Has an ad saying ‘Tutors needed’ caught your eye? If you are a looking for a way to supplement your current income, or even a new career, that ‘Tutors Needed’ ad could be the answer. If you’ve seen ads saying ‘Tutors needed’ but haven’t taken much notice, think again. You might be surprised to realize that there are tutors wanted in all sorts of subjects. You might be just the person for the job.
If you’re considering becoming a tutor for the first time, then you will need to think through what is involved. What makes a good tutor? The answer is a range of skills, as well as a commitment to education and your subject. The successful applicant to that ‘Tutor needed ad will have that commitment, as well as the dedication to work on their skills on an ongoing basis. A good tutor will have these important attributes:
° Excellent knowledge of your subject. Note that there are tutors needed in a variety of subjects, including leisure activities and hobbies. Online tutoring isn’t confined to the school curriculum. Whether you’re equipped to teach calculus or cake decoration, the same principles apply. Good tutors have a deep understanding of their subject that goes beyond the core facts. That larger ‘feel’ for a subject goes a long way if you want to be an effective tutor.
° Communication and people skills. You may have a passion for your subject but the relationship between tutor and learner (whether that’s face to face or online) makes a huge difference. That means listening skills, empathy, and patience.
° An appreciation of learning processes. Some of us are natural-born teachers, who don’t need a degree in educational psychology to be effective. But any teacher will benefit from keeping up to speed with understanding learning styles, teaching methods and techniques. If a student’s progress is unsatisfactory you need to be able to try other avenues, tailored to the individual learner’s needs.
° A grasp of the opportunities that online learning offers, including a degree of computer literacy. You don’t have to be a computer nerd, by any means, but a good tutors will capitalise on the new ways of learning that interactive internet technologies have made possible.
Every good tutor needs certain personal qualities: enthusiasm, dependability and integrity. Know your strengths. If you know instinctively that you have a flair for mentoring learners but you don’t think you have anything to offer, think again. You may well find a niche that’s right for you. If you lack the subject experience to teach academic subjects, remember that people seek instruction in all sorts of non-academic subjects, including practical business skills, hobbies, parenting, foreign languages, and more besides. You might find a home in adult education, rather than teaching school-age learners.
If you have expertise in one of many hundreds of subjects, and are willing to put effort into passing that knowledge on, then register at tutoringservices.com, our Tutors Needed service could signal a new career direction. It’s a rewarding way of earning, with the satisfaction that you are helping learners realise their potential.
