Cambly

To begin, I would like to mention I am a professional teacher with an education degree and many years of ESL teaching experience overseas and in Canada. Cambly was great at first. I quickly taught many students and made some fast cash. The weekly payments are great. Most students are great and looking for friendly conversation, then there are some not-so-great students. Often times you will get very short calls and hang-ups from students who are possibly using free trials. I have had one or two students who struggled in English and became frustrated and left, also giving me a bad score which drastically hurt my tutor score, therefore, making it harder to attract new students. There is not much help for this, you just have to hope no one gives you a bad review! And lastly, the pay is the lowest of all online teaching platforms. You are only paid for the exact minutes you talk and so if you are not getting student after student calling you then you will be making less than 10/hour. Most student sessions are 30 minutes, so I think of it as 5 dollars a lesson or 2.50 for 15-minute lessons. Which is just way too low. But, as I mentioned, some of the students are great and really enjoyable to chat with. I guess the main point is, don't quit your day job. This is a fun way to make a little extra cash on the side. Don't expect to pay your bills with this job.


If you depend on Cambly for an income, imagine that you have a child and they are crying and you need to cancel one of your lessons. Now an unthinking machine will block your access to priority hours. What are priority hours? These are prescheduled hours that the system gives where people actually arrive to learn. If you try to open the computer without priority hours, you will sit for hours waiting for one person to call in . There was an electrical storm and I had no electricity. I nicely emailed all my students to tell them I could not arrive and cancelled my classes. Then the system blocks my ability to have priority hours. I had important opportunities I could have taken on this weekend but I gave my time to Cambly to work up to 20 hours. Now I will sit and not make any money. I recommend to find a real teaching position where you could speak to real people that understand you. Even the managers have denied me when i explained I had to cancel sessions beyond my control. Why ? Because previously they helped me when i missed one class when I had to go to the washroom. If you depend on Cambly for your income and anything happens that you miss one class, you will now lose not only three days of income, but the ability to book priority hours that will quickly disappear. Thus for one incident beyond your control, you will lose many many days of income. 

It's a great job for people like me who enjoy language learning and teaching and meeting people around the world. Also, as a retired teacher, it is great to be able to set my own schedule. I can work when I want, travel when I want, meet friends when I want, talk to students when I want... and make a little extra money. One disadvantage is wearing headphones for hours... not good for your hearing. As for the management of Cambly, they are excellent. I truly believe what they are offering to ESL learners is valuable. The concept is sound. Give a learner a native speaker. Yes, not all native speakers make the best teachers, but some are naturally good teachers... and that's a bonus. The basic point is an ESL teacher must be a native speaker... and then relating to people is a bonus.

Some students are serious about learning, while other students may be inappropriate with female tutors to the point of exposing themselves. In any case, if students are banned, they can still create new accounts and call you again. This is a conversation platform. Some students will be respectful of your time, while others may expect you to design lessons which are unpaid. 

I have worked with Cambly for about 10 months, I have asked for help in a couple of instances and the help I get is lacking. The students are wonderful and I truly enjoy them. If the students were not so much fun I would not be here. I think the communication could and should be a lot better. Cambly is a great idea for the students and it can be improved if maybe there was a suggestion system that was truly responded too. Otherwise everything is great. But of course the pay is not to good. I have been offered other positions with other companies but my students make me stay.

This company is terrible first off they don’t screen anyone so you may get an offender showing their parts or you may have an offender teaching your child. The rating system is absolutely atrocious. It makes no sense what so ever I believe someone with a kindergarten education level may of came up with the system. They fire people for unjust reasons and offer no protection of mental health and well being to their teachers. They are very unprofessional unskilled and simply a disgrace to work for. The literal only pro of working for Cambly is getting paid weekly. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
independence in choosing working hours and subject materials

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
having to confirm reservations with the company

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work is environment is your own home
Feedback is almost immediate when asking questions of the company

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I review my hours and whether I have reservations

Company is exactly how they are branded on Indeed.  Great support/IT department and easy to use interface.  Once over the initial 2 weeks of trying to secure regular students my availability is now full every day with students I work with consistently, which is awesome!  I love that we get paid every week and you can track your pay in real time.

Petty company third world standards. They dont respect teachers and rules penalize without proper hearing. Avoid at all cost. Their students misbehave and they don't take your side. The student has 100% control and the students are based in Middle East and they talk about religion and not about education. It is very difficult to keep their students happy for a very experienced teacher such as me.

What is the best part of working at the company?
you can pick your hours and how many hours you work

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
keeping your stats up, you do not want to fall below a 98% rating

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
isolated, although there is a chat group to ask for help/support

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