How to become a private tutor?

Are you passionate and knowledgeable about a particular subject matter? Would you like to share that knowledge among others? Then private tutoring might be perfect for you. With it, you will be able to earn decent money while helping someone with the gift of knowledge.

Private tutors guide students one-on-one. So you can tailor the teaching approach according to their unique learning styles and capabilities. Moreover, the continuous, dedicated attention can help boost the student’s confidence. So they will be more clear in voicing their doubts about conjuring topics and achieve better academic goals.

So how do you become a private tutor? Well, it involves a few key skills and a clear teaching strategy. Let us explain to you how you can be the best private tutor and change someone’s life completely.

Who is a private tutor?

A private tutor shares their knowledge with the students online or in-person, in a one-on-one setting. While traditional classes have groups of students, private tutors have to focus on just one student. So they can strategize their lessons according to the particular student, their understanding, learning style, and cognitive abilities.

Private tutorship entails a personalised approach. That means, the tutor can give more attention to the student and understand their doubts and queries more clearly. Meanwhile, students can be more confident about clarifying a particular topic without any judgement from their peers. So they will be better poised for achieving their academic goals.

Private tuitions can be helpful whether the student is in elementary school or college. These sessions can help with the foundational skills as well as professional certifications.

The private tutor will specialise in a particular subject or skill rather than being a “jack-of-all-trades”. So you will get focused knowledge of the key topics for the best understanding.

What key skills do you need to become a private tutor?

A successful private tutor isn’t just supposed to be a sub-matter expert. With academic knowledge, they also need to be of sound interpersonal skills. If you want to be a good private tutor for any subject, here’s what you need to focus on:

Subject or topic expertise

First and foremost, every good tutor needs to be well-knowledgeable about their subject matter and core technical skills. For example, if you want to be a programming tutor, it’s important to be knowledgeable of all the languages, frameworks, tools, and software.

• Deep understanding: You need to be an expert on what you will be teaching. Ideally, you will need to know more than the curriculum to stay a step ahead. You should be able to explain every concept and clear every query presented by the student.
• Staying current: Along with being an expert, you need to stay updated as skills in some topics evolve quickly and frequently. So you need to stay updated on the latest developments in the industry and the curriculum you will be focusing on.

Communication and interpersonal skills

As a private tutor, you will sit across the student one-on-one and explain the topic and skills with dedicated focus. So along with the subject knowledge, you need to have good communication and interpersonal skills.

• Clear explanations: First off, you should explain complex concepts by breaking them into smaller, easy-to-understand steps. You can also tailor the approach according to your student. Use visual or auditory means for those who are less responsive to the traditional methods.
• Active listening: Pay close attention to your students’ queries and try to understand their key areas of difficulty. They way, you will be able to adjust your teaching approach for the best results.
• Rapport building: As a private tutor, you need to gain trust and respect of your student to build a good rapport. Then they will feel comfortable enough in asking queries and taking risks.
• Adaptability: It’s always a good idea to have some extent of adaptability in your teaching methods. With the personal attention, you’ll understand how the student is responding to your style and adapt it accordingly.
• Positive reinforcement: Positive reinforcements like celebrating successes, big and small, can keep the student engaged and make them want to learn.

Teaching and assessment skills

Let’s say you have all the skills and expertise of the subject matter. But when it comes to teaching, knowledge isn’t merely enough. You need to know how to teach the skills and concepts in the most effective way possible. And through all that, you need to assess your student to check whether they grasp the concepts.

• Lesson planning: Plan the lessons and strategy with respect to step-by-step goals.
• Creative delivery: Try to mix things up with different teaching methods, like practicals, infographics, and visual aids.
• Assessment and feedback: It’s very important to regularly assess your student’s report and offer them constructive feedback for improvement.

Organisational and Personal Skills

Beyond the teaching aspect, you will have to handle several other things. For example, the student may be late for the class or may have some personal problems. It’s important to know how you will deal with that.

• Time management: Try to balance your schedule and cover the planned material in a way that it suits both you and the student.
• Organisation: It’s important to keep track of student progress, materials, and lesson plans.
• Patience and empathy: Different students learn at different paces. So you have to know how to support and encourage them.
• Professionalism: Make sure you maintain a professional demeanour throughout the session. Also, create a clear boundary between yourself and your students.

With these skills, you can impart the best knowledge in the most effective manner. Your students will be more confident and independent learners.

Let’s say you have these skills. Now, we come to the core of the topic. How do you become a private tutor?

How to become a private tutor?

The journey of becoming a private tutor is multi-faceted. It goes from defining your niche and setting competitive rates to using the best technologies and practices. Here’s how you become the best private tutor.

Step 1: Solidify your expertise

First off, you need to brush up on your subject matter concepts and skills. For that, you need to conduct a self-assessment to understand your current standing on the topic. You’ll know the topics with good knowledge and those that need to be worked on.

Split your findings in two cases:

• Strengths and Passions: Which topics of the subject do you excel at? And which of them are you most passionate about? You will be able to cover these topics in spades with ease.
• Knowledge Gaps: There may be a few areas where you will be a little rusty. These topics will need to be worked on, with regular tests and mock lessons.

Try to create some mock practice tests for technical preparations and mock lessons to brush up on your teaching skills and communication style.

