Having lived in China for the past five years, I have seen VIPKid ads everywhere including subways, media and physical brochures. There seems to be many parents in China with young children who trust VIPKid. I used the opportunity presented by this assignment to learn more about this company so I could have a better understand how this company could expand so quickly and thrive among the high competition in the education market in China. The following link is my analysis: https://etec522analyst-vipkid.weebly.com
Love the reasoning on why you chose to investigate VIPkids further as I am curious about them for the same reason as you. Everywhere I look online from YouTube to education forums, there are teachers promoting VIPkids. It has given me the impression that clearly the brand is aggressive about their marketing and is offering their teachers incentives to promote them, but left me with the query of the quality of what they offer and the integrity of the company. Are they all that, or are the teacher incentives acting like a bit of a pyramid scheme in education? As such I am very much interested in learning more from your Analyst Report.
Hi Erica,
You have raised a very good question and I should have added the format of the company in my report.
From my research, VIPKid gives a one time reward for teachers who bring in a new teacher. I also noticed on YouTube videos that there are users giving tips on how to interview for VIPKid and asking to add their contact information as a referral. That said, it doesn’t seem to be set up as a pyramid scheme. The company developed quickly mainly due to the market demand in China. VIPKid started as an online education company while most of similar companies were still working with in-person tutoring. As one of the earlier companies to have online classes, VIPKid seemed to be able to use their lead time to enrol a considerable number of students. I think another point in favour is the teacher compliment. VIPKid uses teachers from the US and Canada to meet Chinese parents’ expectations for children learning to speak native English with a North American accent. The target market for VIPKid is for children ages 3-12, but many preschool children are also enrolled with VIPKid since they would have more availability.
I hope I have answered your question. You can find another perspective on VIPKid hiring experiences at: https://www.weareteachers.com/vipkid-jobs-reviews/#:~:text=VIPKid%20pays%20between%20%247%2D9,period%20prior%2C%20via%20direct%20deposit.
Interesting. Especially in terms of the outlook on a North American accent being seen as an advantage.