In-person vs. online tutoring jobs: which is better for you?

Tutoring is a great pathway to a career in education. As times change, parents continue to look for the best ways to pass relevant knowledge and skills to their children. You can help them prepare their children for a fulfilling life ahead through tutoring.

Tutoring provides a personalized experience for kids that helps them learn in a smaller class environment or 1 on 1 beyond the classroom. It is an opportunity for you to do what you love by helping your students do better in school, improve their grades, build confidence, and you get to sharpen your knowledge in your area of expertise at the same time. Tutoring works well for elementary to college-level classes. If you have a passion for imparting knowledge to others and are skilled in a particular subject, then tutoring may be for you. When it comes to choosing whether you want to be an online tutor or an in-person tutor, however, your options can get confusing. Knowing how each tutoring model operates will help you decide which one works better for you.

What is a tutor?

A tutor is a person who has expert knowledge in a particular subject and provides instruction on it in individualized settings. A tutor coaches students in one-on-one or small-group learning environments.

Who can be a tutor?

Anyone who has a thorough knowledge in a subject area and loves to impart it to others can be a tutor. College students, for example, can find tutoring work helping other students, this is a great way to start a tutoring career and start acquiring the necessary skills. As long as you are knowledgeable in an area that others may need help with, you can be a tutor.

Are there any requirements?

At its most basic level, tutoring requires you to enjoy helping students to overcome challenges, given that your students will typically need extra support with the subjects that they find difficult. Therefore, the first requirement is your ability to help them. For some tutoring positions, you may need a specific degree but others will not require such specialization. The qualifications that you need to begin tutoring will depend on the subject you want to tutor and on how technical it is. It would also depend on what level your students are. For example, while you may need a degree to teach college students, this may not be necessary for elementary students.

How to emphasize skills on your resume that would translate into tutoring

Chances are you already have skills that would make your resume stand out. Start by highlighting your professional or volunteer work that involves helping people succeed. Bonus point if such work is in the subject you would be tutoring. Some of these skills may also be unrelated to the subject itself while still showing that you have the aptitude to help people understand and excel at things. You can add your training, teaching experience, sports or music instruction, day camp coaching experience, and more to your resume.

How to get an in-person tutoring job and what that could look like

Once you decide you want to become a tutor, you have to figure out where to find tutoring jobs. If you're looking for in-person tutoring jobs, you may be able to find these through agencies, community programs, niche job boards, and so on. In-person tutoring requires you to teach your students at a physical location. It could be a private tutoring in-home arrangement or your students may come to your location for classes or you may travel to their home if that is the requirement. You could also get employment with learning centers where you offer your services to a small group of students.

How to find an online tutoring job

For online tutoring jobs, you will meet your students by using technology tools. Neither of you has to meet at a specified location and you can have your tutoring sessions from the comfort of your homes. Online tutoring is becoming increasingly popular as different tutoring models emerge. You can get online tutoring positions through agencies offering such services, by joining a hybrid program to find your clients, by advertising your own services, by joining online tutoring platforms, or by searching for opportunities on niche job boards. A huge incentive for online tutoring is that it makes it possible for you to have students who live in your country or tutor internationally as well, thereby expanding what you could do with your tutoring skills. Since you are offering your services digitally, you get to meet a wide and varied range of clients who are searching for online learning opportunities. 

Online vs. in-person tutoring

Although online and in-person tutoring are both great educational models, they can differentiate how you and your students experience the tutoring sessions. However, in both cases, you can pass on your knowledge and offer real help to your students.

Here's what you should know about online and in-person tutoring:

No matter which path you choose for your tutoring career, you will have the opportunity to help a student excel in their academic pursuits. Either path is a great option and which one is right for you will depend on your lifestyle and goals. At Jobs in Education, we can help you achieve your dreams of becoming a tutor regardless of the model you choose. Keep an eye on our job board to see the next tutoring jobs we have available!

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