Contents
Everything You Need to Know about Tutoring on Cambly
This post has been updated as of January, 2018 to reflect some slight changes to the Cambly system and to answer some questions many people asked me after reading this post. I am almost at 1,500 conversations, but I still think the title has a nice ring to it with “1000” so I will leave it there! I still use Cambly and I still love the platform and enjoy my tutoring experience!
I recently noticed that I hit the 1000 chat mark on my Cambly account. I can’t believe it! 1000 conversations? Time flies. For those of you who don’t know, Cambly is an online English teaching and tutoring service that connects tutors to students all over the world through their own video chat platform. You don’t need to have any prior teaching experience to apply to be a tutor, and it’s a great way to earn money online.
You can sign up for Cambly here. Also, full disclosure, that is my affiliate link (see next section).
It pays $0.17 per minute spent chatting, which adds up to just over $10 per hour. After having more than 1000 conversations over the past year and a half, I decided to write a detailed, tell-all review of my experiences using Cambly.
Ok , why am I writing this Cambly review? Let me be completely clear…
I warn you, this post is very long! I did not want to leave out any details.
I also wanted to be straightforward about affiliate links. I HATE when people are sneaky with affiliate links. I actually go out of my way NOT to click on them! One digital nomad sort of site recently tried to get me to share my Cambly experience with them for their website, but in the end it was clear that they were going to slap their own affiliate link all over my experience. They forgot to mention that to me…jerks!
I decided to include my Cambly affiliate link right here and in the first section. There are also other affiliate links in this post but they are things I use myself and recommend. If you sign up to tutor with my Cambly link I will earn $20 if you tutor 10 priority hours. I would really appreciate it (I put a few afternoons into writing this article), but obviously you do you. I won’t see your name if you sign up with my affiliate link, either. If you are accepted I will be able to see your username but I won’t be able to see anything in your profile.
Other than that, Cambly is not paying me or giving me any special incentive to write this article. I just wanted to share my experience, regardless if I will make some money with it or not. If I wanted to make money I would be putting this time into tutoring on Cambly and not writing this!
Ok, back to what I was saying…
I’ve had happy chats, sad chats, chats that made me think, chats that made me cry, chats that made me see the world differently, and chats that made me laugh so hard my face hurt. For me, Cambly started as a way to pay for my travels (it paid for nearly all of my trip in Southern Africa), but I ended up learning and growing a lot while using it. Sure, I teach these students English, but they teach me so much more about their cultures and the world.
If some of you readers are thinking, “Is Cambly a scam?” the answer is NO WAY! Cambly is great and there’s nothing shady about it.
Here’s just a sampling of some of my memorable students and conversations:
-a Turkish man whose dream is to become a pilot…. I can help him get one step closer to his dream (they need to know English)! It’s all in a day’s work with Cambly!
These big doctors, businessmen, generals , princes they listen to me eagerly as I explain a new word- haha WHO’s THE BOSS NOW?!
My window to what is happening in the world…
World news also comes alive through Cambly. My students are eager to explain what is going on, and it’s so incredible to be able to learn about these world events through their eyes and not just through reading articles. Of course, it’s best to change the subject if you sense things are getting a little too political, but I find that most of my students are often very open to explaining what is happening in their countries to me.
So yes, you basically talk to people from everywhere. You talk about everything. Sometimes the conversations are deep and resonate with you for weeks, sometimes you spend a day just asking people what they ate for breakfast. Sometimes you talk for 5 minutes and never see that face again, and sometimes you spend several hours a week talking to the same person for months on end.
The Students
A PhD in Saudi Arabian Studies?
I feel like I know WAY too much about Saudi Arabia for having never been there. If Saudi Arabian Studies were a university major, I would probably have a doctorate. I know all about the history, the local rituals, their favorite holidays, their working hours, their development projects (I’m so excited for the new Riyadh metro even though I probably will never ever ride it), their social etiquette, the structure of their military…
The mundane, day to day stuff…I know that too! I know there’s a Shake Shack in Riyadh. I know they love their Kabsa, and I know that people from Dammam love to go to Bahrain to see movies on the weekend. Oh yeah, and even Saudi Arabian grandmas love Snapchat.
I think I will be learning a lot more about South Korea in the coming months as Cambly seems to expand there! And also Turkey!
What You Teach
Almost all of my students just want to practice “free conversation”. Most have learned to read and write English in school but just don’t feel confident speaking it. Some lived abroad for a few years and have a high level of English that they do not want to lose.
Cambly does provide nice content, though. It is always updated and includes articles, set topics, and lessons. It’s always worth having something ready to go just in case a student requests a more structured activity. In the beginning, more students wanted to go through the set Cambly content, but it seems like now most just want to chat about whatever.
Also, get used to having one-sided conversations. It’s your job to keep the conversation going, and the reality is that not all students will ask questions about you and your life. Part of it is related to their level of English, and another part is just because they are paying to learn English not to learn about my extremely interesting (lol jk) life.
A lot of them do ask questions and participate like in a real conversation, but sometimes you have to treat the ‘conversation’ more like it’s an interview.
Getting Started
Becoming a Tutor
I had no teaching experience when I signed up. All I had to do was make a short introduction video to show that I speak English fluently without a foreign accent. You don’t necessarily need to be a native English speaker to tutor on Cambly, but your chances of passing the application round will be higher if you speak with an anglophone accent. Once you are accepted you can get started right away!
Another great thing about Cambly is that you don’t need to sign a contract. You can tutor as much or as little as you want. You can take a month off, even a year off, and still go back and tutor again. I like this because my other profession fluctuates between demanding all my time and demanding no time at all. I’m never worried about losing Cambly as a source of income.
Will they choose me? How long will I need to wait?
This one is hard to answer. Sometimes people hear back in a day, but sometimes people hear back 6 months later. The amount of tutors on Cambly really fluctuates, but they also want to keep a good ratio between tutors and students. They also want to protect their dedicated tutors, and so if they accept a billion new tutors but don’t have an influx of students some of their top tutors will get fed up.
If the data from the people using my referral links has any value, it seems like around 25% of those who applied were accepted within 7 months. Sometimes those people signed up yesterday, and sometimes they have been waiting for months, so there are a lot of factors so don’t take my back of the envelope calculation to heart.
I know this number isn’t very high, but I think it is still worth a try! Plus, just a short video could turn into a money making opportunity that you can keep coming back to again and again.
For those of you waiting and anxious to start tutoring, I have been dabbling with other tutoring services lately and I hope to have a post about my experience up on the blog in the next few weeks!
Priority Hours
If you are coming back from a long break, I recommend logging in a week or two early to choose priority hours as you will be back to the bottom of the barrel choice-wise. Once, after returning from a long break, the only priority hours that were open to me were for two weeks into the future!
You can set your status to “visible” even when you aren’t on a priority hour, but if you are new I pretty much guarantee that you will not get any calls. When you are on priority hour, your are the most visible to prospective students. If you are available to chat but not on priority hour, your profile is buried among the long list of unavailable tutors.
Students can set their account to notify them when their preferred teachers become available. If you use Cambly a lot you may get more calls when you’re visible but aren’t on shift.
Reservations
Cambly will pay you for 10 minutes of chat time if a student doesn’t show up for a reservation, and you also can chat with other students during this wait time, which means that you could possibly be paid double for those ten minutes if your reservation doesn’t show up.
