As you probably know if you've been following Real Ways to Earn and other work at home blogs for some time, online ESL teaching opportunities are all over the place. Many, many of my readers have recently found a lot of work at home success with these opportunities.
On the downside for some of you, this isn't exactly an industry you can easily break into without a college degree (most often a bachelor's is required, or proof of current enrollment in college) or TESOL/TEFL certification.
While there are some companies that will consider workers without certificates and without college degrees, the majority of companies seem to want them.
For what it's worth, TESOL seems to be requested most often for online teaching opportunities.
While there's nothing we can do on the college degree requirement if a company happens to have that, we know of some pretty inexpensive ways for you to get TESOL/TEFL Certification. So if you've already got the college end of things covered for a company you're interested in, and you're just lacking these English language teaching certificates, keep reading to learn exactly what they are and where to get them.
What Is TESOL/TEFL Certification?
TESOL and TEFL Certifications are pretty similar. TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language.
The Go Overseas website explains the actual difference between the two very well.
To sum up, TEFL is more for people who are teaching English to non-English speakers in an academic sense, and TESOL is more for teaching English to non-English speakers who want to use English in everyday situations. For example, if they are non-English speakers living in an English speaking country.
These certifications (or one of these certifications) are typically required if you want to teach the English language to non-English speakers either online or abroad.
Where Can You Get TESOL/TEFL Certificates?
We've gotten a lot of questions from readers via email and in our Facebook group concerning how to go about getting certified. After doing some research and seeing suggestions from people who have already gotten certified, we've found that Groupon offers this certification very affordably via different reputable organizations.
· International Open Academy offers an online TESOL course for just $19 (discounted from $499). It is currently rated at 4/5 stars on Groupon.
· Learn TEFL offers an online TEFL course for just $39 (discounted from $285) through Groupon. It is currently rated at 4.5/5 stars. This TEFL course also offers job placement assistance.
Note that these are the prices as of the date this blog post was written (March 2020) and are of course subject to change as this post ages.
We've seen lots of great feedback on both of these courses.
How Long Does It Take To Get the Certificates?
Because the courses I've listed above are done online and you can go at your own pace, it's up to you.
The International Open Academy course for TESOL has 120 hours of course content for you to go through, and the Learn TEFL course has 150 hours of course content.
Do You Need Both TESOL and TEFL Certification?
You don't have to have both, but it doesn't hurt to have both if you are trying to cast a wide net and apply with many companies.
I have seen companies with TESOL listed as a requirement, TEFL listed as a requirement, or they will say you can apply if you have either.
It's also worth mentioning that some of the ESL companies you can apply with have their own certification courses you can go through before starting to work.
MagicEars is just one example of a popular ESL company with their own, 120-hour TESOL course. It is just $20 to go through their course.
25 Legitimate Work From Home Jobs With No Startup Fee
So you want to work from home, and you don't have more than a few dollars (or less) to your name. You find some information online that appears to be legit and you get all excited — until you see that the company charges you $30 (or more) for a background check before you can even start working.
Suddenly the wind has been taken completely out of your sails.
Sound familiar? This is a typical scenario for many home job seekers.
The following is a list of companies you can work at home for that do not make you pay them for anything prior to starting work. Still, that doesn't mean you won't have to have certain equipment (headsets, etc.) or have a background check or drug test done. It just means that either they pay for you to have these checks done, or that it's your responsibility to acquire your own equipment for working if you need something you don't already have.
Work From Home – Companies With No Fees
It's worth noting before we begin that *most* freelance positions do not come with attached fees — freelance writing, short tasks, work at home data entry jobs, search evaluation, and some transcription companies.
You are mainly going to see the fees with employee positions — particularly call center work from home. Still, the list below is a mix of freelance and employee positions.
VIPKid – Read VIPKid Review – Work from home as an ESL teacher for Chinese children. No fees are mentioned for the application process. Cannot currently accept people in the state of California.
3 Play Media – Read 3 Play Media Review – Work from home transcription editing. No fee to start.
Accurate Background – They occasionally have openings for work from home background checkers. There should be no fees to get started.
