31ABC
31ABC Review
31ABC <—– (Click here to apply) is another company based in China. They teach Chinese children from ages 4-12 and class sizes are 1 to 1. They offer a fixed schedule as you will have the same class 3 times per week. Teachers must be native speakers (they prefer the North American accent) and a BA degree and TESL certificate are necessary. They really want teachers with a lot of experience. Peak teaching time is from 6pm – 10pm Beijing time and they require at least 9 hours per week. 31ABC pays a base rate of $7 per class with a bonus of up to $2 per class based on attendace and a “quality control evaluation” (there is also a trial class sign up bonus of $20 per class). They pay by bank transfer or Payoneer. You can email your CV and introduction video to hr3@31abc.com. Click here for more comments and the 31ABC review page.
Please leave us a comment or review of 31ABC.
20 Comments
Atika
Hello everyone and thank you so much for all the information. It’s really awesome to see a wide range of answers, opinions and topics discussed and very helpful for someone who is in the process of being hired. My question is, I understand there is a base pay and incentives, is everyone getting paid the same base pay when they start? Is everyone being paid $7 per class + potential $2 bonus? That’s what I thought but I’m starting to believe it varies based on experience, qualifications, demo, etc. If you all don’t mind me asking, what is the highest base pay you have seen someone receive or you yourself receive? Or is everyone receiving $7 base pay? What is a good/high base pay from 31abc and what is a low one. I just want to make sure that based on my experience and qualifications that they aren’t offering to pay me way less than people who I am equivalent to or have more experience than. Of course, this is also keeping in mind this time period, May 2021, the time of the pandemic now that people are calmer (kind of and only some) due to the vaccines. I understand from what other people said that when COVID hit, the company started treating teachers poorly and not paying them or staying true to their word. So I just want to see how things are going now and if some teachers are being paid a higher base rate than 7+7= $14 per hour, such as $15? $16? $17? $18? Or even higher? Thank you so much in advance for any responses at all, really appreciate it 🙂
Teacher A
Thank you for that honest review Amanda and Carl. 31abc is now on my list of companies to avoid.
Ellen Fritz
Before I began the interview I asked if I would only be teaching beginners and the interviewer said “yes.” Since I don’t teach beginners I declined the interview. They need to be upfront about this before you even apply.
Junkerson
The payment consists of a base wage and a bonus. The base wage is the base wage starts from $6 per class, and the bonus rate is $2 per class(And trial class signing up bonus is $ 5 per class). And your bonus will be judged by your attendance together with Quality Control’s evaluation of 31abc. Both wages and bonuses are calculated based on a 1 month period. Payments are given on the 10th of each month.
**Please correct listing. This is only $12-16/hour***
mikedveenstra@gmail.com
Thank you for the update! I suppose classes are 30 minutes long, correct?
Carl
RE: Amanda Butler’s post- BUT MOSTLY TO EVERYONE DEALING WITH ONLINE SCHOOLS !!!
I am also a victim of the online thieves – 31abc. I was not paid for the month of May (paydate June 2020). Needless to say, my warning (and more) to everyone — STAY AWAY FROM 31abc and any school like them. Of course, none of us know these things until it’s too late. So, for those of you who can only learn the hard way…good luck!
My real intention here is to unite and organize ALL victims of these malicious, lying, online thieves and to request that you contact the FTC (yes, that’s Federal Trade Commission). It is the job of the FTC to prevent and stop this kind of behaviour and deceit by ending such business practices in the US. They have done it before and they can do it again. BUT ONLY IF THEY KNOW ABOUT IT! Get the word out on social media and the teaching community. Remember: without YOU, the teacher, these schools have NO business!
In your case Amanda, you are a lone voice, together we are two. If everyone that has been preyed upon by these unscrupulous tyrants of online education would REPORT and follow through with US agencies (such as the FTC), we could, in some small way, rid ourselves of potential theft, lies and abuse. At least in the menial world of online teaching.
Josh
Did they ever pay you?
Amanda Butler
They didn’t pay me!
I worked for 31abc during lockdown in my city. I am a full time teacher and I had taught online before and had a great experience so I thought I’d try 31abc. In the beginning it was ok, until about mid way through my first month when all the management changed and the correspondent who hired me and assisted me was replaced. The group chat for teachers was quickly shut down so that we couldn’t share information, and they changed their online platform for teaching. Next thing I knew, I was having major problems with my lessons – they would freeze, crash, and not work. I was told my internet was (suddenly) not strong enough, so I spent about 100usd to upgrade it and add an additional router. The problems continued. To make matters worse; they were filling up my time slots without resolving the problem so I had to be online for hours at a time without getting paid (Due to their policy, if technical difficulties interrupt more than 2 mins of class the teacher is unpaid – apparently regardless if it’s their fault or not). I must have wasted nearly 25 hours of my time in those months because of this. When I would explain to management that I could not continue my lessons because I wasn’t being paid, they would say “it’s ok now” so I would try again and on and on it went. You see, I would still be able to teach most of the classes so they were benefiting by having a teacher work for free! I finally quit, and they refuse to pay me for my time since I did not give 30 days notice. I also recorded promotional videos for the company which i was promised pay for that I did not receive. I suspect they have a plethora of online teachers now due to covid, and they’re taking full advantage of this. Please – stay far away from this company!