Sometimes students cancel their reservations at the last minute, which is annoying. It happens frequently so I wouldn’t cancel your weekend plans just to be available for a last minute reservation request. If I were to throw out an estimate, I would say that around 40 to 50 percent of my reservations get cancelled. 15 minute reservations made by people you have never spoken with before are the least likely to show up.
Ready, Set…Wait
So you were accepted as a tutor, you filled out your profile, you chose a nice picture, you made an embarrassing profile introduction video, you chose a priority hour and the time has finally come to tutor your first shift. You get your headset ready, make sure your roommates aren’t blasting music, set your status to visible ANNNNND…..NOTHING! Radio silence. Where is everybody?
I won’t sugarcoat it, sometimes you just don’t get a lot of calls. This morning I had a shift and only spoke for 15 minutes. I realized that the student traffic often corresponds to what is going on in Saudi Arabia.
You begin to get a feel for the busy and not so busy times: when everyone is eating lunch or dinner (no calls), just getting out of work (men will call you from their cars as they commute home), or when they are praying (no calls). University students will call you when everyone else is working ( late morning in Saudi Arabia), but during the summer their hours change.
Once you get used to the busy hours, Ramadan comes along and everything is flipped upside down (and I no longer get to talk about food for 90 percent of the time! bummer!). As more nationalities, like Koreans, begin to use Cambly, tutors won’t be so dependent on the Saudi Arabian schedule.
Cambly Guarantees a Minimum Payment
Cambly also has a system in place where you are guaranteed to be paid for 15 minutes per priority hour, even if you don’t talk to anybody. Sometimes they raise this to 30 minutes if they’re running short on tutors.
It seems like Cambly gets a flood of tutors during the summer, but there are other times during the year when they never seem to have enough tutors on duty.
It is summer as I write this and even as a seasoned tutor I am rarely able to book priority hours less than one week in advance. There are other times during the year when I can just choose my hours the evening before.
Safety: aka How Many Penises have I Seen?!
My mother basically had a heart attack when I first described Cambly to her: you’re talking to STRANGERS from WHERE? ON VIDEO CHAT?
It is pretty freaky at first, the idea that random people are calling you. But Cambly is NOT Chat Roulette.
But let’s back up for a second. When you start a Cambly account, you get to choose your tutor name that is visible to all students and also affiliated with your public profile. I decided to choose my actual name, but I changed up the spelling so I would be slightly less difficult to google/stalk.
From there you can choose to divulge as much or as little about yourself as you want while chatting with students. Nobody from Cambly has ever found my actual name and social media profiles, and nobody has ever given me a stalker-vibe.
If there is a student you would rather not talk to, you can just shoot an email to Cambly and they will make it so that this student will not be able to see you anymore on the platform. I have done this with some strange older students who would act very possessive of me. One got upset when I told him that I tutored other students in addition to him, and this was after we had spoken maybe two times. Did he understand what Cambly even is? Sigh.
But to answer the penis question:
0. Zilch. None. I have NEVER seen a penis or anything visually inappropriate on Cambly.
But…(no, I don’t mean I’ve seen butts…)
But like anything involving large groups of people, a very small percentage of people on Cambly are just jerks. Some want to be the hot shot dudes who only want to talk about how rich they are and how many hot girls they hung out with yesterday. Some guys from a certain country think they can impress me by doing the “yeah, baby, that’s right, I drank ~*alcohol*~ last week in Dubai” bad boy vibe. Yawn.
Some, but really not a lot, love mansplaining their super misogynistic worldviews. I have also had a couple of spoiled girls be disrespectful…
There’s one guy who scolded me for smiling at him! “Do you always just SMILE at MEN YOU DON’T KNOW???” But of course I had to cut him some slack because he comes from a country where it is technically forbidden to talk to unknown women on the street. Also I have learned the hard way during my world travels that a smiling woman sends a very strong, mostly sexual message in some parts of the world. But hey, I’m from Michigan so we all smile all the time I can’t help it! Don’t worry about these things, though. Just be yourself and keep a positive environment and you will be fine!
You can’t avoid these kinds of things when you have 1000 conversations with random people. I’m not on Cambly to judge their opinions, I’m on Cambly to help them learn English.
Safety Protocols that Cambly has in Place:
For the serious stuff, Cambly has a “ban immediately” button that will instantly kick the student off the platform for good. There’s also an option to report a student that is good to use for a variety of things from issues with a student’s internet to notifying Cambly if a student is acting disrespectful.
I think even in the last year Cambly has improved its safety protocols and customer service. I remember seeing a lot of negative stuff online about a year ago about lots of female tutors being exposed to a lot of nasty stuff. It’s upsetting to read about that happening and I hope that Cambly will continue to fine tune the experience so that the tutors won’t have to go through more of that.
But, other than annoying people, has weird stuff happened to you on Cambly that made you feel uncomfortable?
Yes, but it has happened a grand total of 3 times (and as of my 2018 update this still holds true…nothing else has happened). They were all the 5 minute free trial students. I banned all their sorry asses, and thankfully it was all very PG-13.
Two of them didn’t have their camera turned on and asked me if I wanted to have sex with them. It was all in a very adolescent boy sort of way, though that obviously doesn’t excuse it.
The most disturbing one was a maybe 12 year old (aka very young) boy who decided to completely stop our conversation and just make kissy lips and do obscene gestures towards me, but it was weird in like an instant, trained reaction towards seeing a woman sort of way. I felt sad after that conversation not because of how he made me feel but mainly because that poor boy grew up in an environment where that may have been considered to be an ok thing to do.
Sometimes Cambly has a promotion and gives out tons of free minutes. As a tutor it is clear when that happens, but if you spend more time tutoring your regulars will just call you and you can avoid all of that.
Issues with other online tutoring services:
I must add that I tried some other English teaching services before using Cambly, and I had lots of issues right off the bat. The other platforms did not have good safety measures in place, and on one I saw a dick in the first twenty minutes of even using it! That was enough for me to sign off for good. Sure that may happen on Cambly as well, but this other service wasn’t responsive at all when I reported it.
Cambly’s tutor support has been great over the past nearly two years, and I hope they keep up the good work. I feel like I can email them with any question and they will get back to me within a few days.
FULL DISCLOSURE: The not-so-glorious parts…
Money
You are not going to pay your rent in NYC or London only by using Cambly. You are not going to pay your $100,000 of student debt either. That’s the reality.
I am able to pay for my (frugal) existence on a farm with my tutor paychecks. But the average of my last 20 priority hours has been 48 minutes per hour, this translates to around $8.16 an hour. It’s not bad, considering you can work from home and choose your own hours, but then again sometimes that payment really fluctuates.
There are lots of tutoring services that offer similar wages but just do not have a lot of students using it, and there are other services that offer twice as much per hour but cap the number of hours or times of the day when you can tutor.
If you live in or are traveling in a place with a lower cost of living, Cambly can be a great option for you. It also is great if you are just looking for some extra beer money.
You can only tutor so much…
Of course it is not always the case, but it seems like a lot of students like to vary their teachers. If you are on Cambly all day every day, you may get fewer calls just because some students don’t want to talk to the same teacher every day. But of course there are students who want to work with the same teacher on an ongoing basis, it all just depends on your teaching style and skills.
Since most of the students want to just have free conversation, you will also have a hard time coming up with conversation topics if you talk to the same intermediate level speaker for an hour every day, especially if the conversations are often one-sided.
