Frequently Asked Questions for Tutors
- CLICK HERE FOR STUDENT FAQs
FAQs for Potential Tutors/Teachers
1) Do you need any more tutors?
2) I've never been a tutor before, is that ok?
3) How do I become a tutor for your company?
4) What if I don't live in one of your active locations?
5) Do you charge a referral fee, take out a percentage, or pay a flat rate? In other words, how does the company make money?
6) How much do I get paid per hour? Do I get paid for driving? I've changed my pay rate so why am I still getting paid the old rate for my current students?
7) How do I get connected with students?
8) What if I already have "my own" students or work for another tutoring company?
9) How many students will I get? How many hours can I expect to work?
10) What can I do to make sure my profile looks the best it possibly can to potential customers?
11) Do I have to include a picture on my profile? Can I upload more than one?
12) What is the average stay of a tutor with your company? What if I have another job?
13) Why can't I find my college on your website? What if I'm a certified teacher in another state?
FAQs for Our Current Tutors/Teachers
14) Is this contract work or am I an employee? Do you take out taxes? How do you file with the IRS?
15) It seems pretty easy to make at least $600 in a calendar year? What happens then?
16) What happens once I'm assigned to a student?
17) How does the first tutoring session go?
18) What should I do if a customer wants to pay me directly?
19) Any tutoring pointers?
20) How do I enter my hours?
21) When do I get paid?
22) How do I get paid? What do I need to do to get paid by Direct Deposit or Electronically? What happens when I'm paid by check?
23) I've setup my online payment account (Dwolla, Paypal, etc), now what do I do? How do I finally get the money to my bank?
24) I recently provided my bank routing and account numbers for Direct Deposit, and I'm still waiting to get a Pay Confirmation from you. What's taking so long?
25) What if a customer doesn't pay for a tutoring session?
26) Do the students I tutor through this company ever become "my" students?
27) How do I get more students?
28) How can I activate my profile on other websites within the network? How can I change my rates and other preferences within individual sites?
29) What if I'm done with, can't or don't want to tutor one of my students anymore?
30) What if I already have enough students and can't take more? What if I no longer want to tutor at all?
FAQs for Potential Tutors/Teachers :
1) Do you need any more tutors?
- We are always looking for exceptional people to join our team of quality tutors, especially those with a teaching credential or advanced math skills. It's free to signup, be listed on the site, get connected to students, and to get paid. You determine how much you charge us for your services, then we charge the customer a little bit more for your services. They pay us, then we pay you. Please check our TUTOR JOBS PAGE for details.
2) I've never been a tutor before, is that ok?
- Everyone has to start somewhere. If a tutor is a good communicator and genuinely understand the material, they will do fine.
3) How do I become a tutor for your company?
- Becoming a tutor for us is absolutely free. The first step is to CREATE AN ACCOUNT and complete the tutor registration process, then upload a picture and confirm the tutor profile is as attractive as possible to a potential customer. To be included in search results and available for services, simply select the "Activate Profile on Tutor List" button on the profile once it is complete. It is also possible to activate your profile on our other websites within our network by visiting your profile on the other sites, specifying your payrate, and selecting the Activate button.
4) What if I don't live in one of your active locations?
- That's ok. While we do have dedicated websites for 16 "location specific" areas/cities (listed at the bottom of the website), we also have 15 active national websites for specific subjects and genres (like math, science, music, language, college, veterans, etc) also listed at the bottom of the website. Tutors should always update their address (and driving range) anytime they move to a new location so local students can find them.
5) Do you charge a referral fee, take out a percentage, or pay a flat rate? In other words, how does the company make money?
- Unlike tutoring referral services, we do not charge the tutor to apply, be listed on our site, or connect with the student, we simply charge the customer a little bit more than what you charge us. On average, our markup is only about 10-15% of what we collect after bonuses, discounts, and transaction fees (not including operating costs).
6) How much do I get paid per hour? Do I get paid for driving? I've changed my pay rate so why am I still getting paid the old rate for my current students?
- You specify how much you want per hour, then we charge a little bit more to the customer. You also specify how far you are willing to drive, your cancellation policy, schedule, subjects, etc. Please note that your pay rate with individual customers is set at the rate when they first requested your services (unless you negotiate with them otherwise), however you can change your published rate for future customers at any time (customers are grandfathered in at the rate advertised when they requested the tutor so they don't get "bait and switched"). Tutors are paid the same hourly rate no matter what package, discount, or incentive we offer the customer. You are a contract worker so we do not pay additional compensation for driving time, fuel or other expenses.
