#my dr was like 'i'm so sorry you're an expert at treating these yourself now but..at least you are??' & i do agree with her

[pegglefan69]

I guess they're saving the fireworks for tomorrow..evening was okay 🐻👍

[iphisquandary]

Hi Iphis, I hope you're doing well. I'm wondering if you have any advice or warnings or anything about working at a tutoring center? I'm about to graduate with some informal teaching experience & am on the market for education/tutoring/etc jobs. I've seen you post a lot about yours - not sure if you still work there - and would appreciate it tons if you're able to reply!

Yeah, sure! I have a lot of advice I can give about that. I worked at a tutoring center for three years and had a lot of ups and downs from the experience. This is way too long btw because I am a long-winded person by nature.

Positives

1) You don’t have to find your own clients, which CAN lead to more job security

One of the tricky things about being freelance is you have to find all your clients yourself and make a name for yourself and slowly build a client base and positive reputation.The company will do this legwork for you. Emphasis on CAN because at least in the case of the company I worked for, how many hours you get is based on how much students request you, which meant that tutors start out with low hours and gradually build a client base if they’re good at what you do–it’s just easier than doing it on your own

2) It’s a good way to figure out if teaching is right for you

Tutoring one-on-one is less high stakes and overwhelming than throwing yourself in to teaching an entire class at say a private school that doesn’t require a credential. it’s a good way to get a feel for what age group you like best and whether you enjoy teaching or working with kids

3) it’s a good way to get experience

Tutoring gives you opportunities to try your hand at lesson planning and building your skills and it’s something impressive to put on your resume if you want to get into education. During my time at my tutoring job, I mastered teaching grammar, college essays, and school essays. I developed some of my own material and became an expert in teaching certain skills and concepts

4) It’s super flexible

If the company is anything like mine, you pretty much get to choose when you work and how often. Vacation days are easy to snag, as long as you give them notice. Hours can be inconsistent when you’re new, but it’s flexible.

5) The students are amazing

Most of these students are driven to learn–they’re willing to put in extra hours of cram time to get higher grades or test scores or get into a better college. Every once in awhile you’ll meet a dissatisfied kid whose parent is forcing them to be there but mostly, these are kids with parents who are OVERLY invested in their education and that impacts the student. These are bright kids with a lot to offer.

Negatives

1) They’ll probably underpay you

Even though the job likely pays more than a lot of other jobs available to you, considering the specialized work you are doing and the going rate for tutoring, they’ll probably underpay you. Since it was one of my first jobs that paid that much, I thought that was a sweet deal. Now that I have more experience, I know tutors deserve a lot more than these companies pay. It’s especially glaring  because they tend to charge parents about three times more than what they are paying you and tend to have you tutor three students at once. You do the math. Also, I got less than a dollar’s raise during my entire three years there 

2) They will probably undervalue you

The company sees you as a replaceable cog in a machine, even though, if you have experience and have been there a long while, whoever they hire will need to be trained again and won’t know the material or students the way you do. Despite the fact you may be the only reason certain students keep coming back. Despite the fact you might bring something special to the company (I made material for the company, for example). They will never let you know how much you are worth. Because it is a profit-driven, soulless, money-making apparatus 

3) They WILL exploit you

They will drain every extra second of labor from you–even when it hurts the quality of your work. The 3:1 model most of these companies use, which essentially is you tutoring three students one on one  switching between them with completely different material, juggling an impossible level of tasks, reduces the efficacy of your teaching. It took me probably two years to fully master being able to teach well in that model. This means you will likely feel frustrated at your quality of work. Also, they may pressure you into working unpaid hours. My company did that to me for years. They pressured us through various tactics, such as only paying us for the set hours our classes were scheduled and not prep time, only paying a set, puny amount of time for prep, penalizing for going over time, giving you material to read at home unpaid, etc. 

4) Consistent hours are not guaranteed

At tutoring centers, hours correlate with demand–the demand of students for you or your subject specifically, the demand of the company for more labor, and the demand of local students and parents for tutoring in general. Hours can fluctuate by season. Usually at the beginnings and endings of semester, my hours dwindled. At my tutoring center, we got more hours during school vacations, since helicopter parents sent their kids during free time for tutoring. But I had periods of time, especially during my first year or two, where I went without much pay because my hours were reduced during dry periods.

5) There is a questionable moral component to what you are doing

Some of these kids are being pushed to the brink by insanely demanding parents who send their kids in during vacation, when they are sick, when they are burnt out, etc. Sometimes these parents even abuse their kids, but you can’t really do much unless you decide to report it. You may have to teach students with disabilities you are not qualified to work with. You may notice weaknesses and errors in the material at the company. You will also likely not be adequately trained. The 3:1 ratio, lack of training, and your lack of experience means the quality of your work will suffer at times. These companies also use deceptive practices to hook in families and get them to sign exorbitant contracts.Considering all that, there may times you wonder if your students benefit from what you are doing, particularly if they’re doing test prep.

BUT if you are good at and passionate about teaching, you can help students learn and grow despite all that. Ignore the bottom line your boss gives you and the pressures of parents as much as possible. Focus on having fun with students and having them walk away knowing something new they might use. In that way, I think I did more good than harm. Because while the company will do all it can to make you forget this, the tutors are its ONLY valuable resource. Despite the lack of training, experience, and insurmountable tasks we were given, practically every tutor I met cared about their students and did good work. The company model and culture around test prep and cram school is what hurts the kids. Just be aware that while it can be a blast working with students, and  it’s what literally pulled me out of my depression and the reason I am in this teaching program now, the company you work for is evil. For-profit education is a sham. Tutoring the students = awesome. The company = shit.

My biggest pieces of advice

1) Don’t work too long at one of these companies if you can help it - I probably should have left after two years - they do not recognize longevity, seniority or experience and while you can gain really useful experience, it has diminishing returns after a point. pay attention to when you stagnate

2) Don’t get too invested - do your best, but within reason - you can give and give and the company and students will take and take - I worked free hours with students online during crunch time for their college essays, I devoted extra hours to lesson planning, i’d take calls and emails from my boss at all hours, etc - people just keep taking. set boundaries when you can. 

3) Try to make it a side-gig, if possible - with its flexible hours, i actually think this type of job is perfect as a part time gig while you’re in school or on the side with another job - that will prevent you from getting too invested or too exploited or stressed or burnt out or over-relying on the position when hours dwindle

4) Don’t talk to the parents- if your company is anything like mine, the admin side does all the communication with parents and this is one god-send about these companies, you don’t have to deal with these crazy ppl. limit yourself to a quick hello/small talk and even then BE CAREFUL they may try to harangue you

5) Have fun and be you - make the lessons fun for YOU and the student, teach your style - as long as you’re good at what you do and the students like you, they’ll keep coming back. the admin people don’t know shit about education and they will try to tell you how to do your job, but once you hit your stride, be confident and know that you’re the teacher

6) REMEMBER YOUR VALUE - know that this job has a steep learning curve and any initial difficulties you face are not your fault. especially as time goes on, you will be good at what you do despite what anyone says. You are always worth more than how people treat you in that job. Always. 

TL;DR the students are great; at one time they were literally my only reason for being alive, and if you’re new to education you can learn A LOT, and the job is way flexible, but the companies are evil and soul-sucking, so do your best to protect yourself and get what YOU can out of the job enrichment-wise. leave when it’s no longer beneficial to you. 

Sorry that was so long! I hope that was helpful!