teacher

sales representative

package handler

marketing project manager

marketing manager

Institute of Reading Development

During the school year, I am a high school economics and world history teacher.


First of all, you probably answered an ad that promoted $675 per week. That amount is only if you decide to spend your Summer away from home for them, with food unpaid. The places they'll send you are Saint Louis, Jackson, etc... impoverished towns like that, not exactly a vacation destination. If you work in your city, you'll bring in about $300 to $350 per week after taxes despite working a 50 hour week. 

As the title says, this is a decent summer position for a college student. Most of my colleagues were PhD or BA candidates. Certainly not a position for anybody needing to pay rent. THIS IS NOT A JOB THAT WILL PAY YOUR BILLS. 

Training is from home and webcam based. However, training is only $8.00  per hour and lasts an entire month, yes...a month at $8.00 per hour. AGAIN, THIS IS NOT A JOB THAT WILL PAY YOUR BILLS.  Often times, the owner of the company will want to call an "urgent" webcam meeting during your training so that he can talk about his favorite books and read you poetry. You read that correctly, I sat through almost an hour of poetry one day during training. Also, they ship you everything for the students instead of to the students themselves. So, expect to have about 20 massive boxes of children's books shipped to you and lying around from April to August and to lug about 100 books to and from each work site for every class.

Your supervisor will likely micro-manage, as this position is mostly filled with 18 to 25 year old college students. I can only speak for my supervisor, who was located two time zones away from me, and shrugged off every concern that I wanted to address. They will not speak to parents on your behalf, so if you have an issue with a student's behavior or a parent's behavior, come to class prepared with good management skills for the student and to lay down your classroom law for the parents. Front the issue head on. Whatever you do, if you have a meeting with parent, don't tell your supervisor about it, as they will have a fit and threaten you with termination.

The lesson plans are given to you and are weak/empty. Often times you are instructed to have the students read a single chapter of a children's book (usually only 7 to 10 pages) and have a class of maybe 7 children discuss their feelings about those 7 to 10 pages...for 2 hours. Some of the books chosen are popular titles. I encountered many students who had already read the book and seen the movie. One entire class of 5th graders had already read and watched the entire Summer lesson plan of Tuck Everlasting and The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. You can't end your classes early, they will fire you on the spot. You cannot add to their naked lesson plans, or they will fire you on the spot. Just like being a public school teacher, you are a scripted lesson plan robot and God help you if you make your own lesson. If that is your bag, then go for it. There is a reason I don't teach in public schools.  

Overall, this was an immensely disappointing experience because I was so excited for it when it started. The people who own and run this company got so self-absorbed in their own vision that they forgot to actually implement it or run a business. 

Parents: This course will not teach your student how to read or even better their reading skills. At it's best, your student may pick up some study skills. From this teacher's opinion, don't waste your money.

This was an excellent job opportunity for me during my summers as a graduate student. I received tons of valuable training and got paid very well for just 10 weeks' worth of work every summer. As an extravert, I enjoyed traveling around and meeting new people, and getting to work hands-on with hundreds of energized children each week. However, as a PhD in literature who has since completed graduate-level pedagogical training, this job has several red flags. The lesson plans are scripted and timed down to the minute (which doesn't allow professional teachers to adjust based on their students' needs, strengths, and/or weaknesses). Plus, the company is unapologetically for-profit, and goes out of its way to sell parents things they do not need (or could buy cheaper elsewhere). 

Professional educators may be deeply unsettled by the IRD's outdated and exclusionary teaching philosophy: the program follows a strict "Great Books" curriculum, teaching almost exclusively works by white male writers from the mid-20th century -- even if/when the students you serve come from rich and diverse cultural backgrounds. At the time I worked here, we were also required to teach a book about a Black family, written by a white author, which several parents (and fellow teachers!) rightfully complained perpetuated racial stereotypes, most notably the harmful and untrue characterization of Black men as "aggressive" and "violent." No teachers are allowed to substitute, omit, or change even a single chapter of a single book. All teachers teach the exact same thing.