For example, sometimes I get students who have an hour of talk time for the day, refuse to read articles or do a structured activity, have no hobbies or interests they want to talk about, spend their days doing “nothing really,” and answer every question with just a yes or no. Your brain melts after 2 minutes. I find that this situation happens more frequently when I try to tutor long days every day. If you let time pass between sessions there are usually more things to talk about.
MY BRAIN IS MELTING: The Cambly Zombie
Speaking of long days: I have tried to tutor 10 priority hours in a row. It’s not a good idea. You become a Cambly zombie.
Smiling alone for a few hours is exhausting. Everyone starts to blend together and you cant even remember what question you just asked someone. I once asked one poor student the same question on three separate times during a half hour conversation. I asked said question with genuine curiosity and enthusiasm every time, but my brain just couldn’t register anything anymore. I think he was a little freaked out!
When I become a Cambly zombie, I also set myself up for future problems when a student calls again a few days later. It’s because I usually can’t remember anything from our previous conversation!
Plus, students won’t call as much because I either stop smiling, have no energy, or just freak them out. So, sure, you could sign up for 10 priority hours in a row, but I would be careful if I were you!
Growing Thicker Skin
Sometimes people hang up on me and I feel sad. 90 percent of the time it was an accident, but sometimes they just hang up because they don’t like me. You become less sensitive to that sort of stuff as time goes on. Just move on.
I had one person hang up on me because my accent “wasn’t American enough” LOL. He didn’t seem to realize that not all Americans talk like John Wayne.
But I must admit that…
ME TALK WEIRD NOW!
I live abroad and do not use English very much in my daily life outside of Cambly. This paired with spending hours on end speaking with non-native speakers with various levels of ability has resulted in me talking…oddly. I am certain I will reread this article in a few days or weeks and be horrified at my writing style.
So maybe that guy who cut our conversation had a point…
Connection issues
Sometimes the connection is horrible and the video doesn’t work, the sound is delayed, or you just get randomly disconnected.
I know that sometimes it is my fault (the internet out here on the farm can be HORRIFIC), but sometimes there are other factors like glitches on the site (that are usually handled well), students calling during peak internet times in their respective countries, or just problems with the internet on the students’ side.
The worst connections are when students call using their data connection (3G, 4G, LTE or whatever). Tutors are prohibited from tutoring from their mobile devices and need to tutor with wifi or an ethernet connection.
Sometimes students get disconnected repeatedly and it feels like it takes an entire hour to complete 20 minutes of tutoring. Sometimes it DOES take an entire hour to do that.
The good part, though, is that it seems like most tutors and students have experienced glitches and therefore are very relaxed about it. If you get disconnected, just wait for the student to call back. A lot of these things are outside of the students’, yours, or Cambly’s control.
Lastly:
I am a girl and the majority of my callers are men. Most of them truly want to learn English, but some of them just want to talk to a girl. If a guy just wants to flirt but doesn’t really cross the line, I pretend the sound stopped working- OOPS I CANT HEAR YOU GOODBYE!!! If they get really annoying I will report them to Cambly.
If a guy who tutors on Cambly is reading this, do you mostly speak to men as well?
You SHOULD NOT Tutor on Cambly if you…
1. If you are in desperate need of large sums of money, fast.
Sometimes my internet breaks. Sometimes nobody calls. Sometimes I only get paid 3 dollars an hour. There is a lot out of your control when you use Cambly. I don’t want to advertise it as the solution to all of your financial problems. I don’t deny that is can be an awesome resource to make some fast cash, but if you’re feeling a ton of financial pressure putting all of your energy into Cambly may make you bitter.
2. If you hate talking to people.
This is a no brainer. You have to be animated and keep conversations going.
3. If you want to convert people to your religion.
I have been getting students complaining that some teachers are treating the service like a virtual missionary trip. Of course, sometimes using Cambly is a great way to talk about religion with people who practice faiths that may be different than your own… but the goal is to teach and learn English here…
4. If you want to only talk about your recent divorce, breakup, personal problems…
Your Cambly students sometimes will have a very high level of English. At times, some feel like friends and not students. They are also completely detached from your world, making it tempting sometimes to share personal problems with them.
They are not your therapist, and you should not hold that role for them either. Sure, sometimes I share details of my personal life with students, but I am careful not to reveal too much. I have had more than a few freaked out younger students who have told me that a certain teacher only wants to talk about how depressed he/she is or a certain teacher only wants to complain about his/her divorce. I want to be sensitive to these peoples’ situations but COME ON Cambly is not the place for that.
Some final random details…
1. If you have a dog, don’t let it go on camera.
A lot of Saudis and people from that region are freaked out by dogs. Also some Koreans really hate cats? It’s a superstitious thing apparently.
As one beginner level Saudi student explained to me: “If there is dog then no angels in my house.”
2. It is sometimes considered rude to ask women from the Gulf countries too many personal questions.
Sometimes I would talk to someone and she would give me the stink-eye for the entire conversation. A few even hung up on me. Thanks to advice from other students, it turns out that what I thought was a “getting to know you” conversation was actually ultra intrusive for her. But sometimes it isn’t like that. Just be aware! Have an article ready.
3. Japanese people understand you may make this mistake…
But I learned that it is actually considered pretty rude to directly ask someone from Japan his or her occupation. And I do it immediately after meeting them! Oops then I pretty much offended every Japanese student I have! But my students all understand that tutors will ask those things for the sake of sustaining the conversation. You really don’t even need to worry about this, I thought I would just throw it in because I found it interesting!
4. Take care of your ears!
Be aware of the volume of your headphones. It tends to climb as the hours go by…
AH and speaking of headphones! I’ve received a few questions about what headset I use. I use this headset that I like a lot. It is nice because you don’t need to have separate import plugs for the audio and microphone. I used to just use ear buds but I think I was giving myself hearing damage with them! Yes, that’s an affiliate link 🙂
5. Always take notes.
This one is a biggie! I write private notes about every lesson I teach in each paying student’s profile. I really recommend jotting down what you talked about and maybe even ideas for what to do for your next lesson. Sometimes a student calls me once every two months and expects me to remember every detail about his or her life…and then things get awkward.
6. Last but not least…
Be clear with your usual students if you are going to take a break or stop using Cambly. Some students shared with me how they felt that I had abandoned them after I took a few weeks off last year. Sometimes I get new students who are sad because their usual tutor disappeared without a trace.
I realized that some of these people truly look forward to chatting with their tutors. I had become a part of their daily lives. It was really touching to know that they appreciated talking to me and missed me when I was gone. I missed a lot of them too!
Well, there you go! If you managed to read all of this, you can probably tell by now that I am a professional babbler. It helps me a lot on Cambly!
Sure, a lot of my time on Cambly consists of talking about what someone ate for dinner, but once in a while you have one of those conversations where a student is so excited to share his or her hopes, goals, and dreams with you. Sometimes all of my students want to do that and it feels like a day well spent. It’s pretty cool.
I recognize so many of those experiences Babeesh, thanks for sharing.
One thing to add for newbies if that connection issues are rife. Even if you have a dedicated hard wired connection to the robust internet service, several times a week you’ll encounter buffering, failed webcams, unexpected logouts, perform tutor checklist demands mid-session, and other Cambly-side issues. And then there are the average student disconnects. They should also know that the ‘tech corner’ FB page is actually a crowd-sourcing forum rather than a dedicated IT support page.
