Tutoring is a great career to get into, particularly if you have a love for teaching but aren’t so keen on the idea of large class sizes. This can provide a great compromise – you still get to share your own skills and help those in need and you will probably feel much more confident in your own abilities as you will just be in a one-to-one setting.
Have Materials Prepared
When you start out tutoring, you need to make sure that you are well prepared. Nothing will put a tutee or their parent off more than if you seem unsure about what you are doing. Putting a little time into your preparation doesn’t take much effort but will have a lot of benefits, both for yourself and the person you are tutoring.
For example, if you are helping a pupil prepare for a CAT test (Cognitive Ability Test), there are samples tests to help you prepare. These include some subtitles which outline the key elements of the test, as well as giving some example questions so that actual practice can be done. It goes without saying that by doing mock tests, you will feel much more prepared for the actual thing and are much more likely to succeed. A good way to help your tutee feel confident and reassured is by going through one of these tests with them and explaining each question and answer step by step to ensure a thorough understanding of the material and what exactly will be expected of them.
Start Out Relatively Small And Cheap
When you are starting up a tutoring business, people don’t know who you are or what you are like, so it is sensible to start out with just a few tutees and not charge a ridiculous price. Once people know what your teaching style and success rate are like, you can begin to charge more but in the initial stages this may put off some people. You also don’t want to over-commit yourself to having too many pupils to teach, so it is best to just start out with a few of them and then once you get the grips of it all, you can take on more.
Set Up A Scheme To Encourage Referrals
Once you feel more comfortable with tutoring and feel as though you know the needs and wants of all of your tutees, you should look into tutoring more pupils if you have time to do this. A great way to do this is to go through the people you already teach. For someone looking for a tutor, the best way for them to source one is by being referred directly by a friend. This way, they will know for sure that the tutor they are paying for delivers high-quality classes, so they won’t have to worry about wasting their money.
To encourage this process, you could set up a referral scheme within your tutoring business – for example, if somebody refers a friend and that friend uses you for tutoring, the person that referred them could get a reward, such as two hours of free tutoring. This would encourage people to tell their friends and spread the good word about your services, and it would also mean that you will have an abundance of people lining up to use your services.
Once you do your first few tutoring sessions, it will feel super easy and you will be able to tutor without even thinking about it. The initial fear is the first barrier, but the tutee is probably much more nervous than you are, so don’t worry yourself too much.