My immediate supervisor was polite and professional, but the higher-ups trapped me into an uncomfortable confrontation towards the end of my time here. They conducted an exit interview and asked me if there was anything I would change about the program, to which I offered my suggestion of adding more books by women writers, featuring female main characters. After I offered this suggestion, one of the highest ranked company leaders (he is a man; I am a woman) followed up with me in order to explain that "little girls love reading about little boys" and don't need to see themselves represented in literature. Overall, I don't regret working here, but I don't support the company's pedagogy, leadership, or social views either. 

The season at the Institute starts in February and lasts through the summer (the better you perform, the longer your season will last).  

Prior to the beginning of the season, one week of intensive web meeting training is provided and you get plenty of time to practice prior to going live on the phones.

The calls are inbound only, so no cold calling whatsoever is required. 
You are provided with a script and a binder of scripts from which to choose after you determine the child's current reading level and the level of assistance he or she requires.

The pay is hourly plus commission on the child's enrollment.  The hourly varies depending on your level of skill and keep in mind, that the commission earned might be proactively subtracted if the parent cancels the child's enrollment. 

You set your schedule by indicating the times and days you're available to work and there's ample opportunity to pick up more hours if you wish to do so.

The management is involved and pretty easy going, so you have lots of support of you need it.  The system they use can be glitchy at times, and that causes some frustration, but again, I've found management to be understanding, and the IT department is available to troubleshoot any issue during business hours.

The work itself isn't difficult if you're comfortable with sales, and are able to build rapport with the parent.  The reading classes are effective, and many parents call in to either re-enroll their child or because another parent recommended the program, so that many of the calls are warm sales.  The company discourages hard closes, so in that aspect it's a relatively easy sales job.  However, being able to close effectively still counts.  Not only does it determine your pay and pay rate, it also determines the phone queue in which you're placed, and if you're not performing up to par, your calls, and your opportunities, will be few.

If you are a strong closer, then the phone rings nonstop.  Often it feels like you're running a marathon, as you're barely able to complete the one call, when the next one comes in.

Overall, I enjoyed working there, which is why I've done three seasons so far.  But I did find myself burning out the last season, and am not sure I'll be going back for more at this time.

I was very excited to start work at the Institute. Encouraging students to love reading? Seemed ideal for me. Everyone was friendly. They hired me and got me excited to teach....After orientation, they suddenly laid me off, only citing orientation mock teaching as a reason. The person who did the firing was rather insulting, possibly unintentionally. However, with all of my teaching experience and education, paired with the staff's great compliments to me, I doubt it was my qualification. 
They either 1. over hired in my area and had to cut down, or 2. are so cult-like that if you do not recite their script verbatim they'll get rid of you. Nothing you teach is complex, so explaining it is very simple. But they won't let you smoothly transition a concept in an understandable sentence. They want you to robotically state multiple points....And they record every video chat and critique you....If they over hired and laid me off, it's fine but that means one of two things: you either need to watch out when they purposely over hire and cut it down OR they did not get as much enrollment due to lack of students, and your job security is bad. On the other hand, they may be very cultish.....in that scenario, it's creepy the way they record every video chat and other people tell you what they watched of you. Tons of companies use this tool, so I thought it was fine....but the staff at this Institute can be a little bit creepy about it, telling you details about your speech or whatever that is a little weird. If you want to get fully hired, then not suddenly terminated before you even get trained, make sure you exaggerate your warmness!! And memorize their few-word script for each lesson VERBATIM! It's exhausting but do not be a casual real teacher who connect with students. Stand straightly and robotically when they ask you to mock teach and pretend like there are kids in front of you! If you don't clearly say EXACTLY the words they want you to, and call out pretend student names, they will likely terminate you before you even teach. 
This company has actually been around for so long that I bet their obsession with controlling every teacher is probably what is limiting their growth and keeping them so small.

I taught for one summer at IRD. I have been a teacher off and on for many years, and wanted to spend the summer teaching children to read and helping older students improve their reading skills. 

The intensive training online classroom training provided by IRD was the best I have ever experienced. I wished I had received training like that at the beginning of my teaching career, and think it would be enormously beneficial to any young or new teacher. The curriculum, materials and lesson plans are also outstanding, building on a framework of learning that flows beautifully from one level to the next. 