Jade
Jason! Wow. Though I understand what you mean. I remember a few times when the teachers were screaming back and forth in Wechat and at least one of the teachers got in trouble. You’re right about men being in high demand though. Bookings are hit or miss for women with this company as well as other small companies. Though if you’re a woman they’re not going to tell you that. With some companies you have to earn your stripes by building up your student base. With other companies, students will be taken away from the established teachers and given to the new teachers. I guess they’re concerned the new teachers will cry and run away if they don’t do this. When I was new I got a crop of students immediately. I was like “Yes!” and happy because I just got there. But from what I could see in my notes the students I got were from teachers who had been working with them for a long time. As time went on the same thing happened to me! I also work for a bigger company. Students aren’t going to stay with you for the rest of their lives, so they eventually leave. With a bigger company you have more students in the pipeline ready to fill in the newly empty time slots. With 31Abc once your time slots start to have holes, it’s very difficult, if not impossible to fill in the time slots. So in the end, they’ll be nothing left.
J
No offense, but I disagree with both you and Jason.
Perhaps I wasn’t in the meeting where people were screaming back and forth, but I do remember someone shaming another person. That’s not good etiquette or at all professional. This is probably what you are referring to in terms of someone getting in trouble. Moreover, this is a normal HR occurrence. Some people aren’t a good fit.
If you were a fly on the wall in a staff meeting and counted the ratio of men to women, it would favor women!
As far as bookings being hit or miss for this company and every other small company, well, that’s a personal opinion.
After this, you go into some indiscernible ramblings about what other companies do and then try to tie it back to 31. That won’t fly. I have as much time in the online industry as Jason, whom I do not agree with either. Some students study with more than one teacher. Some students aren’t a good fit for whatever reason, so they get changed. In a service orientated business, you should try to make the clients happy.
As far as your comment about time slots are concerned, that’s so far from reality in my experience it’s beyond comprehension. I have 5 trial classes this week.
As far as Jason’s comment on cultish environment is concerned, that’s not true in my observation. Perhaps it reflects how he has experienced other companies and a small family feel is foreign to him. I grew up in a religious cult. I’ll be goddamned if I am going back to one.
The guy Jason is talking about that ‘voiced an opinion’ in the WeChat group was late for class 12 times and was appropriately fined. If you’re late 12 times for class, IMHO, you have a poly chromatic mindset in a monochromatic work environment.
Jason N
I’ve noticed that the people who like 31abc have almost a cult-like worshipping mentality. No offense. Lol. Kool aid ain’t that tasty. Sorry my bad.I work there and have no complaints about the bookings. I know it’s partially because I’m a guy and men are in high demand in this business. It is what it is. I also work for another company and will probably drop 31abc. Even with a lot of bookings they don’t pull their weight if you work for another company. You have to leave perfectly good slots open so the time slots between the 2 companies don’t clash. Thus I’ll make more if I ditch them. This is a conservative culture so I’m surprised by the: “hey man,” hippie vibe. Art is love man. Very kumbaya. Lol. Though if someone is honest about what they’re experiencing and unload on wechat they usually get kicked out of the chat. It’s publically announced and dude or dudette is publically reprimanded. Jeez. Take it easy.
Georgina
Do I need a BA to apply? I have 9 years teaching experience and am CELTA certified. Any information would be very helpful. Thank you!
mikedveenstra@gmail.com
“BA degree/TESL certificate is not necessary but preferred.” Sounds like you are well qualified.
Dina Andrews
I attempted to apply to this company but never had a response. I have three years of teaching experience and a TESOL Certificate. I also have a Masters. degree. Do you have any suggestions on how to get hired by this company?
MD
Try again, they are hiring now…..great company!
J
I just wanted to give a review of 31ABC so teachers are aware of this awesome company! I’ve been in the online teaching world for about 8 years so I feel like I am uniquely qualified to speak.
In the year that I have been with 31ABC, I have been very pleased with my interactions with the staff. They are incredibly support of my teaching efforts and accommodating when I need assistance breaking the language barrier with a student or the student’s parents. It is very much a student first environment.
I see the same students weekly in a one-on-one class, or a two-on-one class and have the opportunity to build close relationships with my kids, and see them progress. As a teacher, too me, this is the best reward.
Seeing the same students regularly means a stable and generous income as management would rather hire great teachers and keep them happy, instead of overstaffing and not giving teachers enough classes to make a life.
Hats off to a great company that is 31ABC.com.cn
Edith
I agree that this is a promising company. However you are required to do arduous reports that may take many hours to complete. In doing this you are off the pay clock for a long time. You have to put hours of effort into the reports despite what they tell you. If you don’t, the parents will drop you. You are doing more than what you are paid to do. You are also required to attend monthly meetings that are part of your evaluation process. You lose 5 points if you don’t attend.Though what’s funny is that out of the 200 or 300 teachers that work there maybe only 40 show up for the monthly meetings. People have other jobs. It’s not possible to always attend or attend at all. The system and policies have improved during meetings. It’s more organized. Before this, there was a lot of over talking during the meetings and temper tantrums from the teachers (yes teachers) during the meetings. Also, despite the fact that parents choose the teachers, bosses have favorites and will recommend whichever teachers they like best. Keep in mind most of the bosses are very young, and so they may supply the younger teachers with the most students. OR a mature teacher may be able to manipulate their young bosses for more students. There is non-stop communication on wechat at all hours of the day and night. Teachers may be over complimenting bosses, or may be treating wechat as a cathartic form of social media. A little on the unprofessional side. All the teachers are told to work as a :”team,” but we are competing with each other for the students. If you gain a new student or lose a student to another teacher, The former and current teacher can see all the notes from start to finish. Teachers will resent each other but will have to pretend that they don’t. Again, this is still an excellent company to work for. The staff does genuinely care about the teachers, and the sense of community and communication, even if it’s overused is overall pretty warm.
MD
Sorry I don’t agree with the reporting part, especially with the new course ware. A lot of online companies ask you to do reports.
It’s a great company to work for, and I have worked for others .
Nickii
how is the booking rate with 31abc ?
MD
Great !
I started 4 months ago with them , within a month my schedule was 90% full