Amazon – Read Amazon Review – Amazon regularly hires people for customer service jobs from home. It's usually necessary to live in or close to various locations nationwide in order to be considered, but they hire in many different locations. There are no fees associated with applying for this job.
When Amazon does have work at home jobs posted, they are often pulled within a day because they get so many applicants, so be quick if you see they are hiring.
Apple – Read Apple Review – You can work at home for Apple as a chat or phone support agent. They do not charge you any fees to apply and in fact if you are accepted, they will supply you with equipment to do the work.
Babbletype – Read Babbletype Review – This company hires home-based workers for transcription and transcription editing. You are not required to pay them any fees to start.
Blooms Today – Read Blooms Today Review – Absolutely no fees to start. They hire people to work from home taking flower orders for their customers. It's usually temporary, seasonal work.
Capital One – Read Capital One Review – This popular credit card company hires people to work from home handling their customer service. They charge no fees to get started. However, this is usually a location-based position (Virginia and Florida most of the time).
Convergys – Read Convergys Review – They hire at-home agents to answer incoming calls from home for their clients. There are no upfront fees to get started.
Fancy Hands – Read Fancy Hands Review – Work from home virtual assisting. There are no fees to start. Pay is per task, paid twice monthly.
Hilton Worldwide – Read Hilton Worldwide Review – Work from home reservation sales and customer care. They only hire in certain states (Texas and sometimes Florida) but I've been told they do not have any upfront fees. They also may not always be hiring.
HSN – Read HSN Review – Home Shopping Network. They only hire people to work in a few different locations from home nationwide. From what I understand if you work for them directly, you shouldn't have to pay anything.
Metaverse Mod Squad – Read Metaverse Review – They hire for work from home moderation and a few other moderation positions. They don't charge you anything to apply and get started.
NextWave Advocacy – Read NextWave Review – This company hires work from home outreach callers and writers. They charge absolutely no fees to get started working. I do not believe they do a background check at all. Pay is $12 hourly.
OnPoint Advocacy – Read OnPoint Review – Similar to NextWave (above). You do work from home writing and calling for political outreach. No fee whatsoever.
Sitel Work at Home – Read Sitel Review – They hire work from home call center agents. It states plainly in their FAQ that they pay for the cost of your background screening, credit check, and drug screen. You need no money to get through the application process and begin working.
Support – Read Support Review – They hire work from home tech support reps, sometimes entry-level. There are no fees to get started.
Sutherland – Read Sutherland Review – This company hires home call center agents regularly. They may or may conduct a background check just depending on the client you're servicing. Their website does not mention a charge if a check is conducted, but feel free to correct me if there is one.
OneSupport – Read OneSupport Review – This company hires work from home agents for tech support positions. There are no fees associated with applying.
TeleTech – Read TeleTech Review – This is a company that hires work from home call center agents. There are no fees to start — they pay for the cost of your drug screening and background check.
Textbroker – Read Textbroker Review – You can work at home doing freelance writing for this company. They accept people with no experience, and they do not charge fees.
Time Etc. – Read Time Etc. Review – Work from home virtual assisting. It doesn't look like there are any fees associated with the application process.
Transcom – Read Transcom Review – This company hires work at home call center agents. They do credit checks, background checks, and often drug screens depending on the client you are servicing, but you may not have to cover the cost for these checks.
Tutor.com – Read Tutor.com Review – Work from home as an online tutor. There are no fees associated with applying. A background check is done, but they pay for it.
World Travel Holdings – Read World Travel Holdings Review – Work from home vacation sales. A $500 deposit is required for your computer which they send you, but this is taken out of your first five checks so you don't have to worry about coming up with it out of pocket. This company will also pay for your background check.
For More, Check Out FlexJobs
Most of the time when a work at home job charges any sort of fee, there is a concern it's a scam. FlexJobs is the only work at home job leads site that absolutely guarantees their listings will be scam-free.
They've been recommended by major media outlets like CNN, Forbes, and USA Today. I've also been a member and have never seen a single scam listed. It costs $14.95 a month, but you can use promo code AFFILPROMO to get it for 30 percent off.
Also, please let me know if any of these companies actually do charge some sort of fee and I will look into it and get it removed.
0 Comments