The pay was low, but I knew that going into the summer. Even so, the pay was even lower than I was told it might be (never guaranteed - I get it). I was also unprepared for the level of physical labor involved. You take all  your materials with you (think suitcase full of books) to every class. This means lugging heavy boxes or dragging a suitcase and setting up the classroom, and then taking it all with you at the end of the day. Since most of my classes were held on college campuses, that meant a lot of walking and a lot of lugging. 

The supervision I received was not great once I got into the field. My manager was young and understood the IRD method very well, but she didn't know how to manage people. I had a particularly rough time in a mid-summer training class, due to stressors outside of work. My management style would have been to circle back after the class and check in with that person - see if she was OK, find out whether or not I could help, encourage, cheer-lead, etc. She simply assumed that I didn't care enough to prepare and lacked the dedication needed for the job. That was very disappointing. My students and parents loved me, and told me so every week! 

Despite the disappointments, I would highly recommend IRD to any young teacher, simply because the training is exemplary, and the classroom experience is joyous and exciting. Different supervisors have different styles, and I think mine just wasn't everything I needed her to be. She still knows her stuff, and gave good feedback and support on logistical questions.

With IRD, a typical day of work can consist of many projects and tasks, but overall the primary thought on my mind is always geared towards student and parent experiences with us. I want my students to grow and enjoy reading once again. Every preparation and teaching day reflects this drive in me. I have learned to be more fully myself and model healthy engagement in reading and class discussion. I have also learned to be more concise and/or more elaborate with directions and explanations based on "reading" a particular class or individual student. My management team supports me and often encourages us through continual training meetings and Veteran teacher training before a new season. They inspire and keep me coming back! Our workplace culture is focused on positive experiences for our students. We are a team; we support one another and strive to celebrate our collective successes along with our students' successes. While I love my job, the hardest part of my job is the fact that it is seasonal and always a bit rapid in transition from each season. However, they ask me back each season, they affirm my efforts, and acknowledge where I have grown, giving me more opportunities to broaden and sharpen my skills as a teacher and operations team member. Ultimately, the best parts of my job are the days I get to read a loud with passion to a class and then have their discussion. They are so eager to jump in, think openly and become relational about the characters and their classmates. When I have a one-on-one with a student and I have the opportunity to encourage them and physically see their boosted confidence, I tear up a bit. My favorite moments are when parents come in with a report card or a Parent-Teacher conference update from their students' school and their student is excelling and has impressed their other teacher. The parent is pleased, and if you catch the student's face when the parent is speaking, you can see that short burst of pride glimmer forth for a moment. I am so proud of my students and the work they put in to help themselves grow as readers and human beings. It is my joy to facilitate a part of the puzzle for them and live their journey with them for the weeks I am privileged to.

I worked a seasonal position here and was initially attracted to this job because it was a "work from home" opportunity. The training was exhaustive and you were required to learn 36 different scripts in a week. Phone calls were directed to "senior" employees, limiting the income you could make. All calls were monitored and a manager would come on the line after each call and verbally berate you.
Their software was buggy and constantly went offline. When that happened, you were considered to have abandoned your desk and clocked out for the day. Many phones calls would ensue. The IT department was probably 2 guys (who were in over their head) and never seemed to be able to fix any of the issues.
The managers were rude, abusive and played "favorites." The overall experience with the company left a lump in my stomach, as we were required to aggressively prey upon worried parents, whose children were having difficulty reading in school. Most of these parents could not afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a short summer class, especially one that they got very little out of. If a parent said that they didn't have the money, we were supposed to grill them for anyone that they knew who could pay, and do a 3-way call with them to try to get the money.
The flyers that they hand out in schools and libraries are bait-and-switch ads, which you will have to overcome, while being yelled at and called a liar...there are a lot of hangups, which cause your points to go down, limiting the amount of phone calls that are directed to your queue.
I was promised a seasonal position of 3 months (but wanted to quit soon after taking calls), but was laid-off after 3 weeks (due to low call volume, aka: they had to make sure the senior sales people were getting enough calls, which I understand, but nobody tells the truth here). My final check was a bunch of charge-backs, stating all the people I got to sign-up cancelled and I had to pay back the commission. This place is a total scam!

