It’s great to be a tutor. We know, we might be a little bit biased, but it’s the truth. This is a meaningful role that can really enhance your resume and increase your employability. For these reasons and more, thousands of Australians try to enter the tutoring market every year – but not everybody knows exactly how to get into the game.
In this article, we give a rundown of how you can become a tutor. The great news is that you won’t even necessarily need a university degree.
Why become a tutor?
Private tutoring for primary and high school children is super rewarding. Whilst some people may write it off as little more than a stepping stone to becoming a teacher, that couldn’t be further from the truth and becoming a private tutor could help you to break into tonnes of jobs on account of the fact you’ll be showing employers just how responsible, dedicated, and passionate you are.
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Whether you want to pursue private tutoring as a full-time role or part-time job, this is a flexible position that makes for an ideal earner if you’re a university student yourself. That being said, there are no hard and fast qualification requirements (as we’ll go onto discuss), and the market is generally open to anybody who can commit time and effort to help primary and high school students get more out of their education.
Identifying a speciality
Parents hire private tutors for a reason – because they’re good at what they do. For that reason, it doesn’t make much sense to be a jack of all trades and so you’ll need to focus on one or two areas where you can really make an impact on kids’ learning.
The best advice we can give here is to pick subjects that you were good at yourself. Maths, English, foreign languages, and science are all common choices – but you’d be surprised by how many people look for help with history, geography, and a whole host of other topics.
Whichever subject it is that you want to tutor for, make sure that you understand the local primary and high school curriculum. You can usually download this online, and it pays to do so since you’ll be able to determine whether or not you can actually help children with the subjects that they’re learning. It goes without saying that choosing a subject that you struggle or are not familiar with isn’t a good idea.
Qualifications
As we mentioned earlier, you won’t necessarily need a university degree in a subject to become a private tutor – but having one will help massively. To get a job as a private tutor, you’ll need to show that you are sufficiently knowledgeable about your chosen subject.
For English, this goes beyond just basic literacy and you’ll need to be pretty adept at writing essays, performing textual analysis, and getting to grips with literature. Contrastingly, maths tutors need to have a firm grasp of complex equations and the full range of topics covered by the local syllabus.
Finally, you’ll need to have a good understanding and knowledge of study techniques and exam formats. The upshot is that tutors need to add value to the learning process, and being extremely knowledgeable about a subject is the starting point – not a convenient optional extra.
Finding students
Once you’re confident that you can show you have what it takes to be a tutor, the next challenge is to find students. These are your clients, and without them, you’ll just be another person with an ad online.
There are various ways to find students, and part of the process will require you to decide whether you want to offer an online or in-person service. Either way, the internet is your friend when it comes to promoting yourself as a private tutor, and social media is awash with parental and study groups that will provide you with a good starting point.
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Just remember that you’ll need to convince parents that you’re good enough at what you do to help their children. Put across your experience and proficiencies in clear, unambiguous terms – and don’t overpromise.
Of course, many private tutors find it easier and more effective to get involved with a tutoring network, and that’s exactly what you’ll find with Alchemy Tuition.
Working with children regulations
Another key consideration for wannabe private tutors is whether they need to get an official check to allow them to work with children.
Each state has its own regulations in place on this, so you’ll need to do your research. The bottom line is that compliance is not negotiable, and some areas do require private tutors to obtain a police check or a working with children check before commencing educational sessions.
What makes a good private tutor?
Knowledge, preparation, interpersonal skills. These are all factors that determine whether a private tutor is worth the money they charge – but as a prospective tutor, you’ll need to think about the whole package, too.
What we mean by this is that the very best private tutors are more than teachers – they’re mentors that help to coach children in educational subjects, but also in confidence and learning more generally. If you can use your passion for a subject to get a child really engaged with their education, you’ll be working along the right lines.
Become a tutor with Alchemy Tuition
Alchemy Tuition is an Australia-wide institution that helps children to perform better, at any age, and starting from any level.
All Alchemy tutors have proven academic results and great communication skills. Perhaps most importantly, though, they’re fantastic role models. Our mission is to inspire kids to be the very best they can be, to push for places at top universities, and to perform to their full potential throughout their entire educational careers.
If you want to help children to thrive, why not apply now for a flexible position with Alchemy Tuition? Let’s create gold together.
