How to be a Freelance Tutor

Freelance Tutor

To call teaching a noble profession is passé. Teachers are people who have taught and inspired so many to greatness. Tutors like you are different. You usually do not work with one organization or educational institution.

You work part-time or mostly offer your services online. It helps as children have begun to prefer interactive and visually appealing education, as opposed to the classroom teaching models that have existed for so many years.

Freelance tutorship is a viable option to consider; it is significantly easier to find work as a tutor than a teacher is. Moreover, it offers a better starting pay and is a comfortable option.

Chances are you would not even have to move from the desk. Thus, freelancing as a tutor is a lucrative and pragmatic option, one that can get you to work and pay you well enough.

Freelance Tutor Job Duties

Teachers and Tutors essentially do the same thing. The crucial difference is that the former refers to full-time teachers and instructors at educational institutions, while the latter refers to freelancers who usually work for many organizations often taking up short-term contracts as opposed to long-term employment.

Some of the Duties You Take up as a Freelance Tutor Include

  • Plan courses for the group
  • Classify learners on personal needs and adjust accordingly
  • Prepare lesson plans and study material
  • Evaluate the instructed students
  • Create reports on observations and present them to students parents or guardians
  • Be up to date with the latest teaching technologies like Blackboard and Educomp

Freelance Tutor Skills

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires,” said Mr. Arthur Ward. You need considerable skills to feature under the second category, even. However, the purpose of this section is to draw your attention to important skills that you must develop, and subsequently hone, to become a tutor.

The Skills That Are of Principal Importance Include:

  • Experience and a high level of education in the subject you wish to tutor
  • Be patient and empathetic toward students
  • Be able to explain difficult fundamentals through easy ways
  • Be able to work independently
  • Have excellent interpersonal and leadership skills
  • Have problem-solving and analytical skills.
  • Most importantly, tutors should be passionate about teaching

You can develop the skills needed through various platforms, the most popular of which include Consultants-E, IH World, Three Rivers Community College, Adult literacy blog and Online tutor training. These sites offer paid and free tutorials on tutoring and are the very platforms where you can develop and hone your skills.

Freelance Tutor Career

On your way to becoming a successful tutor, some defining traits that will help you on the path to success are more important than others. Of course, you will face many difficulties initially.

There are many bumps and hiccups that most freelancers face, with no colleagues to moan too/share lunches with, and finally the continued instability of the absence of a weekly cheque. However, one can become successful, or indeed set off down the path to success, by following certain tips, as;

  • Creating an eye-catching website, and promoting a daily blog
  • Personalizing the learning
  • Incorporating connections to student leanings
  • Teaching to the students’ strengths
  • Minimizing their weaknesses
  • Leading them amiably
  • Maintaining a strong working relationship with the students
  • Keep checking on updates and new developments on educational websites like Consultants-E, IH World, Three Rivers Community College, Adult literacy blog and Online tutor training

Freelance Tutor Salary

As mentioned earlier, a freelance tutor earns more money than a freelance teacher does; the sheer amount of opportunities only adds an onus to the career. There is no dearth of opportunity in the field and most websites and freelance portals offer many jobs to freelance tutors.

As with other freelance opportunities, there are essentially two types of engagements offered, the fixed-price model and the hourly payment model. Therefore, what can you earn as a freelance tutor?

The budget-related fixed-price models usually pay in the ranges of $10- 500, while hourly models pay anywhere from $5- 50 an hour, with most top tutors offering their services for an average of $23 per hour. You may have to settle for lower salaries at the beginning, but rest assured that once you do become recognized, jobs would not be hard to come.

Finding Work

There are many opportunities for freelance tutors today. It is one of the high-paying jobs in the freelance spectrum and there are many portals and websites offer jobs to people like you, all around the globe.

As with other freelance initiatives, the first agenda you must have is to create a Facebook page and market the services you offer. Furthermore, invite your friends, family, and acquaintances to like the page.

Apart from advertising your services online, the other options you can consider include websites like Odesk, Freelancer, Peopleperhour, Guru, and Elance which offer many opportunities for prospective freelance tutors like you and hence finding work is not as difficult for a freelance tutor if they are relatively well known.

[Also Read: How to Start a Home Tutoring Business – Learn Expert-Tutoring Tips ]

Resources

There is an abundance of learning resources for people like you, who wish to become tutors. You can train yourself by logging onto paid and free instructional courses on Tutoring. You can learn the nuances of tutoring by simply watching an instructional video.

Some of the website resources on offer, include popular websites like Consultants-E, IH World, Three Rivers Community College, Adult literacy blog and Online tutor training, which offer both paid and free options to gain the expertise and develop the skills needed to be a tutor.