When I started teaching 3 years ago, I had taken the 3 Wilton courses and had a few years of just practice and personal experince. I do feel it helps to have had the classes. As far as a time frame of experince it depends on the person. Some people are naturals and others need a little more time to get things down.

The "Wilton only" bothered me a little at first. BUT I really don't have alot of problems with Wilton products. Yes there are some products that I don't think are the best, but that is with any company out there. I do use and encourage my students to use Wilton products in class. I also don't pretend that Wilton is all there is. I let them know that Wilton is usually the beginning of a cake 'obsession' and that there are tons of information and other products out there. I do not and will not put down Wilton products to my students though.

How much you make depends on the number of students you have and the account you teach out. At Michaels 1-6 students is $30 a night or $120 a month. 7-9 is $40 a night. From there it goes up like $3 a night for each student with the max of 15 students.

As was mention above, go to Wilton.com and fill out the app. You actually have to go through Wilton and not the store that is hiring.

Now for the other information about teaching...

Let me start with saying I love my job. I find it fun and enjoyable to share what I know about cake decorating with other people. But this is not a make you rich job. There are perks to job, but there is also the flip side of the coin as well. If you are looking to make some extra money then it will be great. If you are looking to make enough money to pay the bills every month, then it probably isn't what you want.

Michaels wants you to offer atleast 2 courses a month. Some stores have the classroom time to offer more, plus it depends on your personal schedule. I teach on average 2-3 courses a month, but I can have the classroom 4 nights a week. The more courses in a month you can teach the more you will make.

You won't know until the beginning of every month which courses have sign ups and which courses you are going to run. So that means some months you may only make $120 or $240 for the month and maybe the next month you will make $360.

Michaels does take taxes out of your check so you do not have to deal with that at the end of the year. And at Michaels you do get an employee discount of 25% off all non sale purchases.

Wilton does also give you a 40% off discount when you order directly from them. And you have chance to earn Wilton gift certificates by doing different things.

Did you take the classes? The majority of supplies the teach used in class belonged to her. Wilton does give us free things here and there but 3/4ths of what I use in class are items I purchased myself. That is where the discounts come in handy. You are required to bake a cake for C1 as well as make two batches of icing. In C2 you make a batch of royal icing. In C3 you do use a bit of fondant and you need fondant/gumpaste in the new course. Wilton has been giving us a deal on the fondant and gumpaste though to use in the class.

At Michaels you are required to do the Class Previews, which are a 3 hour demo on a specific date (Saturday) 4 to 5 times a year. For these you get paid $50 and Michaels will let you store use certain products for the demo, but most of the supplies come from you.

We are also "suppose" to do atleast one 2 hour demo a month at $25. You can also earn GCs for these as well. Yes demo's take time to get ready for and do, but they are also a great way to let people know about the classes at the store. And that leads to increased enrollment.

So there is more than just going to the store for 3 hours a night to teach a course. You do have prep time, demos and paper work.

As I said earlier I do love my job, and I'm not trying to talk you out of it but telling you all the 'other stuff' but I just think it helps to be prepared for what you are signing up for.

If you have any more questions please feel free to PM me.

Michaels prefers you have atleast 2 people signed up, but they will let you teach a course of one.

Authress, for me the pros and the cons equal out. I have met some really interesting people and have only had a handful of students that just drove me crazy.

When I was asked about the job I talked to the WMI that was leaving and I talked to another WMI from a different state to get all the infromation.

I don't know your situation, but I'm single with no kids, so I don't have the hassle of doing my schedule around hubby or babysitters. And for me it is a great way to earn spending money doing something that I love to do.