10 Painful Reasons Why You Are Not Making Much in the ESL Industry : Part One

This article is part one of two of why I think you are not making much in the ESL industry.

1. NES get paid higher.

In one of my posts somewhere in Facebook, I have shared what I thought about the native English speakers getting paid the highest in the ESL industry. To illustrate what I think, here it is again : Let us, just for a few seconds, make-believe that Tagalog/Filipino is the universal language and that our country is the go-to place for people wanting to excel in education, research, business, as well as the place ideal for immigration. And that, in order for such people to get the most out of their experience in the Philippines, they want to learn how to speak Tagalog/Filipino. Whom do you think they would prefer and willing to pay the highest for a Tagalog/Filipino teacher? Natives or non-natives?
Some people commented on my post saying, it’s the competitive one or the bilingual one that they’d prefer. Sure, I couldn’t agree more. Now, what makes you think that natives aren’t competitive or that there aren’t bilingual ones? Multilingual, even.
In addition, wouldn’t you agree that ESL teachers who have an experience working in the call center industry where they service mostly native English speakers, are generally better speakers of English than those who don’t? Why do you think so? Isn’t it because they got to speak with native English speakers for a few good years? That is not to say that they are better teachers but, they did learn how to speak the way they do because of the natives. So, yes! It matters big time to learn English with native speakers.
It is for your own benefit to stop crying discrimination in terms of pay difference between NES and non-NES, as well as preferences of companies and learners. Instead, ask : What can we do about this? On an individual level, certainly! Improve your skills, get some training, obtain teaching certificates, as well as experience. As non-native speakers of English, we’ve got to exert more effort in proving our skills and qualifications and that’s just the way it is. The question is, how eager are you to take on that challenge? Unless you are humble enough to accept “what is” first, it’s nearly impossible to effect change in whatever it is that you’re up to in this industry.

2. You expected it to be so easy.

Have you ever had that friend interested in your job asking, “Madali lang ba yan?” And in your effort to take advantage of those referral incentives, you said, “Oo, madali lang.” It’s not just ESL jobs, but other home-based jobs as well are, for some reason, thought to be “petiks” jobs. Well, guess what? It isn’t as easy as you expected it to be, is it?
The job itself may not really be that difficult because you can always Google things you don’t know. Teaching grammar and vocabulary, free conversations, giving feedback, etc.. It’s quite fun, actually. But, how about the metrics you technically agreed to meet when you signed your contract? How about the company policies you have to abide by? How about waking up so early in the morning to prepare for that first lesson? Your attendance, managing your lessons and cancellations? Admit it or not, you expected it to be easy. You expected to be the boss of your own. You expected to be in full control of your schedule. The truth is, it can be easy if only you are willing to improve your time management skills. Time management is, after all, a skill, isn’t it?

3. Poor judgment and choice.

There are now innumerable ESL companies/schools. There are so many to choose from and I find it really baffling why ESL tutors/teachers complain about the company/school of their own choosing. One of the main reasons why I refuse to complain is, I find that as rather a revelation of one’s poor judgment and lack of decision-making skills. It was you who chose your company from among many choices. And it remains your choice to either stay or look for a better one. Don’t you argue that you didn’t have a choice because there are choices. I would understand how people sometimes make desperate choices but then, doesn’t “desperate” mean you are not in a position to make demands? Again, it remains your choice to either stay or look for a better company. You can always choose, the question is, will you be chosen?

4. You did not read and understand your agreement. 

I myself did not read every single word in my agreement but I made sure I understood the key points in it. I also thought over these key points, as well as their advantages and disadvantages. In some companies, they give you more than one chance to carefully read the terms before you agree. After a few months or so, they would give you another chance whether or not you are eager to renew your agreement. If you are not happy, wtf would you agree again then complain? Clearly, you didn’t make time to read and understand what you were getting yourself into.

5. You don’t go the extra mile.

I’ve seen many ESL tutors/teachers complain about “extra work” such as giving students written feedback, helping students with their written work, etc.. Did you know that long before my previous company required leaving written feedback to students or tutoring notes, I had already been doing that? I would send written feedback via Skype after lessons. Guess what? Apparently, that was indeed something of value because I later found out that my previous company actually made the tutor/teacher feedback as an added value when they increased their tuition fees.
Learning about that made me confident that I was in the right direction to being a “future owner of an ESL school”. It made me realize that I had developed that “think and act like an owner” attitude I learned from reading self-help books and articles. What I didn’t like about it were: now, it’s expected so, I got to think of other ways to go the extra mile; and no wage increase!? But instantly, I realized how my previous company got in a better position to afford incentives.
And have I mentioned that I also did proofreading and editing and that’s what got me where I am now? I did all that to go the extra mile. You see, it is the extra miles that’s going to get you ahead of the game.

That’s all for now. Part 2 here. Cheers to all! 😉