What to Look for to Hire the Best Tutors

Hiring the best tutors is a crucial part of developing and maintaining a successful tutoring business. So, what should you consider when looking for professional and skilled teachers?

Businesses are only as good as their staff, so hiring the best tutors is a vital part of developing and maintaining a successful tutoring business. A great tutor can make a huge difference to a student's learning and the overall effectiveness and reputation of a tutoring company. Being aware of what qualities to look for and what questions to ask during interviews will help you to make the right decisions.

So what should tutoring companies consider when hiring tutors?

Experience

Although experience shouldn't be the only deciding factor, because everyone has to start somewhere, an extensive experience can obviously make a candidate more attractive. Educational background is also important. Either way, whether it's employment or education experience, relevance is the key. A PhD in Engineering might be impressive, but it's probably not going to help with teaching languages or music, etc. Make sure the prospective tutor is an expert in the particular subject they will be teaching and don't be afraid to ask detailed questions.

Attributes

A tutor's personality will be just as important as their knowledge and experience in determining how good of a job they will do. Enthusiasm, patience, organisation and adaptability are just some of the attributes that are essential for a great tutor to have. You should also assess their communication skills when you are interviewing them because a tutor who can't communicate well won't get very far with students. Ask about their hobbies and interests as well, and find out whether or not they actually enjoy tutoring. It is better to identify strengths and weaknesses at this point.

Recommendations

All tutors, even the more inexperienced, should be able to provide some references or referees that are willing to attest to their ability and suitability. Ensure that they are not just character references, but actually relevant to their skills as a tutor. Make calls and verify the information contained in references if you want more assurance. Inability or unwillingness to provide any references is a red flag, and these tutors should be avoided. On the other hand, stellar recommendations will make you feel more trusting and at ease with your new tutor.

Results

Inquire about past results and achievements, and what results you should expect. This will help you to assess their capacity to meet your needs and expectations and prevent misunderstandings or dissatisfaction down the line. Beware of both over-promising and lack of confidence, as both indicate that you will end up disappointed with results.

Approach

Ask questions about how they define their role as a tutor, in order to gauge their teaching approach and communication style. Present them with various scenarios and situations and inquire as to how they would resolve them. There's no point hiring someone that has all of the knowledge but no ability to work effectively with students. Maybe they even have a unique approach that will make them stand out over others.

Above all, don't settle for mediocre or live with nagging doubts. If you haven't found a tutor you're pleased to hire, keep interviewing people until you do. Your business will thrive, and your students will thank you for it.

Christie Van Arragon is a tutor and education enthusiast that enjoys writing about interesting topics related to tutoring and education. If you are a tutor or own a tutoring company Christie invites you to evaluate this tutor scheduling software for your education business.

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25 Jul 2017


By Christie Van Arragon
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