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As the largest provider of B2B ESL Tutors in China we offer thousands of online Teachers Fixed working shifts with guaranteed pay equivalent to the full hourly pay rate with or without class.

We work with thousands of private education companies and Schools in China with students of all age ranges. Our Teachers have the opportunity to work on various cutting-edge teaching platforms (including First Future’s own fully interactive platform; “YouHaveClass”) with all teaching materials provided.

If you would like to know more about working with First Future why not hear what our Teachers have to say.

First Future is an online English education institution; we are not an agency who simply recruits Teachers for other schools. We have our own Curriculum Development Department, Engineering & Technology Department and self-developed online teaching platform. We are a B2B company with more than 1200 Partner Schools, we provide teaching services, supervision and performance management to our Partner Schools.

Visit and complete the application form. You will be asked to provide some basic information about yourself so that our Team can screen your application. This takes 24-48 hours. After the initial screening you will be invited to book an interview with one of our Team.

You can view an overview of the full Application and Training process here.

All Applicants are asked to complete an interview with one of our Team. This is an opportunity for us to learn more about you and to begin identifying possible Projects you would be suitable for. These Projects offer guaranteed working hours on a Fixed shift.

The following equipment and minimum requirements are:

1. Wired Internet Connection w/ Upload speed of up to 10 Mbps & Download speed of 10 Mbps and up.
2. Headset with built-in mic and noice cancellation feature
3. A stand-alone web camera
4. A desktop/latop computer with system specifications of at least i3-Intel Processor (4th generation) 3.0 GHz & 4GB RAM

You may see platforms saying they can work with less and you may even be able to use our platform with less. However, due to the fluctuation that is expected with most internet providers and the instability of a Wi-Fi connection if you have less than the required internet speed the you will encounter issues with our platforms. As such, this is the minimum required, Teachers whose internet and equipment do not meet this standard will not be able to teach through our platform.You can check your internet connection here (opens in new tab)

As Independent Contractors Teachers are not required to sign any contract with First Future. You will be asked to acknowledge receipt of our “Independent Contractor Service Agreement” the terms of which you will be bound by while using our Platforms.

When accepting a Fixed Shift you may be asked to commit to completing a certain time period on the Project. These details will be discussed based on the requirements of the Project and Teacher at the time.

Absolutely! As long as you have a reliable internet provider and can receive payments through one of the methods we use then you can teach from anywhere.

We offer 2 shift types with many available working hours ranging from as few as 8 hours per week up to 40 hours per week for a Fixed Shift. Please see the schedule section below for more details on our working shifts.

We don’t mind as long as you can manage your schedule.

If you haven’t received any feedback within 3 working days, there may have been an issue with your application. You may contact our Team directly through Skype by adding: First Future Recruitment

Our recruitment Team are available from 09:00-20:00 Monday to Sunday (All times are in China Standard Time (GMT+8))

This will largely depend on how quickly you are able to complete the required tasks and submit the necessary documents. It is possible to complete the process in as little as 3 days though most people take around 1 week.

If you would like to download a copy of our recruitment process you can here.

Teacher Selection

1. Submit Application Form
2. Book an Interview

Completion Time: ~20 minutes
Response time: Within 48 hours

Interview – 30 minutes

After completing the interview selected applicants will be asked to attend a mock class so we can evaluate your teaching experience and confidence before deciding on the hourly pay rate to offer.

Teacher Evaluation

3. Book a Mock Class
4. Review Class videos and materials

Completion Time: ~20 minutes
Response time: Within 48 hours

Mock Class (includes guidance on the Platform and Teaching feedback) – 50 minutes

After passing the Mock Class applicants will receive an “Offer Letter” containing details about the role and the hourly pay rate being offered.

Teacher Preparation

5. Submit Bio Pack (You will be asked to provide a picture, video and short paragraph about yourself to be added to your Profile in our system. This profile is used by Schools and Student’s to select their Teacher

Completion time: ~45 minutes

6. Phase 1 Training

Learn the basics of teaching online from using the Platform to navigating our interactive materials to engaging your Students through the use of TPR (Total Physical Response) and guided learning.

Method: Make your own way through our self-study materials with lessons, quizzes and sample videos all available through First Future’s learning portal – World Campus.

Completion Time: ~8hours

7. Book your Final Demo

Final Demo – 40 minutes

In your final demo you will be expected to show that you are able to navigate our Teaching platform and conduct a class to the company standard. After completing this demo, you will be awarded your first Teaching Badges allowing you to begin teaching some Flexi classes.

All Teaching materials and guides are provided. In essence a Teacher has everything they need to teach. Of course, you may wish to run through the materials for a few minutes before class to make sure you are comfortable with the learning objectives of the class.

First Future uses a range of online Virtual Classroom platforms (similar to skype or zoom but designed for teaching) to conduct our different class types. Our most common classrooms are our very own YouHaveClass Virtual Classrooms which contain all of the technology of the leading teaching platforms.

One of the things which makes First Future different is the range of class types we teach. We have 1-to-1, 1vN (2-6 Students studying from their own homes) and Group (6 or more Students studying at school in a classroom with each other). Our classes cover general conversation all the way uo to specialist test and college entrance exam preparation. This allows us to work with Teachers who have a wide range of experience and qualifications.

Our Students range in age from 4 to 60 but most of our Students are K-12 learners.

Our most common class types are 25-minute conversational English classes.

About 90% of our classes are 25-minute long. We also have 40, 45 and 50 minute classes.