7) How do I get connected with students?
- Customers can browse through, select, and send an email through the website to active tutors who service their area and seem to be a good match. The first 2 tutors to login and accept the student is instantly assigned and contact info released. The tutor can then make contact with the customer, introduce themselves, schedule their first tutoring session, and confirm that payment has already been made or will be prior to the first session. Please note that we do not give out your contact info until you respond to their Tutor Request and confirm your availability. That is a good thing because it protects your privacy, however it does require immediate action on your part to be assigned students.
8) What if I already have "my own" students or work for another tutoring company?
- Being considered an independent contractor also allows you the freedom to make your own schedule, accept only students you want, and provide services to whomever you choose. In other words, you can legally work with your own students, another tutoring company, and/or our company without conflict so long as intellectual property rights are not violated, and you don't steal or poach our students or references originating from those students.
9) How many students will I get? How many hours can I expect to work?
- We charge only a little bit more than what you charge us, and give lots of discounts the more tutoring credits the customer buys. We also have a very popular website network on major search engines (probably how you found us) and have done our best to make the site easy to navigate, sign up for services, and purchase tutoring. We have eliminated most obstacles to get you the work, however the nature of tutoring is inconsistent, seasonal, and finicky. While we might get a lot of traffic in a month, every student has different needs and preferences, therefore a tutor must be just right to be the one chosen. Many tutors work between 5 and 15 hours per week, yet many other tutors haven't had a new student in a couple months. The tutor should try to have the most attractive profile possible, list their driving range to be at least 10 miles, not charge too much, respond to emails promptly, and be patient. When newly assigned to a student, the tutor should make contact immediately and be energetic, optimistic, and flexible with the customer. We have done our job, but it is also up to you to offer the subjects that students are looking for, the willingness to drive to their location, and offer a competitive rate that doesn't exceed their other comparable options.
10) What can I do to make sure my profile looks the best it possibly can to potential customers?
- Customers are often parents looking for someone who can connect with their child while also educating them in an efficient and effective manner. The most important feature to an attractive tutor profile is having a good picture in which the tutor has a big smile, is not wearing sunglasses and looking directly into the camera. A tutor should spend extra time to compose well written statements that express confidence, ability, heart, humor, and that they are a real person who the customer can feel comfortable inviting into their home. Tutors should list all subjects that the tutor feels comfortable with, especially if that includes advanced math or science. Lastly, the tutor should try to list all colleges attended and include any majors or minors that were studied. If the tutor isn't getting the amount of traffic they were hoping for, the driving distance and payrate should be reconsidered in case they aren't showing up in enough results or simply charging too much.
11) Do I have to include a picture on my profile? Can I upload more than one?
- A picture is not required by us, but customers are much more likely to select a tutor which they can see their smiling face so to feel more comfortable inviting them to their home. We preview and edit all uploaded pictures so if the tutor would like to supply more than one, we will select the best one to crop your head from. Once you are logged in, visit the Upload Picture page to read our picture requirements and send us your photo.
12) What is the average stay of a tutor with your company? What if I have another job?
- Everyone is different. Some tutors only offer their services for a few months while they are "between jobs" or if they move out of the area. Many others continue to keep their profile up as an extra source of income, or periodically activate and deactivate their profile depending on their schedule. We will usually only remove tutor profiles that have a high rate of no responses, denials, transfers, complaints, or if student poaching is suspected.
13) Why can't I find my college on your website? What if I'm a certified teacher in another state?
- Our college/university database information comes from the Department of Education's list of U. S. accredited schools. If your school isn't found within our database, you can select one of our generic college listings in our Education section and also mention your real college in your Free Response section so you get the credit for it with us and the customer. Any degree, major, minor, focus, or certification should be specified, even if from many years ago or not totally completed.
FAQs for Our Current Tutors/Teachers :
14) Is this contract work or am I an employee? Do you take out taxes? How do you file with the IRS?
- Historically, home tutoring has always been contract work in almost every detail and so our tutors are classified as independent contractors, not as employees! Being an independent contractor has many financial advantages such as being able to deduct business expenses such as fuel or supplies and not having any Federal, State, or Local taxes deducted or Social Security dues withheld from a paycheck. When an independent contractor earns more than $600 in a calendar year, we are required to report this income to the IRS and the tutor will have to pay taxes on that income.
15) It seems pretty easy to make at least $600 in a calendar year? What happens then?
