My Outschool Application and Intro Video were accepted within three hours of my submission! What?! Want to know how I did it and get a look at the Intro Video I sent in? Find my top Outschool Application tips and video example below!
If you’re new here, I’m Danie–An online ESL teacher of 4 years who’s helped hundreds of applicants become and thrive as online ESL teachers. I’ve also built my own e-commerce business aligned with the online teaching community. This blog is dedicated to online teachers wanting to start teaching, become better teachers, or build a business of their own.
1. Niche Down Your Outschool Application
Niching down is KEY! For my application, I niched down with a topic I knew a lot about and could provide credible sources to prove that I am an expert. After watching videos of many teachers failing their interviews, I realized it’s better to niche down hard on your strongest assets. You can always expand later, but niche down in the beginning.
I have co-authored two history books, and am currently writing another book, and so I used that as my niche. I decided I would frame myself as a teacher who is an expert in oral history and teaching students how to preserve their own family history by conducting interviews! I know about loads of other things, but that’s the only thing I focused on in my application. Pick one thing, and frame all your application around it!
A strong niche for your application has two things:
- You can speak on that topic easily
- You can something to show for it, like a book, a website, past experience teaching it — something that gives you the ethos or credibility to teach on that
I tried to make my niche clear in every part of my Outschool application – So for example, I touched on my history and book writing expertise in my education section, in my class explanation and then my class description and video became so cohesive.
If you need help with this, you can also join my FB group, Outschool Application Help or send me an email at danie@heydaniejay.com
(If you already applied, let me know in the comments below what niche did you use? And if you are going to apply, comment what niche you think you will use! I can try to help as well)
2. Find a Helpful Referral to Help You Through the Outschool Application
My 2nd tip for your Outschool Application and Intro Video is to have someone help you through the application. I have been having my friend Lisa help me through the Outschool application as well as my friend Cassie. Having someone already on the inside is key, because they can offer great advice. If you’d like help niching down and through your application, I am now happy to help! You can apply with my link here..
#3 Make an Engaging Outschool Intro Video
My 3rd tip for your Outschool Application and Intro Video is to create an engaging video that is high quality & explains why your class is important, what students will walk away with, and shows what an actual class would look like through a short example.
Side note: A little bit of effort with Canva can really help, because it shows you are tech-savvy. I made slides to add to my video using a template in Canva and then dropped them into my video – If you want to learn to do this in iMovie, check out this video.
#4 Be Unique
My last tip for you is to be uniquely you. Don’t look at what other teachers are doing. I observed how my friends were using their unique talents to make these awesome classes…Lisa was using her experience drawing, and Cassie was using her love and knowledge of Pokemon to teach Phonics…they weren’t copying anyone, they were finding their strengths and loves and creating unique, helpful courses! So be uniquely you and be creative! I really think the more outside the box you can be as long as you’re niched down well, you’ll get accepted right away as I did!
I hope this helps you in your Outschool Application! Follow me on Instagram to see daily stories of my Outschool and online ESL journey!
