How to get paid rightfully as an online ESL teacher?

Complaints about the salaries and fees ESL companies offer are all over social media groups. It is understandable especially among Filipino ESL teachers/tutors. Believe it or not, there are a lot of ESL companies that pay as low and ridiculous as Php 50/hour! And just before you think that’s absurd, think about the teachers/tutors who take this load of s*!# from these f*&^%$ ESL companies! It’s a pity but it’s definitely something you can get yourself out of by either choosing a better ESL company or going freelance.

In my post about the salaries of online ESL teachers/tutors, I mentioned that salaries in the Philippines range from Php80-Phph250/hour. If you get the average pay of maybe Php120-Php150, that can be good enough depending on how many hours you want to teach. That’s even higher than how much most call center agents make. It’s actually not bad considering that you won’t have to waste your time and money on commuting to work, not to mention the terrible traffic. That will even give you more time to teach and therefore, earn more. Now, for those who have been in this industry for quite a while, who have reached the salary ceiling, can it get better?

The answer is YES!

How?

Go freelance! There are tons and tons of ESL learners out there and believe it or not, they are more than happy and willing to pay for quality lessons. Enough of those complaints on social media. That’s not going to get you anywhere. Think of the energy and time you engage in the negativity of these complaints. You can make better use of your time by slowly building your own online presence. If you think you are a good teacher/tutor, if you feel you are undervalued by your ESL company, if you think you deserve more, and when you think you are ready, go freelance and set your own fees! Did you know that you can get paid 10x more than what you’re already getting? You might ask next where to get students. If you have been in the industry for quite a while and you’re as good as you think you are, you must have accumulated a good number of loyal students. Do you pirate them? Not necessarily. My point is finding your own students will be the least of your worries if you really are that good. And mind you, you won’t even have to have a lot of students to hit your target income if you set your fees well.

But before you get too excited, let me also tell you that going freelance is not for everyone. It’s only for those who are willing to work hard for it and for those who put in real value to the hours. What I mean by that is we don’t really get paid by the hour but by the value we put into the hours. It’s not easy but it’ll be all worth it! Trust me! 😉