I am a great tutor, but people don't wish to hire me

[Janeway]

I am a great tutor. First, I worked with children before I had children. I was always told I had a special knack for kids with extra needs and I have a lot of patience. I taught for only 1 year in the public school. I am not certified, but the public schools where I lived at the time did hire uncertified, especially for high needs areas. I did not like teaching in public school so I stopped after one year. I had children and when I was first home schooling, I tutored math. Math is my thing. I am great at it. The kids I tutored did great. Then I just got too busy and I stopped tutoring. A few years have past. Lately, I have seen some ads for tutors in our town. I will answer them. But then I get the same thing. They all just want teachers from the public schools to do the tutoring. These are parents who have their children in public school. If the public school teachers were doing such a great job teaching, why would they need a tutor? In fact, that brings us to another question-how is it legal for paid public school teachers to tutor their own students or other students in their own school or school district, for money? I have seen where they do this on school hours. The students they tutor will come to the school and the teacher gets paid for it. 

 

But aside from that, I feel like I should just forget it. I am good at it, so this seemed like a way to earn some extra money. But, maybe I should forget it. I have not branched out to home schoolers yet, so I could leave an ad there. But, with small children running around, I do not feel like I can do it at my house. I can, however, do it at the library. They have a space for it. I am thinking maybe I should just forget it? I am not a certified teacher and I have not worked in the public schools lately, and so that seems to disqualify me in everyone's mind so far. 

[regentrude]

What kind of qualifications do you have in math? Do you highlight them in your ads?

If you're not a certified teacher, do you have a math or science degree?

I'd take a mathematician over a teacher any time. But I would not hire a tutor based on her word that she is good; I'd want to see some tangible info about her math background.

I'd hire a tutor based on word of mouth recommendations from friends who used her. Can you reach out to the parents of your former clients and ask that they recommend you?

 

ETA: Oh, and I second advertising to homeschoolers. They may not care about certification; many math phobic parents are happy if math is taught at all, by whoever is willing. 

Edited June 26, 2016 by regentrude

[teachermom2834]

Homeschoolers in our area hire tutors for math who are not certified teachers.  Our homeschool co-op uses math teachers who are not certified.  Maybe market yourself as an ACT / SAT math tutor? People here seem to pay quite a bit for that and they would care more about your familiarity with the test than certification.  

[theelfqueen]

Could you get a substitute endorsement/license?

That makes you a 'licensed teacher' for a lot of those kinds of situations. Even if you don't actually sub.

 

[EKS]

Perhaps they want public school teachers because of the perception that part of doing well in math (or at least on math tests) these days is knowing how to do it the "Common Core way."  And public school teachers presumably know what they want in this regard.

[justasque]

Public school parents are used to getting educational services for free*, so they can be reluctant to pay for a good teacher.  

They also typically do not have the skills to evaluate a tutor's qualifications, so certification means a lot to them. 

In addition, they often want someone who is specifically aware of the curricula taught in the public schools, so the instruction can be targeted towards getting good grades.  

If you want to market yourself to them, consider a small web site with your experience, your credentials, and testimonials from prior students/parents.  Also list your services - ongoing tutoring, one-off homework help, etc.

 

Do not underestimate the demand in the homeschool market, both at co-ops and with individual students.

 

 

(*Well, it's not free exactly, but included in the benefits they get through the taxes they and their neighbors pay.)

[J-rap]

I would have hired you!  I'd reach out to the homeschool community if I were you.  I'd also hang up a poster in the local library or grocery store, or wherever you think locals will see it.

 

My daughter just posted a tutoring ad on Craig's List.  We'll see if she gets any takers.  (Her plan is meet them only at a quiet, central coffee shop -- until she really gets to know them and another place seems better.

[Rockhopper]

I don't know but I need a great math tutor! Message me your (general) location.  :-)

[trulycrabby]

I think tutoring is competitive and it can take awhile to build a reputation and clientele. If you are very familiar with common core methods, then you should market yourself as being able to teach using this method. If not, then my suggestion is to buy some of the public school math books for the grades you will be teaching and get fluent.

Edited June 26, 2016 by trulycrabby

[regentrude]

To address this point:

 

 If the public school teachers were doing such a great job teaching, why would they need a tutor?

 

Because it is not automatically the teacher's fault if a student needs extra help. Teaching in a large, mixed ability class that includes children with behavioral issues and requires administrative tasks is less efficient than one on one instruction.

Most of the ps teachers I encountered were committed and capable...  and hobbled by school rules and regulations that prevented effective teaching.

 

(This said, I would still find it a conflict of interest to charge my own students for tutoring. I am an instructor myself, and I would not feel comfortable doing so, even if it benefited the student; this is an ethical grey area I am not willing to enter.)

Edited June 26, 2016 by regentrude

[Janeway]

I do have a degree. Back when I taught in the public school, the post-bac sec Ed teaching certificate involved only five classes plus student teaching and passing a test. Student teaching was waived if you taught in a school for a set period of time. I completed only one class, never took the test, but would have been waived from student teaching.