If you love reading and have a passion for passing that love along, you will highly enjoy this job. 

This company provides adequate, remote, paid training for those who may not have any/much teaching experience. You will be provided the necessary materials to prepare for your interview as well.

The supervisors are lovely and everyone is a proper team. If you need help, a supervisor and/or a fellow teacher will swiftly provide assistance. Your supervisor will frequently check in and meet with you about how you are doing and is easily available to answer questions / provide advice. 

This company values work/life balance. Compassion and warmth are core values in how we teach and interact with one another. 

Throughout each semester you'll attend routine staff meetings where you'll be provided updated information, will discuss various teaching topics like classroom management techniques and relationship building with students, and you'll get to connect with your colleagues through your shared love of reading/literature. 

My teaching skills have continuously flourished throughout my time here. I have had the opportunity to work both in-person with students and remotely via Zoom. Nothing could fully describe the joy I feel teaching these kids, nor the pride I feel as I observe the improvement in my students' reading skills during our time together. 

This company will properly compensate for travel costs and other material costs related to your teaching (i.e. printing services/paper/ink for printing lesson plans, gas milage, etc.). 

Although this job pays just above minimum wage, does not provide health insurance nor other such benefits, and there is no PTO, this company is legit and a great option for those looking to begin their teaching careers, looking for consistent summer work, and/or looking for temporary, fulltime work.

For those that love reading and sharing that passion with others, working at IRD is a fulfilling and enjoyable position.  Curriculum and lesson plans are provided which makes preparing for classes much less stressful than other teaching jobs.  On a typical day, a teacher might teach students from ages 4 years old to adult, so it's impossible to get bored.  

IRD provides in-depth training before teaching starts, including very useful classroom management training.  Unlike other jobs, management/supervisors are incredibly supportive and always available for any questions/issues/needs that may arise.  IRD works hard to help make this teaching experience as supportive, successful, and enjoyable as possible.

As a teacher, one may likely spend the summer without physically seeing another IRD employee, but the workplace culture continues to be open, warm, and supportive.  Weekly online meetings with supervisors and occasional group meetings act as a great check-in point to develop a great team-oriented sentiment.

The hardest parts of the job relate directly to being able to manage independence.  To be successful, a teacher needs to be comfortable working independently including diligently preparing for classes and being on time.  Being a highly energetic, detail-oriented, and compassionate person is also necessary.  Classes are often held on weekends, so one must be willing to work on weekends (but it is definitely worth it!)

The best parts of the job include more than just having awesome support from one's direct supervisor and other IRD staff, but also being appreciated for one's natural personality and work ethic and having one's ideas, thoughts, and concerns valued.  The most wonderful part of the job is being a positive influence in students' lives and actively being a part of students' progress and success-- at the end of a teaching period, one can honestly and confidently be sure of successfully making a positive difference.

If you love teaching, books, and kids, I can see no reason you wouldn't enjoy working for the Institute. It's a packaged deal, though, and you need to have an enthusiasm for all three. Teachers may work in two capacities--either as in-person instructors over the summer (busiest time) or as online instructors at different parts of the year. I have done both and have had great experiences with being a "physical" and "virtual" instructor.

Working with kids is rewarding, but can also be very challenging, and you need to be flexible and patient enough to maintain an attitude of warmth toward every student, regardless of ability level or enthusiasm. Some students will not be excited about the program and will not like reading at the start, and if you approach the job with that expectation, you can work actively to change that by the end of the program. I will say that you should be prepared that you may sometimes have unruly students (particularly in the middles-school classes). You will have weekly supervisor meetings, and if you do have a student/students who get out of hand, approach your supervisor immediately to come up with a plan to get in touch with the student's (students') parents in order to resolve the issue. In the summer, you only have 5 weeks.

On the management side of things, my favorite part about working for the Institute was how open and accessible everything is and has always been. That is, I rarely felt like I was asked or expected to do things I didn't know about. If you work as a summer reading teacher, you *will* receive a very large shipment of boxes before you begin teaching, and you *will* be told about it provided you watch all of the new-hire videos like you are supposed to do. Lugging the boxes around in the summer is probably the biggest downside of the job, but in accepting a position, you accept the responsibility.

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