Finally, your caveat about pets (dogs in particular) was an interesting twist as I usually end up explaining their presence (the occasional bark gives them away) near me. This invariably leads the conversation in another direction but is always positive.
Hi! Thanks for your adding that! I totally forgot but completely agree with you. Sometimes I think the tech issues are always coming from my end when in fact it usually isn’t the case! Sometimes I have days when it seems like everyone is having technical problems! It seems like most of my problems arise from people using a spotty 3G to make the call, but sometimes nothing works with my students who use desktops.
I applied for this job and I hope I will also have the chance to talk to other nationalities. Since I am from Philippines I am doubting if they will let me teach even if I have experience because I am not a native speaker.
Are you from the philippines?
Tried it for one hour. don’t like it. Pay is crap and I feel like a web cam model, only less alluring. Two kids hung up and one guy was naked laying down with the lights out…
Thanks, Babeesh, for taking the time to put together this long and informative article. Highly appreciated, it it was entertaining as well!
Thank you for taking the time to post your experiences. I have been a tutor on Cambly for a few months and a lot of what you said made a lot of sense. Gave me a good laugh in spots as well.
Brilliantly written as well.
Thanks so much! I’m glad you liked it and I hope you are having a good experience tutoring!
Thanks for the really informative article! I have just sent my application to Cambly (and yes, the video is really not my best moment or look, but after erasing the 100th failed attempt, you sort of compromise and ‘get it over with already!’) You even start to doubt the fact that you can smile and speak English at the same time! How long can this application process take before you hear back from them?
Hey! Thanks for stopping by and the kind words! I really appreciate it! And yes I understand, I felt like a complete idiot when I made my video also! To tell you the truth, I waited a few weeks but it was during a period of time when Cambly was growing. Some people wait a few days and some people wait a few months! Lame, I know, but they keep the applications on file and let more people in when they need it. So, don’t feel like it is a reflection of you if you don’t hear back right away! A lot of qualified people or people with lots of potential are put on hold just because of supply and demand reasons. But with all of this, I hope you get it and hear back very soon! All the best!
Hi Babeesh,
Thanks for writing this article it is really informative. I am almost finished my TEFL course and will be signing up for Cambly when I get my upload speed sorted. Do you have a recommendation for a good headset that eliminates outside noise? the one I have at the moments is not going to work long term.
Happy chatting!
Hello! Thanks for commenting and for the kind words! I wish you the best with your tutoring and teaching career! To tell you the truth I am pretty hopeless when it comes to headsets. For a long time I was just using earbuds but then I bought one that can plug into my USB port (a lot of headsets available to me required two jacks and my laptop didn’t have that). They don’t eliminate much extra noise though. So sorry I can’t be very helpful! Maybe the folks at Cambly have recommendations?
Hi Babeesh! I found your article by typing “online english tutorial jobs that accepts tutors with dogs”. I have 6 dogs in my house and it’s just a small two story apartment. Im surrounded with houses with dogs also so it’s quite noisy. But it gets less noisy when i close the room. Im hopeless in looking for an online job because of this. Do all students strictly prohibit dogs during tutorials? I have the passion to teach even if I dont have any experience yet.
Hi Shey, thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I think it really depends on the students who call you and their comfort level with dogs. From my own experiences, some of my Saudi students look down upon having dogs in the home. But then again a lot of these same people have dogs on their properties to guard their animals or protect them. Dogs aren’t their friends they are more seen as working animals, and the superstitions behind dogs being unclean come from their traditions and religion.
BUT! I can’t generalize everybody. I doubt someone would hang up on you if a dog goes on camera. Also, there are a lot of students from different cultures and nationalities who would probably enjoy seeing a dog.
You technically aren’t supposed to let these distractions on camera with Cambly, but I find that they aren’t so strict in regulating all of this. I think the only real problems that may arise would be if your dogs are so noisy and are disruptive to your tutoring sessions. If there’s a way you can diminish those extra sounds I think you should be fine.
Lastly, I am only saying this with regards to Cambly. I know that other English tutoring websites, such as the Chinese companies that have you working with children and using a set curriculum, would be much more strict with regards to disruptions to the courses.
I hope this helps! Good luck to you!
Hi Babeesh! I was looking for an online teaching jobs online and found Cambly. After checking their site, I instantly looked for reviews regarding Cambly, and stumble upon your very informative article here. Thank you!
I hope that you can help me out next time if ever I have question, coz right now you answered all the inquiries I need!
Hello Janine! Thanks for commenting, it is really touching that so many people have found this article to be helpful! I hope that you enjoy your experience with Cambly and of course send any questions you have my way 🙂
Hello i would love to become a tutor i’m so excited to learn all about other cultures, religions and day to day life ! How long did it take from the time you submitted your account for them to approve it?
Hi Hannah thanks for your comment! I am glad you’re excited about it! To tell you the truth the time really varies for a lot of people. Cambly was trying to expand when I applied a long time ago so I heard back within a week. This is unusual though. It seems like some people hear back within the first month, but others may have to wait longer. I hope you don’t have a long wait! All the best to you!
I heard back the same day, and I just applied last night. This was a great article, helpful, insightful, and with a good dose of humor. I live in Chile now, and with my regular job already earn way more than I could spend each month. This will all go into savings for retirement. Thanks again, and keep on teaching!
Wonderful to hear! That is super fast! Thanks for your kind words and I hope you enjoy your teaching experience 🙂
I am happy to see such recent comments saying how fast they heard back from Cambly. I am about to make my video myself… Any tips from anyone? I have done a video interview once where it would show the question and I would have to answer it by recording a 60 second clip. I know this is not quite the same but it was so awkward!
Oh man making the video is so awkward! I can’t even find mine because my old computer practically exploded and I lost all of my files. I think if you just enunciate clearly and smile, talk about liking to work with people from different cultures, and mention any experience you may have either traveling or teaching English you should be fine. If you haven’t traveled or taught much it is no problem, mention your own studies or how you are excited to work with new people. You should be fine! Good luck!
Just curious, as a world traveller myself, where did you get the map that highlights the countries you’ve been to? And so far, except one GUY trying to hit on me, it’s been great fun so far!!
Hahahah that’s funny- who knows what you will encounter when you chat with so many strangers at a time!
I got the map from codecanyon, but to tell you the truth it doesn’t work. You are supposed to be able to click on each highlighted country and be led to the country page, but my browser times out every time I try so I gave up. Maybe one day I will work up the patience to figure it out! But I already tried working it out with my hosting and all that but who knows. But it seems to work on a lot of other travel blogs so I think the problem is unique for me. It is called “Interactive World Map” if I recall correctly.
Thank you so much for this super informative review 🙂
Is there an interview ?
You’re welcome! Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!
There’s no interview- you just make a video to apply!
Good luck!
Thank you for a very detailed and thorough review of Cambly. I have applied but realise I will not be buying the new car any time soon! Great review.
Thanks for stopping by, Bob! I hope you have a positive experience!
Have now been on since the end of December filling my ‘dead’ hours, so far very satisfied and very few problems. Mainly kids messing who usually disappear quite quickly and a few connection issues from the other end but that is normal in this business!
Great, I am happy you are having a positive experience!! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
omg you are so funny!
