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.
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