I’m an IELTS and TOEFL instructor for more than two years now. I actually love my job. Teaching has always been my passion. My boss and my colleagues are nice. I also get paid well. It’s just that there five things I hate about my online job.
1. When students don’t follow my instructions
Let’s say I have 60 students. That means I have 60 exams to check. When someone send me a PDF file, I have to f*cking convert it to a WORD file and that takes a lot of time. When someone send me a picture or a scanned copy of his answer sheet, I have to print it or I have to copy it manually to a WORD file so I can check it. Ugh!
2. When a student is late for coaching session
I work 8 hours a day. 2 hours for lecture class, and 5-6 hours for coaching sessions. I rarely have the leisure time to reply to emails. LOL. This is how it works: I give them the link to my Calendly, then they choose for a 30-minute coaching session. Most of the time, 10 – 12 students avail coaching sessions in a day. When someone comes in 15 minutes late, I sometimes still about the person. In reality, 15 minutes is not enough for a speaking test, including me giving some feedback. After that, I also need to make a record of it in the system. I sometimes end up getting late for the next coaching session. I hate being late.
3. When a student is not responding to emails
Like students, teachers have deadlines too. I need to give the results of their exam within a week or two. If they don’t submit it on time, I’ll focus on other classes and end up forgetting about them. LOL.
4. When a student doesn’t attend classes
Seriously, some people just sign up for the class and not attend it. I know that all of them are medical professionals but where’s the commitment? After few days, they’ll ask me to enlist them to the new cycle of review. That means another job for me: additional papers to check, and more emails to send.
5. When I don’t have someone to talk to
I just work at home. I turned one of the rooms in our house into an office. It’s very conducive for working. I really feel productive whenever I work there. I don’t have any distractions. But I occasionally need distractions in life. I only get to talk to my friends using social media. Working at home is actually sad sometimes because I don’t have much social life. LOL.
If you’ve been following me for quite some time now, I mostly write about my travels, and lifestyle. I rarely write about my personal life but I guess writing about the things I hate about my online job helped me relax. I’m actually checking lots of mock exams today. I wish I can finish it soon so I can enjoy me trip tomorrow.
If you’re wondering, my students are mostly nurses, medical technologists, and physical therapists. They want to achieve their American Dream so they applied in MedPro International.
Same feels for 2-4, not a teacher but working online too. Yes, people are busy. But, they should respect your time too.
Admire your Honesty Miss Karla ? Totoo nga sinasabi nola na walang madaling trabaho ? Keep it up . Patience is a virtue ?
Same sentiment I got from my friends who work online. Well, there are always advantages and disadvantages whether you work online or you work in a corporate setting. What matters to me most is when you’re passionate about what your doing, you’ll never get tired of doing it. Glad to know you’re a teacher! Let’s keep on teaching minds, touching hearts, and transforming lives! <3
Been working online for more than 7 years and interaction is what i hate the most. I don’t like video chats and meetings, and prefer to have anything strictly business. The only companions i look forward to are my husband and kids, otherwise, i can live without speaking to anyone at all, hahaha! And my friends know this about me so they don’t let me, haha. I’m introvert like that. But my clients are extremely relational, so I learned to be relational, too, at work.
I just became TEFL certified and will begin my teaching journey soon. This was great to read to get some ideas of what teaching will be like. Great post!