Step 2: Choose your niche

After sharpening your skills, you need to decide on the niche. (Don’t confuse it with the subject.)

The niche is all about deciding what kind of student you want to teach. Someone who just wants to learn a particular skill or concept for pleasure, complement their studies with additional knowledge, or get professional certification.

According to your niche, you can better curate the learning material, activities, and practice problems according to your students. And that will help you establish an excellent reputation among your potential clients (students) and build the best tutoring career.

Step 3: Build your credentials

Private tutors don’t always need formal certifications. But make sure you have a good academic foundation in your chosen subject or skill. And that base of this foundation, you will need strong credentials to showcase your expertise and experience.

These credentials would comprise academic degrees (Bachelor’s degree would be a good starting point, but a master’s degree would be more credible), teaching certifications, etc.

It would also be helpful if you had a national or regional tutoring certification. It will be a strong assessment of your pedagogy, practices, and curriculum.

And as you might already know, “The learning never stops.”. So commit to continuous learning with relevant workshops and courses. They can help you stay updated with the latest teaching skills and curriculum changes.

Step 4: Craft your tutoring profile

At this point, you are all set with your skills and expertise. So it’s time to create a clear, concise tutor profile on Teach Bunny. It will serve as a bridge between you and your potential students. It will help create a strong first impression by highlighting your skills, qualifications, experience (if any), and more.

Try to showcase your teaching style, subject-matter expertise, and any unique skill set. Go for an attention-grabbing headline covering your value proposition. Then write an engaging summary highlighting your teaching philosophy, unique methodologies, personalised style, students’ success stories, and more.

Along with the summary, list the availability, rates, ratings and reviews, and more, with a professional photo, of course. Overall, keep it clear and concise.

Step 5: Find your students

With your expertise, niche, and credentials in your back pocket, and a well-made profile to showcase it all, you are ready for your students. There are several ways to connect with potential students. But the best way to go ahead would be the likes of Teach Bunny.

On this platform, students can find the right tutor with ease. We have a massive pool of skilled and experienced tutors who can help learn new skills, master languages, and much more.

Step 6: Set your rates and policies

At this point, you need to research the standard tutoring rates in your area. Charge the students hourly or per session according to your experience level.

Consider your time and resources to be invested in the lesson preparations, study materials, and study platforms, when trying to come up with a cost.

With the cost, also make sure to establish some clear policies for cancellation, late arrival, payment terms, rescheduling, and make-up sessions (for missed classes).

All-in-all, be transparent with the policies and flexible with the costs, so the students (and their parents) feel comfortable with the private tutoring.

Step 7: Prepare for your first session

Now, the set up part of the process is nearly done. All you need to do before holding your first private tutor session is prepare for it. That way, you can ensure a smooth, engaging, and productive study session. It will leave both you and the student confident in your teaching abilities and excited about the classes.

This preparation involves reviewing the student background, initial assessment, learning objectives, activities and resources, communication, and more. After all that, confirm the session details, prepare the material, summarise the key learning points, provide actionable assignments, and schedule future sessions.

Step 8: Continuously learn and improve

After having your first private tutor session, it’s time to reflect on your teaching experiences. That will help you adapt your teaching approach based on the student’s response. You can attend workshops or online courses to better refine your tutoring skills and stay up to date with the constantly-changing curriculum.

As you go ahead with the classes, make sure to track your tutorship growth and professional skills with a maintainable record of the proceedings, along with a self-feedback. It will help you better refine your skills and expertise effectively.

With this process, you can ensure the best private teaching experience for your students. It will make a real, tangible difference in your students’ academic journey.

Are there any legal responsibilities for a private tutor?

There are legal responsibilities with almost every profession. And with private, online tutors, these responsibilities will vary based on your location. There’s no universally-mandated tutor licence or certification. But you still need to consider a few general guidelines:

• Background checks: As a private tutor, you may have to teach minors. In that case, to operate in some regions, you will need a background check for better student safety.
• Business registration: Do you want to be a full-time private tutor? Then you will need to register with your local authorities. That would involve obtaining a business licence and following tax regulations.
• Student credibility and trust: As mentioned earlier, clear policies will ensure a more trustworthy learning environment. Clearly list the policies for late arrival, cancellation, rescheduling, payment terms, and make-up sessions (for missed classes).
• Insurance: While it’s not always mandatory, you will need liability insurance. It will offer peace of mind in case of any unfortunate incidents.

For more information on the legal responsibilities, you can consult with our experts. We will explain the process in spades.

FAQs on becoming a private tutor

Conclusion

If you want to become the best private tutor, it’s important to foster a positive learning environment. The students should feel comfortable with your core skills and teaching style. Plus, you need to foster confidence and ignite a passion for learning.

Here’s how you become a successful private tutor:

1. Solidify your expertise
2. Choose your niche
3. Build your credentials
4. Craft your tutoring profile
5. Find your students
6. Set rates and policies
7. Prepare for your first session
8. Continuously learn and improve

So, want to be a private tutor? Then sign up for free and join our community!

Henrik Nilsson

Henrik Nilsson is an experienced finance tutor with a passion for education. He enjoys helping students reach personal and professional success through active mentoring. In his insightful blog posts, he shares his expertise and innovative tutoring approach, aiming to make learning accessible to everyone.