Thanks for reading 🙂
Hello! Are you able to specify you just want female students if you are a female tutor- i think I would feel a lot more comfortable teaching female students initially, anyway.
Thanks for such an in-depth review.
Hello! Thanks for reading and taking the time to write! Unfortunately that option isn’t available to tutors, though I think it is a great idea! It’s true that most of my students are boys/men, and I am always curious to know if male tutors have mostly female students or if it is just because more men use Cambly to learn English. All the best!
I also think it would be great if one could choose only female students. Do you have to accept the call when new students call you? Or you can decline it? I´m wondering if there is an option of declining call, then in that way one could accept only female students?
Hi Annie-
You technically have to accept the calls that come your way. Unfortunately you cannot only accept from female students. Though once you start building relationships with your regular students they can reserve times with you and you can choose to accept them or not.
After about a hundred chats on Cambly, I’d say that I have taught probably 60-70% men. I’m a dude, so I’m not sure how that affects the whole process, but thought I’d share nonetheless.
Ah thanks so much Rik! I have just been so curious to know if men also were tutoring primarily men! That must mean that there are just more male students on the platform. Thanks for letting me know! Happy tutoring!
Thank you for writing this! I can relate to a lot of what you wrote and this actually made me feel better…a lot better! Ive just been with Cambly for 4 days and I tend to ovethink sessions that did not end so well, like students hanging up, and other unpleasant situations. And the struggle of trying to get a conversation going with shy or the not so talkative students – I thought I was alone. The awkward dead air. The uhmms while I browse my screen for the next question, and then I thought I found a good one and all I get is a “yes” or a “no” or a not really. Worst, I look at the time and it says 50 mins remaining! Lol! I also agree wiith what u said about plotting ur PH. On my first day, I think I did too much PH because I was excited with how much I would be making. But after several consecutive hours on being on the phone I lost my energy and didnt enjoy it as much anymore. Even asking the basic questions was difficult at that point. Most of my students are also men but most of them are very polite, and very eager to learn. Overall, my experience with Cambly has been wonderful so far. no complaints. And I am excited for my very first pay with Cambly, which I should be getting today. yeay!
Hi Keri thanks for leaving your comment! I’m glad you are having a positive experience and oh boy do I know that feeling when people only say yes or not or not really and you have to somehow fill up an hour! I think I just start babbling about myself at that point haha. But I know that you will find a routine after more time passes and I am sure it will begin to feel easier! Good luck!
Thank you so much for your great article! Thanks to your link, I applied and was accepted after two days. It is great fun and with your fantastic description, I didn’t feel as if I would enter an unknown world 🙂 It really helped a lot. Keep on the good job!
I’m happy to hear that Joel! I hope you really enjoy your Cambly experience! Thanks for your comment!
Thank you so much for this article, and especially for taking the time to keep it updated. Your blog is super interesting and well written. I am considering applying to Cambly very soon, and your info definitely made me feel I’d be going in with my eyes wide open.
Thanks Susan that is very nice of you! I really appreciate it and I hope you have a positive experience with Cambly!!
Hi. I am on the second page of trying to register on Cambly and it says record a short video, but it does not give me the option to record anything. It passed the speed test but the next page is just a blank space . I even logged in again. Three times actually. I am not sure if you can help with this?
Hi Marion thanks for your comment. Unfortunately I can’t help you with this. I recommend that you reach out to cambly’s tech support. Best of luck!
Hi there. So thankful for your blog and you have a great writing style! I was wondering how much you make, on average, per month? I am considering applying with Cambly, but was wondering if it was worth it. I already tutor students through our local library (volunteer) and have had four students. One has gone on to get her American citizenship! So happy for her. I realize this could be a hard question to answer so a rough estimate would be ok and very much appreciated. Also, does Cambly provide any resources? Thanks again!
Hi Susan thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience. That’s wonderful that one of your students has recently gotten her citizenship!
To answer your question, it varies a lot. It is because I work other freelance jobs and so sometimes I tutor full time and sometimes I don’t tutor at all. I found that when I put in full days I make around 60 dollars before I really can’t smile or stand it anymore. That is for around 8 priority hours with some reservations thrown in. Sometimes I will do that 7 days a week depending on how desperate for money I am!
When you say resources do you mean teaching materials? Cambly does provide resources and lesson plans in their blog. Good luck I hope you have a good experience!
I just got notified my application and video was accepted and it was great reading your experiences on Cambly. I feel less nervous now. I really need to just dive right in and give it a try. Great post and thanks for sharing. It helps.
Hi Kamira! This is great to hear! Thanks so much for your kind words and I hope you have a really positive experience with Cambly!
Hi how long did you wait until they approved you? Thanks! 🙂
Thanks for the tips! They were very informative! I just signed up to be a tutor with Cambly and I waiting to hear back from them. When you said that the intro videos were embarrassing, I was thinking how right you were, because I just did mine, and they were so embarrassing! I sent everything last week and I still have not heard back. Thanks for explaining that it could be a little wait until I know if am approved.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience, Bob! I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who found the video part to be really embarrassing! Good luck with your tutoring adventures!
Hi! I must say that your blog is very informative so I’m thankful for that. I’ve just discovered about it like a few weeks ago after trying to find a suited freelancing job for me and I’m planning to fill the form(s) and submit my intro video but I’m worried about a few things.
Will the intro video (upon application) be something the students watch too for them to pick which tutor to have sessions with? Or will Cambly make us submit a different video for that once we got approved? Or just how do the students pick their tutors?
You mentioned about safety precautions, like not to put username where they’d be able to find you etc, so does that mean Cambly won’t display the name you put down while you applied? (Since I haven’t applied yet so I have no idea how detailed the information they want from applicant)
Also, do you think this time of the year is a good hiring period in Cambly?
Lastly, is there other freelance job that is simple and similar to Cambly that you would suggest? If you had any information that would be appreciated.
I apologize for asking too much but thank you! Wish me luck and good luck to you too.
Hi Moon! Thanks for your comment and sorry for the delay. Your application video won’t be shown to students. You will make another video once you are accepted and need to make a profile. You can add all the information you want to the profile to make you attractive to future students.
When students are online they will see a list of pictures and they can click them to read your profile information.
I think Cambly displays the username you choose when you apply. It is very easy to change this username so don’t worry.
I am unsure about the best hiring times for Cambly. I think they do get a flood of tutors during the beginning of the summer since people like to use it as a summer job. Right now may be a good time to apply!
I would check somewhere like Reddit for other working online opportunities!
All the best to you!
Hi I’m back because I got more questions- sorry for being a hassle. But anyway, so far I only got a reply saying they are still working on reviewing my application because of the flood of teachers, something like that….but what I wanna know is, does that mean it’s still possible for me and I can wait and expect or is that some sort of soft rejection? Like do they officially refuse applicants like actually mailing them to say “we are sorry you are not qualified for the position” etc or do they not? Not sure if you would know this but I’ll just take my chances and ask haha because I’m really curious if they just rejected me with the email or they actually meant it’s full and I should wait. Because I also saw below that someone just got accepted on April 2nd and I got my email during the last week of March I think (but maybe they already waited for long before that). Anyway thanks again and if you already knew the similar jobs, please let me know as I would try as well, so far I’ve only found those webchat buddies site which is pretty shady to me. Thanks a lot!