If you class is cancelled with more than 2 hours’ notice and you are not on a Fixed Shift then you are not required to login and teach. If you are on a Fixed Shift (meaning you are on stand-by even when you have no class scheduled) then you will be paid for these classes.

If your class is cancelled with less than 2 hours’ notice or your Student simply does not arrive we call this a “No Show” class. Unlike most other online schools, we pay the FULL class pay rate for No Show classes.

Parents should not contact Teachers directly, if they do then simply ask them to communicate with their School and let our Team know. First Future does not require our Teachers to handle Student issues like this.

There are about 3000 classes being taught on our platform every day and the peak hours are 5pm-9pm CST (China Standard Time) Mon-Fri, 9am-9pm CST for the weekend. You will still have chances to get booked even if you are not available during the peak hours, however, the booking rate will not be as high as during the peak hours.

Teachers are paid no later than the 10th day of the following month for the pay period. Payments can be made through Paypal, Payoneer or through Local Bank Transfer (with conditions).

Teachers will be offered a starting salary of $12-16/hour depending on their qualifications and experience. Pay rates will be agreed after the Interview.

We also offer:

up to $3/hour in performance related bonuses through our Monthly Class Bonus
+$1 for every group class taught
+$1 weekend incentive for every hour worked on weekends

MCB measures a Teachers class performance and attendance. We use 2 performance indicators to measure these: Monthly Academic Standing (MAS) to measure class performance and Class Impact (CI) to measure attendance. Based on these amounts a Teacher will be eligible for between $0.5-1.5 per 25-minute class taught.

Many of our Projects also offer bonuses based on a Teachers performance on that Project. These bonuses can be as high as $500 or more for high-performing Teachers.

No, you will always be considered a First Future Teacher no matter which Project you are working for.

Pay rates are evaluated every 12-months with eligible Teachers being offered a raise based on their Attendance, Performance and Overall Contribution. Some Teachers may be eligible for a raise as early as 6-months if they have taught over 500 classes.

First Future makes no deductions from Teachers pay for taxes. As Independent Contractors all local and national taxes in your Country are the sole responsibility of the Teacher.

There are 2 types of teaching schedule available:

Fixed Shift

Under a Fixed Shift Teachers will be given a guaranteed working schedule week-to-week. Teachers will be paid for every hour of this schedule regardless of whether they have classes or not.

The exact working times of these schedules will vary depending on the Project you are selected for.

The minimum required time commitment for a Fixed shift is:

• At least 4 days/week
• At least 2 hours per day
• Minimum of 8 hours per week

Most Fixed shifts offer around 15 hours per week, with some offering significantly more depending on a Teachers availability.

Fixed Shift Teachers should be willing and able to commit to their working schedule for at least 6 months upon agreeing to the shift.

Flexi Shift

Under a Flexi working shift Teachers will be able to open and close their own working times as desired. To maximize the number of classes you receive we advise that Teachers always open their availability for at least the next month. This will allow our Students to book you more easily as our Student’s learn with the same Teacher for all of their classes.

• Classes can be scheduled with less than 30-minutes’ notice
• Taught and Student No Show classes will be paid in full
• Cancelled classes (with more than 2 hours’ notice) will not be paid
• Available slots with a booked classes cannot be closed by the Teacher, only available slots with no booked class can be deactivated by the Teacher

There are no minimum hours for a Flexi Shift and Teachers can open as many hours as they want as long as they can commit to teaching classes which are scheduled.

Teaching hours are currently available for any of the following times:

Monday to Friday: 17:00-23:00
Saturday and Sunday: 08:00-23:00

All times are in China Standard Time (GMT+8)

Our full Attendance Policy will be explained in detail during the on-boarding session and in a series of related handouts you will receive at the time through our Scheduling Platform (MIS).

In brief we have 2 types of penalties for Teacher Attendance:

Class Impact

Used to measure the number of classes missed by a Teacher due to attendance or network issues. This number is used to calculate a Teachers Monthly Class Bonus so poor attendance will lead to a lower or no bonus being received. Consecutive months of unacceptable Class Impact will lead to the issuing of Sanctions Points and warnings, Teachers who do not improve may be removed from the Teaching Platform.

Class Penalty

Issued for Teacher No Show classes with late (less than 2 hours’) or no notice given. The Class Penalty is equivalent to 100% of the pay rate for the class and is deducted from a Teacher’s pay at the end of the month.

All Teachers are eligible for 6 special leaves each year. These leaves can be used to avoid penalties for any absence. Additionally, Teachers who experience serious medical issues or emergencies will be eligible to have their leave tagged as such and incur no financial penalties.

Absolutely! In fact, this is our most popular schedule. Teachers love the guaranteed nature of our Fixed Shift which allows them to be comfortable in the knowledge they will receive at least the expected amount of pay each month. They then open Flexi times around their Fixed Shifts to maximize their working time.

As an example Teacher A works:

Fixed Shift

Monday – Friday: 19:00-22:00
Saturday: 17:00-22:00
For 20 guaranteed pay hours per week.
They also open their Flexi slots from 17:00-19:00 Monday-Friday and any hours they want on Saturday/Sunday

Our expectations for Teachers on a Fixed shift are high. You will be required to maintain the Attendance and Performance standards. While these standards are very achievable for most Teachers we understand that sometimes circumstances can change. If this happens we ask that you give as much notice as you can and work with our Team to minimize the impact on our Students.