Here's How to Become a Private Tutor

Private tutors are an important part of our education system today. Becoming a tutor can be a rewarding experience as you provide students with the help they need in school or university. You can even help someone learn something new. Many people of all ages often seek a new adventure and for some that means learning something new or advancing a certain skill. Therefore, if you are a tutor you will be a great help on their journey to learn a new skill or to improve a skill they already have.

In recent years, tutoring has become a growing field and according to statistics will continue to grow for many years to come.

This article will discuss some of the benefits of becoming a tutor, give you helpful steps on how to become a tutor successfully and provide you with information about the different types of jobs available as a tutor.

What is Tutoring?

A private tutor is a professional who gives individualised lessons to students or adults. Tutoring is when a more experienced individual in a certain subject gives additional academic and/or skills development support.

Anyone with the appropriate characteristics and relevant knowledge and/or experience can become a tutor.

Whether you're a teacher, a student or someone in a certain academic field wanting to make extra money, tutoring is a beneficial career branch for various individuals.

An important question you should ask yourself is Why do I want to become a tutor?

Tutoring involves more than just sharing knowledge about a subject. In order to give individualised support, effective tutoring depends on the development of rapport, open communication, and a sense of trust between the tutor and the student. This relationship and trust are essential for effective tutoring because it might be difficult to open up about your struggles and areas of difficulty, being open about your struggles is essential for individualising tutoring sessions.

There are three types of tutoring that are the most popular, they are:

1. One-on-one
2. Small group
3. Learning centres

Additionally, there are two methods for providing tutoring support: in-person and online.

The Benefits of Tutoring

Becoming a tutor is a great way to make some extra money and help others who might need it. It can be as simple as helping someone study for a test or as complex as teaching English to foreign students. There are many different types of tutors, but all share one thing in common: They are helping others learn.

Here are some inspiring benefits of tutoring:

• You will do something that you love and what you are passionate about every day
• The opportunity to help someone grow within themselves
• Help someone to advance in their skill
• You can create a positive environment for a student to make them feel comfortable to ask the questions they don't feel comfortable asking in class. Therefore, motivating increased self confidence
• Flexible working hours
• You can work from home if you give online classes
• Increased income
• Personal professional development
• Reinforces knowledge
• As a tutor, you can have a significant impact on your students
• You will gain many skills that will be desirable for future employers
• It will allow you to develop excellent communication skills
• Improve your organisational skills
• You continuously keep on learning.

As you can see, tutoring is not only beneficial for the student but also favourable for the tutor. Tutoring is a two-way street, it's about conversation and you will share many thoughts, views and questions. You will not always have all the answers, and that's okay.

You will learn from you students and they will learn from you and you will play an important role in their lives.

Are you starting to get excited to get started on your tutoring journey? Read on to get some helpful tips to become a tutor.

Helpful Steps On How to Become a Tutor

If you have the right personality, patience and time, then tutoring might be the perfect option for you. Whether you want to become a tutor for high school or college students or for helping someone learn a new skill, you can easily follow a few steps to become a tutor:

1. Gain Experience

The more experience you have in a certain subject or skill the better. Even if you don't have any tutoring experience, getting as much education-related experience as possible will help you. Try to build up experiences by asking friends and family if you could help them with the particular subject or skill you would like to teach.

2. Develop Specialist Knowledge

Having specialist knowledge about your field is one of the keys to being an excellent tutor. You will need to provide students with insightful and detailed lessons. Besides that, you will need answers to most of the questions the students will be asking you. An easy way to show clients you have specialist knowledge is by gaining a university degree or a college qualification.

3. Cultivate the Right Characteristics 

Being a tutor takes hard work and dedication. Late nights preparing lessons, becoming an expert in your field by studying and keeping up to date and managing several clients at once. The benefits of being a tutor definitely outweigh the effort but it is vital to have the correct attitude if you want to be a successful tutor. Other characteristics that will help you make this venture a success are: motivational, caring, compassionate, patient and enthusiastic. It will also be necessary to be strict at times.

Time management and organisational skills are essential to have you would like to be a tutor.

4. Determine Your Rate and Start Advertising

The rate you will charge depends on your experience and level of expertise. It's best to do some research to find the rate that is industry related and determine your rate based on that.

Word of mouth is one of the best advertising tactics, so spread the word to your family, circle of friends and colleagues. You can even give a few free lessons to friends and family to gain some experience and get the word out there. Another venue of marketing that could work for you is to advertise on social media. Contact schools and universities and let them know about your tutoring services.

5. Sign up to a Tutoring Platform

One of the best ways to put yourself out there is to join platforms that already have the audience and create an online profile. A great example of such a platform is Superprof. They specialise in advertising tutor classes in-person and online all around South Africa. You can create your online profile for free at Superprof to start advertising your classes.

Tutor Jobs Available In South Africa

Are you looking for a full-time or part-time job as a tutor?

Whichever path you choose, tutoring jobs are fairly easy to find in South Africa. And you can make a good income with either option.

Firstly, you need to create an attractive CV with your qualifications and experience.

Secondly, you need to decide if you would like to do in-person or online tutoring, or both. Then, you can start your quest. There are many online platforms where you can search for tutor jobs. Here are a few:

• Indeed
• LinkedIn
• TeacherOn

Thirdly, create a charming profile for yourself to share with possible clients and employers. You can easily create a persuasive profile by designing a simple website to showcase what you have to offer. Add the link to your online profile to your resume and all other marketing materials and channels.

Another venue to pursue is to visit schools and universities. Let the teachers and lecturers know about your services and you can even put up pamphlets if it is permitted.

You can even talk to teachers and other private tutors for advice and ask them which venues they reached out to.

Finally, prepare answers to possible interview questions that you think your potential employer or client may ask you.

As mentioned earlier, sign up on online tutoring platforms. It is a great resource for students to find online tutors and an easy way to advertise your lessons. An added benefit when you sign up with Superprof is you will teach on your own terms which means you will set your own schedule, fees and teach in the style you feel most comfortable with.

Do you have the passion to teach? Do you live and breathe maths or are you an expert at playing violin? Then becoming a private tutor might be the right path for you.