Hey! Oh I am so sorry that sounds frustrating! It seems like they get a flood of applications when people start looking for summer jobs. Sometimes people are left waiting for a really long time. I don’t think they send out outright rejections, though, and so if you haven’t heard anything maybe try to start finding other opportunities. Thanks for asking!
Hi,I would like to know if people from Serbia can apply?And my laptop ,should it be really good?
Hello! You can definitely apply if your English is at the level Cambly wants! I think your internet connection is more important than how good your laptop is. I have a cheap laptop and it is fine.
Hello Babeesh,
I really enjoyed your blog, I am thinking of applying to become a tutor in Cambly but I was worried about the weirdos (since its a free site to practice English). I have a few questions about teaching there since you have experience (by the way 1500 conversation is A LOT). My first question is, do you have to show your face as a tutor or you can cover the camera? My second question is, do you have to give them some kind o homework or it is not necessary? My last and final question is, you mentioned an introduction video, is that video for the company to see and evaluate you ( like a job interview) or does the video appear on your profile for the students to see?
Sorry, That’s a lot of questions.
Hi Shev!
Thanks for your comment let me answer some of your questions!
1. Yes you need to show your face.
2. No, you don’t have to give them homework. If you have the same students over and over sometimes you can ask them to read something or decide together, but it does not need to be super formal.
3. Your application video will not appear on your profile. When you are accepted as a tutor you make a new video that will be on your profile.
Also, Cambly isn’t free. They do give away free minutes for new students to try it out, but the students with more than 5 minutes of chat time are always paying students who take the platform very seriously.
Good luck!!
Thank you so much.
Hi i just got hired by cambly, should i schedule priority hours right away? So that means i have to be online for an hour at a time right? As far as pay, do you think its possible to make at least 150-200 dlls a week, that would be around 15-20 hours a week, is that possible at cambly? Thanks in advance
Hi Patti! Thanks for your comment! Congrats for being hired at Cambly!
If you are on priority hour, you have to be available for the whole hour. You can take a 5 minute break during the hour if you need to use the bathroom or whatever but you can’t do that during an English tutoring session.
I think you can definitely make 150-200 dollars a week with Cambly, but in the beginning you will probably need to work longer to get returning students. I average about 8 dollars an hour since I have to wait or sometimes ten or fifteen minutes pass and nobody calls.
Don’t feel frustrated at first. I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it in no time. Sometimes some hours are busier than others on Cambly.
All the best! Thanks for reading my Cambly review 🙂
I’m so glad I came across this article! I just applied to Cambly a few minutes ago and I wanted to see what other people have said. I’m relieved in particular about the intro video; I must have done a dozen takes before I gave up and sent in the best version. Thanks so much for writing this in-depth account of your time with Cambly. I really appreciate the insight.
Thanks for taking the time to share! I hope you have a wonderful tutoring experience!
I am really grateful that you created this article. It was very informative, and made me less nervous about applying to Cambly. I haven’t applied yet. I just have one question about the video interview. You said it was okay to not have tutoring experience, but should i mention that in my introduction? Or should I just leave that out entirely, and focus on playing up my customer service skills?
Hello thanks for commenting! I wouldn’t mention it, play up your skills! Tell them about how great you are at holding conversations!! Good luck!
Good morning! I’m so glad I found your review. I’ve been considering completing the application process (the dreaded video) for several weeks, but keep putting it off or deleting what was started. Your explanation, and the comments from others, really put it in perspective. As Larry the cable guy would say, “Just get ‘er done!”. You actually confirmed a few things I had assumed in regard to expected income, waiting for a call, and the “yes/no” response to questions. Thank you for the very insightful and humorous article. All the best and good luck to you and the farm.
Thank you!! So nice of you! Best of luck with your English tutoring experience!
Thanks for this article. I also tutor for Cambly and I loved all your advice. I have 1 question for you. I noticed when I finish a call the clock always shows 5 seconds left. Have you noticed this also?
Don’t worry- you get paid for that last minute if you get down to 10 seconds I think!
Hi Babeesh,
Thanks for your article. It prompted me to apply to Cambly. And yes, a few weeks later I was accepted. I’ve now finished my first few PHs and a lot of what you say rings true.
Thanks for taking the time to write the article and for the good advice.
And yep, I used the affiliate link. So I hope that comes your way soon!
Hi Renae! Congrats on being accepted! I hope you have a great experience tutoring! Thanks so much for using the affiliate link! It goes to pay my rent 🙂
Thanks so much for this amusing but informative article! I’ve been toying with the idea of trying out tutoring online and been looking at different site reviews etc. Cambly seemed the way to go but with no prior tutoring qualifications etc I’ve been a little hesitant. You’ve covered everything and more than I was wondering about. Seriously helpful and made me that much more sure and excited about the choice.
😀
Thank you! I hope you have a wonderful experience tutoring 🙂
Thanks for posting such an informative article about your experiences with Cambly! I started the application process nearly a year ago when I was looking at online teaching jobs but ended up signing on with VIPKID instead. However, I’m interested in looking at adding Cambly now as an additional source of income, as it sounds like it will have a little more flexibility with hours and I’d be able to do it when on the road. Plus, it might be nice to talk to adults every once in a while! Ha! And reading your list of most interesting conversations made me excited at the prospect of working for this company and maybe having the opportunity to hear a little more of someone’s story from across the globe.
I have a couple of questions, if you wouldn’t mind answering them. What kinds of policies do they have in place regarding your location/background? Is there a specific “uniform” you have to wear? Also, I assume this is considered contract work and they do not withhold taxes for you, yes? Finally, if I’ve already started the application (though it was a long time ago), would I still be able to use your affiliate link or get you the credit? Thanks!
Hey Carrie thanks for your kind words! I get you- I tried some of those China based tutoring companies and to tell you the truth Cambly is way more chill and I loved that. You don’t have to obsess about your internet connection or have a uniform. You can cancel at the last minute if something comes up, and you can really tutor whenever you want! So you are supposed to have a tidy background. No need to be in front of a wall or anything, but you shouldn’t have people walking around, for example. For dress, you technically aren’t supposed to wear hoodies or printed tshirts if I remember correctly. I sort of break that rule all the time and it isn’t really policed, though. They do not withhold taxes from you. So sweet of you but you would have to start a whole new account to use the affiliate link! Don’t worry about it 🙂 I hope you enjoy Cambly!
Hi Babeesh,
I just applied and have experience tutoring in Colombia, so really didn’t have much trouble with the intro video.
What I want to ask about is the sample lesson video.
I just did what I have done with students, in the past, which was to grab a handful of pencils and describe them in a way that uses a lot of numbers and colors, then switched to pens.
I talked about my favorite and why it was, and why another was interesting, or different from the others. The video lasted just under 5 minutes.
Does that sound like something they would be interested in, or should i do something different?
Alan
Hi Alan-
That sounds good! Though I never did a sample lesson video and it wasn’t a problem. Are you already accepted into Cambly?
Hello Babeesh!
Like all the other commenters, I just have to thank you for this fantastic article you wrote!
I’m a college student and for awhile now I’ve been looking for an additional online part time job ( I’m working for Unbabel.com as a translator) . Cambly really seems like a great place especially since you can log out and on any time you like, the only concern I really ever had was meeting creeps or people forcing they’re beliefs on me. I’m usually pretty easy going, and just nod my head when it comes to overbearing conversations…. but like the gentleman you mentioned who criticised you for smiling too much for his cultural standards, I probably would have politely given him a peace of my mind!! So I’m still not to sure if this is the right part time job for me! You’ve had a lot of experience and seem to be a really friendly and open-minded person, how did you deal with overbearing students? And if I report them or block them can they still write a negative review about me?
