How I became a freelancer

When you search in Google the word "freelancer", you'll see digital nomads with a laptop drinking mojiho at the seaside. That's what I wanted to be. Isn't it cool to explore the world, to work and enjoy life at the same time? It sounds perfect for me.

I became obsessed with an idea of work and travel. Nowadays, to find a job opportunity abroad, all you need is a desire and the Internet. Volunteering? Working as an Au-pair? Or applying for immigration programms? It's up to you.

After having watched successful stories of people, who make the most of their lives, I....destroyed a chocolate, and then checked hundreds of proposals for freelancers, that didn't fit neither my qualifications nor interests. (I believe everyone should do what he/she is keen on). After another chocolate, I applied for a couple of online English teaching companies, and got a job offer. (Okay, that job application process wasn't as fast as I'm putting on weight).

After a long vacation and "what the hell shall I do" period, I started to work. (It was a month ago). The first call from a student, and I couldn't escape. LOL. That day I had 8 (!) classes. When I received a feedback "it was my best class on this platform", I thought: "Shit, why didn't I start earlier?!"

WHO DO I WORK FOR? I work for 2 companies: Polish, where I teach Polish students of all levels, including kids,  who often say "Nie rozumiem" and speak Polish :D (it's a chance to refresh my knowledge though). Students can choose an available teacher on the platform and have a class with him. I don't need to prepare any materials for classes. There're different courses in the system (Business English, General English etc.), the duration of a class is usually 20-40min. After hours of teaching and talking, I feel exhausted. Sometimes so exhausted I couldn't sleep. Another one is a company based in Taiwan. I teach Chinese students mainly English (and seldom Russian). They check teachers' profiles and book a trial class. Later they may purchase regular classes. In a month I've done around 40 classes. Here I have to prepare lesson plans. (And that's why I'm at the computer the whole day).

HOW MANY HOURS DO I TEACH A DAY? Well, in a Polish company I don't have any stable schedule. I can work as much as I want. Taiwanese students book classes in advance. (I got a class request on March 20th 2019 :D) I usually have one class in the morning, then "a break"(=preparation), and afternoon classes, which last until 11pm sometimes. Mary (merry?) workaholic...has dinner at midnight sometimes. Insane!

ABOUT STUDENTS: I enjoy teaching Polish students so much! 1) most of them speak English at an intermediate level 2) I love to give them follow-up questions related to the topic 3) I also learn a lot from them. (I got to know that teens are crazy about Ariana Grande hehe). Chinese students help me to maintain my level of spoken Mandarin, but my grammar and vocabulary need improvement though. Preparing for classes is time consuming and demands creativity (one of the students is the CEO of a company, which sells face recognition software for smart advertising, another one is preparing for a job interview for a position of a flight attendant).

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT: My dream to work in pajamas (shhh!) came true. I don't need to go out (and complain about winter in Ukraine), and the most important – I can work from anywhere :)

WHAT TO EXPECT IN TERMS OF $$ In general, online companies pay 8$ and up per hour. In some platforms you can set up your own rate. For me, a beginner, it takes weeks to earn 100$ (+the platform may charge you some extra fees). But I'm trying my best. To give great classes. To have more students. Every day I'm moving towards my dream. 

And what makes YOU wake up each morning?