One of the most common questions I get asked is, "Can I become a private tutor along with my full-time job? " Well, the quick answer to this question is yes! Anyone can become an online tutor, be it an engineer, fashion designer, or linguist.
If you have the right teaching skills and if you are super-passionate about your subject, private tutoring is an amazing career option for you. Bonus point? You can generate massive income without having to compromise your high-paying job.
In this blog, we're going to discuss everything about online tutors and pro tips for becoming one.
So, let's dig deeper...
Private online tutors work for strengthening students’ knowledge and also train them for future success. Tutors are committed to guiding an individual student in an online environment. This makes it easier for the tutor to deliver online lessons. The workplace for tutors is flexible. It can be their homes, offices, public places, or whatever suits them the best.
As far as the qualification is concerned, tutors don't need to have a university degree like teachers. Only experience and the right skills are enough. They are usually paid on an hourly basis at the end of the week or month. Furthermore, they've to create professional tutor profiles on private tutoring websites to let the students know who they are and how they can help the students nourish their skills.
The impact of Covid-19 has greatly increased the demand for online tuition. People are now more prone to social distancing, which has given much attention to this profession. Read on to find the amazing advantages of online tutoring:
You will be surprised to hear that tutors can earn up to 18$ dollars per hour! This average hourly rate can be increased or decreased depending on the complexity of the subject and the tutor’s experience. Whether you want to become an online Math Teacher or a Chemistry tutor, you can start your online teaching career today with a credible company. For most tutors, this occupation is considered one of the lucrative professions.
The best part of online tutoring is that you can teach worldwide students. A resident of texas can connect with a pupil living in Cape Town and help the student reach his full potential via online classes. And, a tutor residing in New York can teach French pupils without having to move out of his city.
Sounds incredible, right? This profession is free of any geographical restrictions. You can also teach your native language to different people around the world.
Yes, you read it right!
With this occupation, you don’t have to stick to your desk job for 6-7 hours. Bonus Pont? It’s a NO-BOSS profession! Classes can be arranged anytime depending on your and the student's convenience. Honestly, one would hardly find a profession offering these many amazing benefits.
The key to becoming a successful online tutor is proper planning. This will help individuals deal with the twist and turns that pop up during the online journey. Wondering how to draft a proper plan? Below are 6 steps that will help you out:
Starting without a plan is injurious to your tutoring career! Take a pen and list down every possible goal that hits your mind. Ask yourself, questions like;
Your goals will help you stay on track, find the clients easily and make the directions clear for you and the students.
Bonus Tip: To ensure your goals are well-defined, unambiguous, achievable, and realistic, use the SMART-goal strategy. Here is an image that explains what SMART goals are:
Once you're done with the step, you've to set your timetable so let's discuss how to do that in the next step…
What if you have an online class and a meeting in your office at the same time? Getting into this situation sounds like nightmare. If you don't want this to happen, draft your timetable beforehand!
Analyze your daily activities. How do you start your day? Do you have to attend any school, office, or university? What's your weekend routine?
By doing so, you can arrange your classes easily and manage everything effectively. Let's say you're a Math teacher at an elementary school and want to start online tutoring. In this case, you might get a break in the mid-morning. You can set up your class during that break.
Apart from that, online lessons can also be delivered on weekends. You can also use online templates for drafting your time, i..e, ScheduleBuilder, Visme, etc.
For online tutors, being a techie is essential!
How will you conduct an online class if you don't know how to log into Skype or Zoom? What would you do if your system stopped working abruptly?
Learn how to use technology. We're not saying that you should get a degree in computer science. You just need to learn the basics. For this purpose, you can watch YouTube videos and, if necessary, join any online course.
Knowing what's working in online tutoring and what's not… is essential. Because if you don't, you might keep working on a dead trend for years. This would only cost time, effort, and dollars.
The very first trend of this year that should be kept in front of every tutor's mind is: leveraging the power of social media. Facebook, Twitter, and many other platforms are buzzing with the latest trends. You can join Facebook groups to follow up on their latest activities and to find out what's working for the students and what’s not.
The second trend that is worth mentioning is: attending the grand educational events. Many renowned companies conduct monthly or yearly conferences. Being a part of these industrial events is a great way of building a network and learning more about the tutoring world. Attending online webinars is also a good option.
Lastly, with all the above trends, you must keep up with educational news. This way, you can know about new developments and certain shifts in the tutoring landscape.
A great online tutor is friendly and caring. Remember, teachers are students' mentors. Students will only share their problems and queries with the tutors if they feel comfortable around them.
Work on your personality and develop some skills, i.e., humor, team management, etc. These qualities will help you become a better teacher and build a comfortable learning environment.
That said, patience is another essential quality every tutor must have. You won't always find students who are a pleasure to deal with. Online tutors sometimes encounter pupils having understanding or behavioral issues. Well, in that case, you should handle everything smoothly without getting hyper. This is the key to becoming a good teacher. Students love returning to friendly teachers. So, if you want to build a huge network of students, then work on your personality!
Now it's time to discover a credible company to help you get clients.
Online tutoring is new in the market. Hence, finding the right platform for starting this career isn't easy. Only a few legitimate websites can be trusted because the online world is filled with scammers. You can easily fall into their traps, especially if you don't follow the right tips and steps.
To help you find a credible company, we've listed some tips for you:
You can easily land a trustworthy online tutoring company with all these tips. So, do give the above points a second read because the more you'll focus on them, the more easily you'll be able to recall these tips while finding a tutoring company.
Even if you’re a full-time senior engineer…
Even if you’re a part-time language teacher…
Or, even if you’re a doctor working incredibly hard at night shifts… with all the tips and steps discussed above, you can become an online teacher and start earning more! Online tutoring can not only help you polish your teaching skills but also make you richer!
