How to pass your VIPKID Mock Classroom Interviews

First off, congrats for getting to this point! Let me guess, you’ve booked your demo interview and are now totally freaking out?

Don’t worry because after this, you’ll be more than ready to crush the VIPKID Mock Classroom interviews!

When I did my demo interview, I didn’t realize how important some things were like the background, props, and lighting. Don’t make the same mistakes I did. Before your interview, you’re going to need a few things to ensure you will get the job!

If you decide to apply for VIPKID, please feel free to ask me anything! If you use my referral code I get a small bonus and would really appreciate it!

Things to do/get before your interview:

• Decorate your background
• Lighting
• Use proper headphones
• Fun Reward System
• Props/Whiteboard
• Wear a professional shirt – ideally orange
• Prepare and practice teaching slides using a timer.

1. Your background counts…a lot.

Your background should look warm, inviting and like a classroom. You can create a simple classroom background using a world map, alphabet poster, numbers poster. You can print out some VIPKID characters and stick them on the wall, have a stuffed animal in view and put up your teacher’s name tag. If you have a bookcase or a decorative garland, that would look good too in the background. All of these things will help make your background look more like a classroom and less like a sterile hospital room. Make it you and make it fun.

2. Lighting 

In addition to natural lighting, use an additional lamp to ensure that you are evenly and well lit, especially if it’s still dark when your classes start!

3. Get a proper set of headphones with a good mic

For the interview, you can use any headphones with a mic that you have already before springing for some new ones. After you get hired, these headphones are really great for teaching class. They cancel noise and have a very clear mic which is super important as a good teacher.

4. Have a Reward System

At this stage, you don’t need to spend any money on props for your reward system, but you must have one for your interviews. Keep in mind that your reward system should be tailored to the student’s level because a 5 year old and a 12 year old are motivated by different things.

The reward system should be visible in your camera view at all times, so I tape mine to my wall. I’ve seen other teachers have them on a desk behind them within view as well.

A system I really like which is simple and easy is having a toothless smily face on a white board and everytime the student does well the smily face gets a tooth. By the end of class he has a full set of teeth!

Other ideas:

• Finger puppets you can keep adding on
• Mini trophies are great for higher level students
• A Stack toy is a simple and effective reward system

5. Props/Whiteboard 

You can print out some of the slides to use the photos as props or go to the dollarstore and pick up a few things you could use. A whiteboard is a basic prop that can be used in several ways to help teach your lessons. This whiteboard comes in a pack of two!

The interviewers will rate you based on how prepared you are, so get what you need to guarantee your success.

6. What to wear:

While it’s no longer mandatory to wear an orange shirt anymore, it does show that you really care about getting the job and will get you some brownie points. If you don’t have an orange shirt, which let’s face it, why would you? –  any professional shirt will be okay. Your hair should be neat and professional, as it would be for any other interview.

Ok, that’s all for the physical things you need…

Now let’s talk about what you need to DO to pass!

You will do two interviews. The first will be your demo class interview. For your demo class, you will have 15 mins to teach the lesson to a VIPKID recruiter who will be pretending to be a child. This interview is very important because the interviewer will be determining your salary base rate based on your performance. 

Prepare, prepare, prepare. Energy, energy, energy. Use copious amounts of TPR – Total Physical Response (Body Language) the bigger, the better.  

Tips for success:

• Practice teaching the slides and completing all of them within 15 mins – the interviewer will cut you off and you will lose points.
• Use lots of props – print out the slides and use the pictures as props, use the whiteboard as necessary but practice using it and ensure it is showing within the camera frame
• Reward your student often and enthusiastically
• Speak slowly and clearly
• Correct any mispronunciations

The second Mock classroom Interview:

Once you pass, you will be scheduled to do another mock class interview – this time you will be doing 2 mock classes. The first mock class will be for a level 2 student and the second mock class will be for a level 5 student. The interview will be 1 hour long and include 25 mins of teaching (15 mins Level 2 class, 10 mins Level 5 class).

In the first mock class, like in your demo interview, you should speak very slowly, use props, reward and use a lot of TPR. For Level 2 classes, ensure you repeat all new words 3 times and get the student to use full sentences when repeating or answering your questions. Do not use any words that are not in their vocabulary, remember they don’t know any English! There are no “reward” prompts on the slides and it’s easy to forget to reward your student. I recommend putting a post-it not on your screen if you think you’ll forget!

Use a stopwatch and time yourself on your Level 2 presentation. It should take you 15 mins flat – the interviewer will cut you off and you will lose points if you don’t finish on time.

After you complete this lesson, the interviewer will give you some feedback on your performance which you should apply to your next lesson.

For the Level 5 Class, you will have 10 mins to complete the lesson.

Tips for success:

• Adjust your teaching style/voice to suit an older child, while using appropriate TPR
• Use a more mature reward system
• You only need to repeat new vocabulary twice
• The student should be doing most of the talking/reading – 70% student lead and 30% teacher lead.

Between the time spent introducing yourselves, teaching the lesson and the feedback, this interview will last about an hour and typically you will know whether or not you passed within 24 hrs.

Hope this helps! If you decide to apply for VIPKID, feel free to ask me anything! If I’ve helped you at all on your journey please use my referral code I get a small bonus and would really appreciate it! Let me know in the comments if it was helpful or if I missed anything! xo