Kyara
Hi Kyara thanks for taking the time to write! I actually have had very, very few overbearing students. In fact that “smile guy” was one of the only ones. So I really don’t think it is anything you need to be worried about! The vast majority of the students are kind and eager to learn! But if you do meet someone who you can’t stand, you can email cambly directly and they can block that student from seeing your profile so they will not be able to contact you! I had blocked the smile guy and haven’t heard from him since!!
I have signed up to tutor on Caonly and have been waiting 2 else so far for a response. I loved your post and look forward to the one you said would feature other tutoring services.
Thanks for your comment, Tokea! I hope to get to that post soon! I have so much to do! I’m sorry Cambly hasn’t gotten back to you!
Hi Babeesh!
I’m going to college in 3 months and I decided to look for a part time job online so that my parents won’t have to worry about giving me money while I’m away. I’ve tried applying as a transcriptionist but was not accepted. I also applied in NiceTalk (didn’t get accepted as well), palfish (still waiting for a response) and goji (there aren’t a lot of active students). After searching for other online jobs in the internet, I saw your article and it got me really interested in applying for Cambly! I’ll be applying tomorrow and I hope I could get a response soon (if possible). I just want to thank you for sharing your experience in cambly and for posting this article online!
Thanks Thea! I know what it’s like trying to apply to all of those! Don’t be disheartened something will work out! Good luck with the Cambly application and I appreciate you taking the time to comment!
Hi Thea, I am interested if you have signed up with Cambly?
It’s interesting to hear your experiences and your thoughts on there being so many men. I briefly tutored on Cambly a couple of years ago and I was unsettled by the number of men on there. I was asking myself – is this just a service that allows Saudi men to talk to women, but masquerading as an English teaching service? I’ve seen a male commenter said he also gets 70/80% men, which I suppose is reassuring. Ultimately the pay was too low to make it worthwhile for me – I’m a qualified English teacher living in the UK and the pay would have been lower than the minimum wage for the UK.
I agree! I had those moments too…to the point where I was like am I an English teacher or some videochat girl? Plus…videochat girls get paid way more than cambly tutors :/ But of course the men were serious about learning English so that made me continue tutoring. But hearing that men also had a lot of men was helpful. I can definitely see how the pay just wouldn’t cut it in places like the UK. It doesn’t seem like they will be raising the pay any time soon anyway.
Hi Babeesh! Just discovered your blog and have to say it is the only travel blog I follow. I love it! What other similar companies would you suggest applying to?
Aw that is SO nice of you!! Thanks so much it means a lot to me!
I would recommend googling companies that are based in China. There are a TON of them out there and they generally pay more than cambly, though they are much stricter with punctuality and internet speed. Unfortunately my internet was never fast enough to do them regularly!
Thanks for all your info about Cambly. I’ve been trying to sign up to be a tutoring. I made an account, but I can’t figure out how to get to the teacher page. Is there another section of the website or link I need to use to be able to apply to work? Right now it keeps sending information about improving my English and finding tutors. Thanks
Hi Miriam! You have to navigate to the “become a tutor” portion of the website. You seem to be in the student part of the site. Happy tutoring!
This was the first article I had read about Cambly. I read it earlier in the month and used your your link to apply- I was approved yesterday 🙂 I’m so excited about it, but I am nervous about my first session. Not because I am nervous about speaking to someone on cam- but because on my first session I won’t have all the Cambly-specific stuff dedicated to memory (where all the links are, how to do different things). I know I should just jump in though.
Hi Heidi! Wow that’s so nice of you to use my link! Thank you! I am happy to hear that you got accepted and I know that you will get the hang of it very soon! Happy tutoring 🙂
Hi, do you have to have to be an American citizen? I am Australian, have tutored Korean, and Turkish people here . Can’t find any prerequisites, without signing into their website .
Thanks
Hi Tonia, thanks for writing. There are no citizenship requirements to tutor on Cambly. You just need to be fluent in English.
Thanks for taking the time to do all this Babeesh.
1: You mentioned that Cambly provides teaching content, but I’ve read elsewhere that it’s pretty much down to yourself. What extent of content is provided? Is it really guidelines more than anything else, or fall-back possibilities for when you need to give the lesson a bit of a boost?
What is the actual recruitment process once they approve your profile? Thanks for your time, much appreciated.
Hi George!
So Cambly has a blog of lessons that you can use if you choose to. You can probably even find it if you google cambly tutor lessons or blog. It is up to you and your students to decide if you will use the teaching content. It is not like there is a structured course that all teachers need to follow. Sometimes I would just have it up on a window for ideas if the lessons were not flowing very smoothly.
Once they approve your profile you’re all set! There is no other recruitment process- crazy, right?
hello thanks for such a detailed review. i was looking forward to such a review of a tutor on cambly. i want to ask you a question i know that may be a very stupid question but i want to know.
actually i want to ask you whether i can teach wearing a naqab (a veil). as i am a muslim and cant reveal my face to stranger. not even kids as i know today’s kid are no less that adult. is it okay to work like that on cambly.? do you have any idea about it.?
Hi Diana-
I’m so sorry for the delay I was moving and it was chaos! I don’t think that is a stupid question at all! I think your question may be better answered if you try and contact Cambly directly. I have no idea if they have a policy about this. The only situation where I think it may be difficult is when you are trying to help a student with pronunciation and you need to show your mouth, but you could also probably share youtube videos to demonstrate what you need. Sorry if this isn’t so helpful, but I hope you can find the answer you are looking for!
Hi Babeesh,
I just found your article unfortunately AFTER I’d already applied. I’m so sorry, I wish I’d found your post before so I could use your affiliate link! I recorded that intro so many times I lost count but in the end I talked about my experience, I’m a former Adjunct professor, taught kids as a substitute teacher, and tutored in college. But for the “tell us about yourself” part I only mentioned that I love to read and that I’m good at baking. Gah! Nothing about how I love meeting new people or learning about different cultures. I could kick myself that it never even occurred to me to mention that. Do you think that will be a detriment to my getting accepted?
Also, you mentioned how applicants can wait a long time to hear anything when they apply during the summer. I applied yesterday and I’m hoping that this time of year is one where they need more tutors so they turn around applications quick. Is the Fall a bit busier for demand for tutors?
Thanks for your amazing post!
Hi Tameka!
Haha no worries at all! It’s a nice treat if someone uses my link but it’s not the reason why I wrote this post! To tell you the truth I have no idea what they are looking for, so I wouldn’t worry too much about what you said. If you really feel strongly about it you could reapply, but you seem to have enough experience anyway! I hope you get it too! To tell you the truth their evaluation process still remains a mystery to me! So I’m sorry I can’t really help with whether applying in the Fall would help. But I have my fingers crossed for you I hope you get it! Thanks for your comment!
Hi again! I forgot to mention in my other comment, I’m from Detroit too. Hey girl! Your whole blog amazing!