- All our independent contractors who make at least $600 in a calendar year will receive an email in early January to confirm our information is correct, then by the end of January will receive a carbon copy of the 1099 form we send to the IRS. This carbon copy does not get physically filed with your taxes, but the compensation amount must be part of the calculations in those income reports. When filing, you will most likely use a regular 1040 form along with a Schedule SE form to calculate self employment tax and a Schedule C form to itemized and deduct any associated expenses like fuel or supplies if receipts are kept.
16) What happens once I'm assigned to a student?
- The tutor should make contact with the customer as soon as possible to introduce themselves, ask specifically what the student needs help in, schedule the first tutoring session, and remind the customer to make an online payment if they have not done so already. The tutor is NOT authorized to accept payments directly from the customer, but may help the customer make a payment through the website while they are there.
17) How does the first tutoring session go?
- The first tutoring session is usually the toughest. The tutor must always be well groomed, properly dressed, a few minutes early, and act professionally to all ages. The tutor needs to spend a few minutes introducing themselves to everyone and being friendly, but should get to tutoring within the first 10 minutes. Not more than 20 minutes should be spent accessing where the student is and what the immediate goals are. The remainder of time should be spent educating, tutoring, checking, and helping complete the student's schoolwork. If the session is almost finished but more tutoring is needed to complete the current task, the customer will usually authorize more time but should always be asked first. Once the tutoring is finished, the student should be told they did a good job but should also continue to work on their material before next time, and be asked when they would like to get together again. If the parent/customer is there, the tutor needs to recap with them what was worked on, what the student still needs to work on, and how much tutoring the student should receive on a weekly basis. The tutor should then try to setup a weekly schedule or at least their next tutoring session, instead of just letting the customer call when they need it, as this often results in last minute requests and possible unavailability on your part. A regular schedule usually means more tutoring and better results for the student. Please try to always log sessions within 4 days through the website.
18) What should I do if a customer wants to pay me directly?
- Politely decline and let them know tutors are NOT authorized to be paid directly by the customer (doing so is a direct violation of the tutor's contract, unlawful, unethical, immoral, disrespectful, and stealing). If the customer needs to make a payment, please have them login to their profile to pay online or contact us for accommodations. When completely necessary and with approval, the tutor may accept a check made payable to the company, then mail the check to us the following day.
19) Any tutoring pointers?
- For starters, a tutor will always want to minimize distractions or barriers to the student's attention. One barrier that can easily be avoided is when the student must look over the tutor's writing arm. If the tutor is right-handed, they should always sit on the right side of the student so the workspace is open to the student and the paper can be pointed toward them so they aren't looking at it diagonally. The tutor will also want to periodically check that the student is looking down at the paper and not being distracted by something else in the room. Most importantly the tutor should consistently ask the student questions about the subject material to confirm they understand what is being studied. If working on math, we suggest using blank printer paper instead of regular paper with lines on it. The tutor should always try to assign exercises or study material to work on in-between tutoring sessions to improve competency and productivity.
20) How do I enter my hours?
- Every tutor has a history profile which has a summary of services provided, compensations, and a list of students with important links. All active students have a link labeled "Session Log" which forwards to a page to input recent dates and tutoring times for those respective students. Sessions should be logged within 4 days to be properly compensated. If a tutor forgets to log a session that is older than 4 days, they simply need to CONTACT US so we can enter it manually.
21) When do I get paid?
- Months are split into two invoice periods. They are the 1st to the 15th and the 16th to the last day of the month. Tutor compensations are processed within 4 to 7 days of the invoicing period closing date, during which you are paid for all sessions we have successfully collected for and a confirmation email sent detailing the calculations. We pay you via the preference you indicated during signup (or updated later through the site). Direct Deposit takes one or two business days to deposit into your verified bank account (Please note: our bank takes 2-6 business days to verify all new accounts before allowing us to post any transactions to the account). Electronic payments into a Paypal or Dwolla account are usually instant, however once the money is in that account, it still takes 2-5 business days after you manually tell them to transfer the money into a verified bank account (their verification also usually takes 2-6 days). Payments by check are sent via USPS by our bank the next business day, however usually take 5-7 days to arrive to the mailing address you supplied.
22) How do I get paid? What do I need to do to get paid by Direct Deposit or Electronically? What happens when I'm paid by check?