[Lanny]

Do you have a B.S. or higher degree in Math or Physics?  If so, that would be an indication of your Math knowledge.  If you do not have a degree in Education, Math or something related, you would not, IMO, have the qualifications, on paper, to back up your claim that you are a good Math   tutor.   Frequently, for kids in school, another kid, possibly one school year ahead of them, can be an outstanding tutor. You need to be able to prove that you have both the knowledge of the subject, and,the ability to teach the subject. Frequently, one has one of those but not the other.  

 

[regentrude]

I do have a degree. .

 

in math? or a math heavy major?

[SparklyUnicorn]

What are you charging?  Could it be too much for your qualifications?  Just throwing that idea out there.

 

Since NCLB, at least around here, the school provides and pays for tutors.  The special tutoring that anyone would pay for would be for something like test prep.

 

 

[Arcadia]

There are seven other school districts within a 20min drive on city roads. Parents can easily hire teachers from other districts. Some hire credentialed teacher from private schools.

 

From K onwards, minimum class size is 30. Some teachers might be willing to give free tutoring to borderline students but they also have family commitments. So parents of kids getting Bs and Cs hire tutors if they can afford.

 

Tell the parents of your former tutoring students you are looking for tutoring assignments. Word of mouth is faster.

 

Also the tutors we interviewed offer a free short trial of 20~30 mins to see if the child and tutor are a good match. It's like a job interview.

[Tita Gidge]

I have some kids in public school. I tutor a few of their friends. I've been asked to tutor by friends of those friends, but it's been my pre-existing relationships that opened that door. I have multiple degrees, none in the subjects I tutor. I'm quick at learning and good at teaching. This makes me think networking is more important in establishing yourself as a tutor, than are pricing or certifications (important as those may be).

 

We need to brainstorm how you can tap into or expand your network to get word-of-mouth referrals going. Branching out to homeschoolers is one option. Arcadia's idea to re-connect with past students is another. Maybe sitting at the library's tutor section with a sign out and a free session offer (kind of like an open house), perhaps multiple times? It sounds like people need to see your gifts in action, at which point they'll be more willing to overlook your "lack" in certification. Barring that, they can only go by the one gauge they're most familiar with - certification.

 

Some parents aren't as "into" the nitty gritty details of their kids' educations. I don't mean that they don't care, obviously anyone seeking a tutor does. But I mean they're maybe more trusting and accepting of the status quo. So of course they'd seek out a teacher to teach (tutor) a subject! It might not occur to them to expand that out to mathematicians or scientists, you know?

 

In that sense - as someone who isn't a certified teacher - you have to basically re-train the public to recognize that certification is not the only (or even the most important) criteria in selecting a tutor. And that's a huge undertaking. It starts with understanding that for some people, that's all the know to go by in finding a tutor. If it's what the schools use to vette their teachers, it must be what's important ... or so it goes, right?

 

Do people specifically ask for certifications, or can you work around their bias by stating that you're a "Former PS teacher" ... and hope that gets you more bites? At that point even if they ask for certifications, you can offer them a free mini-session or evaluation. Tutors aren't cheap and that's a nibble some parents will take.

 

But please don't give up!

 

 

[lmrich]

Word of mouth is the strongest way to get business. Starting a tutoring business is slow work; it is very hard to grow it. I started by teaching classes at our local arts center. And yes, math can be taught in a creative and fun way. Look around for ways to start to get your name in the community.  You can also call the local schools and volunteer to tutor after school, again that will build your reputation in the community. Another idea (but much trickier) is to offer SAT math prep classes. (I say it is tricky because you will end up with a wide range of students so it is more like a classroom than a tutoring session.) I am not good at self-promotion using social media, but you should use that as well. Maybe start a math blog or post a problem of the day. 

[Matryoshka]

I am hoping to start a tutoring business over the next couple of years.  I've already done some tutoring the past few years, but only a client or two at a time.  This year I've been doing some tutoring for free, as well as working on a credential for one of the things I want to tutor, which I hope will help, but I'm hoping that I can get good recommendations and referrals from the people I've been tutoring these past couple of years and build from there.  I do think word of mouth is one of the best ways to get business - that's how I've gotten all the clients so far - people that know me, or people who have been told about me by people that know me.

 

I minored in two of the subjects I plan to tutor, and I'm getting a certificate in a third.  The other couple of things are offshoots.  None of that sounds super-impressive, so that's why I figured I should spend some time building up word of mouth before starting to advertise. 

[Lanny]

OP   Which Math courses do you feel you are qualified to tutor people who are paying you? Algebra 1, PreCalc, something in between those, or Arithmetic?  Some people who do not have the paper qualifications are natural teachers and some people who have Education degrees do not understand their subject and cannot teach it. Your task it to prove that you have the knowledge and the experience to justify a parent paying you "N" dollars per hour, to tutor their child. IMO you need recent experience tutoring a student,  and a written reference from the parents that they are willing for you to show to prospective parents of children who are looking for a tutor, before you can really be successful finding paying students.  GL

[katilac]

Possibly work with a site like tutor.com as you get started. They have tests for you to pass in the various subjects, and then you an be an online tutor for them. 

