Tutoring is a flexible, rewarding and interesting job where you’ll make a positive difference. Whether you work with children or adults, the one-on-one educational support that you provide can empower them to achieve their full potential.
As a tutor at Tutorful, you’ll help students prepare for exams, work together on class work they need guidance with and help them improve in a particular subject that they’re struggling in.
If you’re new to tutoring or thinking about going into this profession, the great news is that there’s a growing demand for tutors. According to The Sutton Trust, the private tuition market has expanded, and research reveals that a quarter of families in the UK have used a private tutor at some point in the past three years.
With that in mind, here are four reasons you should consider becoming a tutor.
1. Flexibility
Tutors are usually self-employed which means you’re basically your own boss. Unlike a standard nine-to-five job, it’s much more flexible and convenient where you can choose to be a full-time tutor or work part-time! The flexibility in scheduling your workload gives you the opportunity to accommodate work around personal commitments, resulting in a better work-life balance.
You can choose what days you want to work, how many hours you want to work and where you want to work from. Typically, tutors will go to the student’s house or even have the student travel to their home. Online tuition is also an option and is useful if your pupils are not particularly local. You can give your one-to-one lessons online, via call or video chat, and easily share files and other teaching material with your students to ensure a productive lesson.
You may need to be flexible with your student’s requirements. For example, it’s likely that they will have school during the week so won’t be able to see you until after 3pm.
Alternatively, some tutors may choose to work for companies that provide tutoring services. This probably wouldn’t have the same level of flexibility, but you’d have consistent work coming in.
As you’ll be dedicating different days, times and maybe even subjects to every student, it’s a sensible idea to have an official written contract tailored to each student. In this, you need to outline important information, such as the location, contents of the lessons and payment policy.
2. Supplement your income
Tutoring is a great way to increase your income while sharing your knowledge with others. For example, it might be that you’re already working as a teacher and want to earn some extra money on the side, or university students may wish to tutor alongside their studies.
Alternatively, you may have a completely different day job. For example, you may be a website developer who provides tutoring services for people who want to improve certain IT skills, like learning how to code a website. Tutoring is also something you could take on as a university student if you know your particular subject area really well.
As a tutor, you can set your own rates, take charge of your own income and decide how much time you can dedicate to each student. When you’re setting your tuition rates, it’s important to consider your financial needs as well as your educational and professional credential. Then weigh up the competition within your specific subject area. If your skills are in high demand, you can probably charge more.
Every student will require a different level of tutoring based on their existing knowledge, educational achievements and speed of comprehension. Therefore it’s important to tailor your rates according to every individual’s situation. You’ll be able to decide what each student needs once you meet them, and discuss their requirements and what they hope to achieve from your tutoring.
It’s also worth considering any special offers you could do, such as discounting your hourly rate when your services are bought in bulk or if your students recommend you to their friends. If you have competition within your particular subject area, having good offers is a way to stand out from the crowd.
3. Rewarding for your efforts
Tutoring is very different to a typical classroom setting. Each session is unique and solely focused on the one student. This one-to-one learning experience is something many students wouldn’t normally get in a classroom. Naturally, they’ll be able to ask as many questions as they want. As a result, you’ll feel you’re making a real difference in each student’s life.
Your influence as a tutor can have a real impact on students. Whether you’re helping them gain more confidence in a subject area or teaching them something new, it’s about making the learning process as enjoyable as possible. Through your support, students can start to build their confidence and apply what they’re learning outside of the lessons. When you start to see this pay off in their exams, assignments and general knowledge, it will give you a real sense of gratification and pride.
4. Intellectual fulfilment
Tutoring also reinforces your own skills and techniques as you’re exposed to different learning styles. Skills gained and strengthened from tutoring include your communication and leadership skills, as well as your ability to adapt these skills to individual students and their needs. These skills are important for your own growth as a professional, whether you’re in the teaching field full-time or not.
You’ll also be required to remain highly knowledgeable in the area you’re tutoring in. This means you’ll be continually adding to your knowledge base, which will keep you intellectually active.
Consequently, tutoring is something that not only helps your students develop, but also you. What’s more, if you have other career plans for the future aside from teaching jobs, having tutoring experience on your CV is invaluable.
Being a tutor is something that will always be in demand not just in the education sector, but also across various professional industries. If you have the genuine passion, patience, drive and commitment to educating people, then tutoring could be a brilliant job for you.
Haleema Khokhar writes for CV-Library, the UK’s leading independent job board. For more expert advice on education jobs, careers and the workplace, visit their Career Advice pages.