- We pay you via the preference you indicate when logging your first session. When tutor compensations are processed, we calculate how much needs to be paid, send an email to the tutor detailing the calculations, and tell our bank (or Paypal or Dwolla) who and how much to send/transfer. We prefer to pay electronically because it's quick, secure, documented, traceable, and payments get deposited directly into your account. If Direct Deposit, the website will ask for bank routing and account numbers when logging the first tutoring session so our bank can validate the account (usually takes 2-6 business days). If Electronically, when we tell the processing company (PayPal or Dwolla) the email address of who to transfer money to, they email the recipient with setup instructions and how to get the money deposited into a valid bank account. Tutors can also select to get paid with a company check via USPS, but it is not recommended because it's slow, unsafe, and could get lost or stolen. If by check, we utilize our bank's Bill Pay service to create a physical check that gets mailed to the billing address from the tutor's profile (it is very important the address supplied is complete and accurate, including apartment number if applicable).
23) I've setup my online payment account (Dwolla, Paypal, etc), now what do I do? How do I finally get the money to my bank?
- We utilize your email address to send money to your account, so we do not need your account number or any additional info. Once you receive an email from us (or them) saying we've sent you money, simply log into your online account to initiate a transfer of funds to your bank account (which usually only takes a couple business days). Please note the lingo is kind of confusing for a first time user! Be sure to select "Withdraw" (not "Deposit") to remove your money from your online account and send it to your bank account.
24) I recently provided my bank routing and account numbers for Direct Deposit, and I'm still waiting to get a Pay Confirmation from you. What's taking so long?
- We issue compensations 4-7 days after the close of an Invoicing Period, however if your bank information with us is new or recently changed, our bank can take up to 6 business days to verify the account before allowing us to initiate the money transfer. Please be patient during this initial verification process, or CONTACT US if it seems we have overlooked your account. We apologize for this unavoidable delay.
25) What if a customer doesn't pay for a tutoring session?
- A tutor can still log a tutoring session that is not paid for, but we cannot compensate for any tutoring that we have not been compensated for. To discourage customers from not keeping up with their account, we do charge a late fee if the account is negative for more than 15 days, but ultimately there is not much we can do to force them to pay. The best way to avoid these complications is to keep the customer aware of their current balance and to always require payment before providing services or confirm that they are enrolled in AutoPay. Company policy is that all payments electronically go through the website, however if payment must be given to the tutor, the tutor must let us know and subsequently get instructions on how to get it to us.
26) Do the students I tutor through this company ever become "my" students?
- Sorry, but no. The economics of our company rely heavily upon repeat business, residual income, and referrals from our existing customers. We cannot afford to give or sell our customers to individual tutors no matter how long they have worked together. It is important that any student a tutor receives through us remains our student and does NOT ever pay the tutor directly for services. Any poaching of a student by a tutor is disrespectful, unethical, immoral, in direct violation of our TUTOR TERMS OF SERVICE and is therefore stealing and illegal.
27) How do I get more students?
- The best way to get more students requesting your services is to lower your payrate and to increase your driving distance. If you don't already (and are capable of), you should try to offer popular subjects like learning disabilities, reading literacy, basic math, applied math, advanced math, chemistry, physics, standardized tests, a foreign language, or a musical instrument. If you have a webcam, you could also offer Online Tutoring at WebCamTutors.com. In addition to the regular traffic through the website, tutors are always welcome to directly promote their profiles whether through direct links from other websites like blogs, social networks, directories, etc or by physically posting their profile on bulletin boards around schools, coffee shops, churches, community centers, and other public places. To create a direct link at another website, just cut and paste the web address when at the profile, then post it at the other sites. To format the profile to be printed as a flier, the tutor needs to be logged into their profile and click the "Print Profile" link toward the top of the page.
28) How can I activate my profile on other websites within the network? How can I change my rates and other preferences within individual sites?
- To offer tutoring at other sites, visit the other site (links at bottom of page), login and go to your profile, then choose your service preferences and hit the "Activate Profile" button. To change your payrate/chargerate at the different sites, log in and adjust it at each website with the link on the left "Experience and PayRate." Once logged in, you should be able to follow the links to the other sites without having to login at each.
29) What if I'm done with, can't or don't want to tutor one of my students anymore?
- If it's just not a good connection or you can't help them, select "No Thanks" from your history page or the student's profile. If you've provided them tutoring and services are over, select "Finished with Services." If they still need tutoring from someone else, they can easily connect with other tutors through the website. For any other situation, please CONTACT US with any relevant info.
30) What if I already have enough students and can't take more? What if I no longer want to tutor at all?
- Many status options are available at the tutor's profile page including "Hide from Tutor List" if you want to keep working with your current students but do not want any more. To completely stop tutoring, select "Not Available for Tutoring." If you would like to keep tutoring but are moving out of town, please change your address so the system can find students in your new area. If you are connected to one of our "city" websites, please discontinue services at the old site, then activate your profile at the new site of your choice from our website list at the bottom of the page.