 

Bonus: no leaving the house!

[Ali in OR]

I'm a former high school math teacher and maybe I'll tutor for money some day. For the last 2 years I've tutored 2 hours a week in my dd's high school's tutoring center. As others have commented, any student can get tutoring help there for free. There are university students seeking volunteer opportunities who do a lot of it (especially science). There is also free after school tutoring.

 

Even having taught math for 4 years, I feel like I will be a good tutor in two more years. I'm re-learning everything as my daughter takes courses. If you don't use it regularly, you do lose it. At the moment I am an excellent tutor for Algebra 1-Algebra 2 (and of course could do elementary or middle school no problem). When a kid comes in with a problem, I know exactly how to approach it without reading the text first. Next year I'll relearn trig/precalc topics and the year after that calculus. Can't remember enough stats to help with AP stats, but would probably be willing to get the book and teach myself. And I do buy all of the books my dd uses--so far I've been able to get them all for less than $10 each from Amazon. I not only know Algebra 2, I know how this school teaches it (and I think it's a little off, but that's another topic).

 

Having seen the math teaching my dd has received so far (middle of the road classes and teaching), I am now firmly of the belief that tutors are a good thing. I didn't used to think that when I was teaching. My dd receives little to no feedback on how she is doing. Homework is not graded, and this year her teacher never even went over problems from hw.  I firmly believe that students need immediate feedback to reteach/relearn something that they don't have quite right. I tutor my dd by doing all of her hw assignments also, and then we compare and discuss the problems. I've had to do significant re-teaching on some topics, but she is actually getting stronger and stronger and I didn't need to do much at all second semester this year.  If we don't go over work together, she would never find out that she hasn't grasped something until missing problems on a test where the stakes are high. All teachers, even the best, have a full-time load of 6 classes out of 7 periods, so they can have close to 200 students total. It would actually be pretty difficult for them to give a lot of one-on-one help or look at all hw, but a tutor can do that, and for kids like my dd who will learn it well with guidance but not if completely on their own, I think tutoring is a good thing.

 

If I decide to tutor for money in a couple of years, I will give my name to the teacher who runs the tutoring center and have my name put on the list of tutors they make available to students/parents who ask. I know she thinks highly of me and would direct people to me.

[snowbeltmom]

I started tutoring a couple of years ago.  The hardest part is getting the first couple of students.  Once you help these students, they will tell their friends. Here are some of my thoughts, fwiw.

 

1.  You need to list specific qualifications - and just like any job interview, this is not the time for modesty. Parents need to have confidence that they are hiring an expert.  In my experience, parents don't care that I am not a certified teacher.  What the parents do care about is my math background along with the results that my current and past students have obtained.

 

2. In order to begin your business, you could drop off flyers (that list your credentials) at the library, coffee shop, etc. offering a free 1/2 hour of tutoring services.

 

3. If you are going to tutor kids from the public school, you should be familiar with the textbooks they are using

 

4. Don't just market your services to those students who are struggling in math.  There is a whole other group of parents who recognize that their kids are not being challenged in math and hire me to provide instruction above and beyond the classroom curriculum. Over 90% of the students I tutor are bored and getting A's in their math classes at school (both public and private schooled kids).  These are the students who have standing weekly appointments with me - even during the summer months.

 

Don't give up.  The hardest part is getting that first student.  After you make one student happy, the rest will follow.

 

 

 

 

[Janeway]

You know, perhaps I should offer to tutor for free. And then if those people like me, after a while, I can get references to other people.

[katilac]

You know, perhaps I should offer to tutor for free. And then if those people like me, after a while, I can get references to other people.

 

Look for local events that offer door prizes and/or silent auctions. Donate packages of tutoring, say 10 or 20 sessions - it has to be enough for people to bother to call, they have to think the number of sessions will make a difference. 

 

Check schools, Lion Clubs, civic associations, ask around. 

[Arcadia]

You know, perhaps I should offer to tutor for free. And then if those people like me, after a while, I can get references to other people.

If you have a mathnasium center near you, it might be a good place to start. Not a high hourly wage but good for networking. I know SAHM neighbors who work there to re-enter the workforce when their kids are in high school.

[tm919]

Just from my perspective, the complaint I often hear from public school parents is that just learning math doesn't always help their children directly in math class. It helps indirectly, and many parents do something else like the Russian school in parallel to public school. But on the public school test children are asked  to do things specific to a curriculum, such as demonstrate 3-5 methods for arriving at the same answer (traditional multiplication algorithm, via expansion, lattice, etc.) -- and typically if the student needs help, they can't articulate to the tutor what they are missing. So if you have a clear idea of the curriculum and expectations of the public school it could help reassure parents, it could be as simple as that they use a Singapore related curriculum and are expected to draw bar diagrams, it might be something more complicated like figuring out what is expected (e.g., which 3-5 methods in the example above) in courses where the teacher has cobbled together various resources.

Edited June 26, 2016 by tm919

[KungFuPanda]

Maybe go another direction and start a math club for homeschoolers? If it's good, you'll be popular in no time. Homeschoolers talk!