Pros
There are mostly pros working for ALO7 as an online ESL teacher. Among them: -Great staff (tech, academic, CEO) that looks to help teachers when needed. -After a few months, teachers' schedules fill up. The more open times a teacher sets on the calendar, the more bookings they will get (a teacher's quality score (QC score) and a few other factors can also effect bookings). -Pay is always on time and accurate -Communication between teachers and other staff is good. Regular emails, a company sponsored Facebook group, and text reminders are available. -Opportunities to take on other positions (blog writers, trainers, interviewers, etc.) -Good incentive/bonuses for stability and tenure -Growing company who is hiring more and more teachers
Cons
There are a few cons that should be addressed to make ALO7 even better (although it is already a wonderful company to work for): -When a class is added to a teacher's calendar, an email is sent. However, the email only tells the teacher a new class was added. It omits the day/time/lesson information. The teacher must search through their entire calendar to find the added class. Adding that information to the email would save the teacher valuable time. -The new teaching platform has a lot of potential (AI interface, great features, etc.). However, it is still in the developmental stage and many tutors are not comfortable with issues that come up while using it (slow at times/lag, etc.). Because of this, teachers may not be confident going into a lesson and feel that their QC score or parent reviews/school reviews may reflect negatively on their class. -Although incentives are adequate, they are spaced out to much. It can take a teacher who teaches 50 classes a month almost a year to earn $20/hr (teachers are given a pay increase after teaching 500 and 1000 classes). I would suggest giving incentives for reaching 100, 250, 500, 750, and 1000 classes. This would help improve teacher morale and acknowledge smaller steps in their development. -My biggest area to improve on are penalties. Before the first class of the day, teachers are asked to check in 10 to 20 minutes before class starts. They cannot check in before or after that time. If a teacher fails to check in on time, they are assessed a $10 penalty. This is not a major issue (although many teachers make less than $10 for a half hour class). However, because of missing one check in time, a teacher loses their 5% stability incentive and their 5% incentive for teaching 50 classes in a month. For example, if a teacher teachers 50 classes in a month and has a good QC score, they might make about $400. But, by being assessed the $10 penalty and losing their stability bonus, they would lose close to $50. That penalty is excessive and punitive for missing one check-in. I'd suggest making a failure to check in (the first time) just a $10 penalty, with no stability loss. But, if this happens a second time that month, the stability bonus would be taken (I do not think the bonus for teaching 50 classes should be taken for missing a check in). I understand missing check in causes the ALO7 staff stress in finding a sub (although there is a LINE of teachers looking for substitute classes as well as a dedicated group of floating teachers who teach on short notice). But, assessing a large penalty for the first missed check in is not necessary. Many teachers who miss check in are actually using the courseware to set up class. I'd suggest adjusting this so that if a teacher accesses the courseware, it automatically shows the teacher as present, not missing. This would be a back-up to having a teacher "missing" the check in window.