How Can You Become a Tutor?

How can you work as a tutor?

So, you are considering working as a tutor? If so, congratulations! You have chosen a great career that is filled with fulfillment and gratitude. You won’t ever have two days the same and will be able to choose your own working schedule. But how can you become a tutor?

If you have analysed the job responsibilities, looked at the necessary skills and have decided that tutoring is the career for you then all that is left is to get up and running. Here are a few steps you can take at the beginning of your tutoring career to ensure you give yourself the best introduction possible.

Decide on your subject

The first decision is the most crucial one. Before you start as a tutor you need to decide which subject you are going to specialise in. This needs to be a topic that you are incredibly comfortable in, have a lot of knowledge about and are confident that you will be able to explain it in a clear manner.

You cannot be a tutor of a subject that you only have a surface-level of knowledge on. How can you expect your students to feel confident in a topic that you yourself are unsure about?

You can also take the other route of becoming a general tutor. For this you will need knowledge of a number of different areas. It does not have to be as in-depth as it would if you were subject specific but you need to have a good understanding of the core subjects such as English, mathematics and science.

Choose your student type

Before taking on your first students you need to decide what type of individual you believe you would do best at tutoring. Here are a few areas for you to consider:

  1. Age - Will you exclusively teach children or would you be confident in tutoring adults too? You can go by assessment level if you choose to teach school children. For example, only tutor GCSE or A-Level students.
  2. Goals - This area of consideration will tie in with age range. Will you only accept students whose goals are to pass their upcoming exams or will you try helping older individuals who want to gain skills to aid their business ventures?
  3. Ability level - If you are planning to teach specialist subjects then you will need to consider what ability level you will prefer assisting. You can choose to accept students who are entry level, intermediate or proficient in this subject.

Start advertising your tutoring services

Once you have decided the subject you will teach and the type of student you will take on, you need to find a way to get word out about your tutoring service. You can advertise in your local newspaper, supermarket and other recreational centres depending on your intended audience.

Remember that word of mouth and personal referrals will always be very important. Encourage your first students (or their parents) to leave reviews for your website in order to encourage other individuals to try out your tutoring service. Remember to keep in mind the keywords that students and/or parents are likely to be searching. A good example is gcse maths tutors near me.