, like Palfish, which means teachers have more flexibility and can charge more. 

There isn’t much online in terms of actual reviews on Yeko, however, we did find one on Glassdoor…

The lack of reviews and information out there about Yeko could be seen as a red flag. However, it may be down to the fact that they are a relatively new company, so haven’t been on the scene long enough to build up a wealth of information. We also haven’t read anything overly negative, so it’s up to you what you take from this. 

If you’d rather apply for a teaching position where there is more background information into what working for them entails, you could check out some of the other online teaching companies out there. 

If teaching with Yeko does sound like the right job for you, they are currently hiring so apply online today! Good luck!