Ah cool!!!! Thanks so much! Yay Detroit 🙂
This is a wonderfully informative article, and the fact that you are still responding to comments is amazing; excellent blog! I just wanted to let people know (because so many are asking) that my son just got accepted as a tutor today. He applied 3 days ago. He is a certified TESL teacher but his only teaching experience is guitar, perhaps that bit of experience makes a difference to how quickly they respond, but who knows! I was a bit skeptical when my son told me about Gambly, but your article has put my mind at ease. This sounds perfect for my college student, living at home, who wants to pay a couple bills and save $ for travel! Am I understanding correctly that he can travel while teaching, so long as he has internet? Just out of my own curiosity, does there seem to be an typical age for the folks you tutor, and are they all Saudis?
Thanks again for a fantastic blog!
Hi Leigh! Thanks for your comment! Congrats to your son! I hope he enjoys Cambly. You’re correct, you can teach from anywhere as long as you have reliable internet and can find a quiet place. You can’t teach via a cell phone or data connection, though. The students are all ages, but I generally get people in their 20s and 30s.There are a lot of Saudis but also there are a lot of students from all over the world.
HI Babeesh
Thank you for a very informative and obviously honest and objective Blog. I have read and now re-read your experiences as well as he experiences of others and I was just accepted yesterday as a tutor after about a 4 week wait. I speak 3 languages , (English , Spanish and French) and was hoping that was going to be of help but it seems that based on the above comments , the majority of students are native Arabic and Chinese speakers? Do you find yourself learning other languages (which I happen to have an affinity for) and would you recommend a TEFL course, like MYTEFL that will increase tutoring opportunites and income if completed successfully? Thank you again for comments which were very enjoyable to read as well as informative.
Hi Joe-
Thanks for your kind words and congrats on being accepted! The students you generally get depend on when you are teaching and how that lines up with other time zones. But yes, a lot of students will be native Arabic speakers or come from East Asia and speak Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. I found myself learning about their cultures, but not other languages since I generally focused on teaching English/ the students wanted to focus on English. It’s not really a language exchange platform, unfortunately. I never did a TEFL course so I can’t say whether or not it is a good idea with Cambly specifically. If you are interested in pursing other English teaching opportunities around the world I hear that the course is a good idea! Happy teaching 🙂
HI Babeesh
thank you for your response. Well 25 chats and 4 days in. I like it!
I hope I can tap your fountain of knowledge just a little bit more?
I understand about focusing on the English and have discovered my Spanish and French thus far to be of no use ! Many Brazilians as well. Lots of connectivity issues with the students. I have figured out how reservations works but I am not exactly sure on Regulars. If I have had a pleasant conversation, I add them and then I send a message. Today I explored the Reservations because a lady I spoke with this morning said she had made 2 reservations with another tutor and they didn’t show. Is it acceptable to send a text message after the session to invite reservations and thank the student? I do not want Cambly to think I am soliciting or doing anything shady.
Hi! I’m glad you like it! Yes it’s a bummer- I speak French and Spanish too and only rarely used them! Yes it is totally fine to send the student a message after the chat and say you enjoyed the chat and to invite them to make another reservation. Unless you are trying to actually sell them something or try to get them to use a different platform for tutoring, you’re fine! Happy tutoring!
Hey guys, I am two weeks into Cambly and so far enjoying the experience. I have two questions: 1. Can my students see the notes that I make because what it actually says is: Notes “for” the student. I started out writing notes for “me” to remember specific things to remember the student. Then I thought notes for the student, whaaat!! are the seeing this?
2. Does anyone have information regarding Cambly Kids?
Thanks Guys.
Hi Vivienne,
sorry for the delay. I think they can see your notes so be careful haha!
Cambly has been emailing me about Cambly kids so I think they are offering spots to specific tutors who have tutored a lot!
Happy tutoring!
Thanks for this post. Really interesting stuff. I guess I’m going out getting myself a webcam then.
A great read, and thank you for the heads up about dealing with ‘difficult’ customers! I am about to make my introduction video on Cambly! I like the flexibility that is offered and the fact is I want to communicate with adults instead of having to act like a clown with hand puppets etc! Thanks once again.
Hello,
How do I use your link to apply on Cambly?
This was a good article.
Thanks
hi i am a tutor i just got signed up on cambly so this helps. I don’t have any priority hours right now but I was told to be visible but I am not seeing any calls
I recently got accepted at Cambly and I can’t find anything about a dress code. Does this exist?
I think it at one point asked for no hoodies, though I’ve never seen anything enforced!
Interesting to read about your experience on Cambly.
sthere any possibility to get paid via bank transfer? unfortunately paypal is not available in my country.
I don’t think so- I recommend you ask Cambly directly!
Been working on cambly for about 6 months now and was looking at what other tutors thought of the experience. I liked what you said above. About 95% of it rings true with my own experience.
I’m going to be quite blunt here though. Being a female of a certain age group will have its benefits i think. Certain male students are going to want to be tutored by someone based on their looks. However, on the other hand, maybe in arab cultures maybe they prefer male tutors.
I’ve found there are no great theories on cambly. Some students don’t even care too much about the tutor rating i have found.
Lastly, it was really really useful to hear about how you thought that cambly as a company tends to look after its tutors compared to other websites. In truth, i don’t think they do at all. Nearly EVERYTHING is geared towards the student. But if it’s even worse with other companies then this is something that i’m glad i know about now, so thank you for that.
Hey thanks for reading and your detailed comment! I hope you continue to have a positive experience with Cambly!
Thankyou for sharing such a precious knowledge which honestly wil help every student in their better future.
Very useful information thanks for sharing and keep on sharing.
I just started with Cambly and have been enjoying it. I was wondering, could I use a MacBook or iPad pro for tutoring? Thank you for your help
Hi Charles! I used to tutor on my Macbook before it was destroyed (oops)…it mostly depended on the browser I was using. I’m not sure about the Ipad I think maybe the folks at Cambly will have more reliable info! Happy tutoring!
Hi Babeesh,
Thanks for a really great article.
Good luck with your future travels. We loved travelling before settling in Spain, growing our olives.
I’m an older guy and have experience translating for English people and giving conversation/language lessons
to Spanish friends. You didn’t mention Spanish students but also it seems that knowing the native language of your students isn’t an issue on Cambly.
I don’t need much extra income and really like talking to people so I think I’ll try applying.
Your article was so good, detailed and I like your ideas about afilliate links so I’m going to apply via your link and hope I can do enough to get you your bonus.
I’ll sub to your blog too.
Good luck and happy trails.
Thanks Glenn that’s so kind of you! Also I’m so jealous you are in Spain growing olives. That sounds like a dream come true 🙂 enjoy tutoring on Cambly!
I just started on Cambly today, and loved reading this! Thank you for writing it. Informative and entertaining!
Thank you!
Wish I’d seen this before applying last week – “25%” and “within 7 months” are not very encouraging!
I know- it seems so random! But it can fluctuate a lot and I hope you get through!
Based on your “truth and consequences” blog post I have decided to give Cambly a try… BUT… While I have taught ESL English in China, Mexico and the USA… I am now 76… with zero interest in teaching children [sorry but no longer have the patience to deal with the mind-set of youth] You made one comment about teaching a group of girls who would answer your questions in unison ,,, I have tried to check on Cambly but could not find any “group” classes… are all only one-on-one?
I enjoyed your way of explaining Cambly… hope I have as much fun as you… and THANKS!
Thanks for your comment! I hope you enjoy it too! My experience with the girls answering in unison was supposed to be a one on one but they all just were sitting next to each other!