Tutor: What is the cost of hiring?
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Tutor: What is the cost of hiring?
As of April 2022, the average number of job seekers per tutor job in Australia is 38.
a tutor: What is the cost of hiring?
As of April 2022, the average number of job seekers per tutor job in Australia is 38.
Why hire a tutor?
Tutors work closely with students, usually individually or in small groups, and provide additional learning support outside their regular school or university classes. Effective tutors can help students unlock their strengths and realise their full potential.
Contributions of a great tutor:
- Help students understand concepts learnt in class
- Identify a student’s learning needs and create lessons that meet those needs
- Work with students, their parents and teachers to develop individualised learning plans
Deciding between a full-time vs freelance tutor
Before writing the job description, it’s important to carefully consider your business’s needs and whether your business would benefit more from hiring a full-time, part-time, casual or freelance tutor.
Most tutors are employed as casuals for tutoring companies or educational institutions such as universities. Many tutors work for themselves as freelancers. Permanent full-time tutors are not very common.
If you run a large tutoring service and schedule several classes throughout the day, having a full-time tutor might be ideal. An advantage of hiring a casual tutor is that they can work shorter shifts in the afternoon and evenings or on weekends. Hiring a freelance tutor might be a good option if you need someone to cover a shift when your staff are unwell.
What are the different types of tutor?
Before hiring, it’s important to decide which type of tutor you require. These days, tutors can work in a range of different settings, with a variety of roles available:
- Learning centre tutor: Provides students with learning support in classes of up to 20 students. The classes are normally held after school or on weekends, and follow a classroom teaching model with worksheets and group activities.
- Small group tutor: Works more closely with students than a learning centre tutor. Classes are usually limited to no more than four so that the tutor can give the students more individual attention, while the students also benefit from learning with others.
- One-on-one tutor: Provides intensive individual support to learners and adapts lessons to suit the student’s pace and requirements.
- University tutor: Leads small classes of around 15 to 25 students, called tutorials, where university students discuss, debate or work through the topics and content covered in lectures and assigned readings.
- Homework helper: Usually works one-on-one with students who are struggling with their homework. Homework helpers explain homework exercises, give examples and answer students’ questions, but don’t provide the same level of intensive tutoring as tutors.
- Online tutor: Connects with learners via a computer or tablet. The learner and tutor can either be online at the same time (synchronous tutoring) or at different times (asynchronous tutoring).
Where to find a tutor
To find the right tutor for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:
- Advertise on local job boards: Go to the places where private tutors often meet students – universities, libraries and cafés – and ask if you can put up an ad on their community noticeboard.
- Ask for referrals: Speak with your current employees, colleagues, friends and family, and ask if they know anyone looking for a tutoring job.
- Connect with local schools: Hand out flyers or your business card at local schools and ask the teachers to refer students to your organisation. Teachers may also be able to recommend tutors.
- Put up a help wanted sign in your window: Especially if your tutoring business gets a lot of foot traffic, letting people know you’re hiring by putting up a help wanted sign in your window is a great way to attract attention to the vacant position.
Post your job online: Try posting your tutor job on Indeed to find and attract quality tutor candidates.
Skills to look for in a great tutor
A great tutor candidate will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:
- strong communication and interpersonal skills
- empathy
- patience
- extensive subject knowledge
- ability to take initiative
Writing a tutor job description
A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified tutor candidates. A tutor job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.
When writing your job description for a tutor, consider including some or all of the following keywords to strengthen the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on tutor jobs, according to Indeed data:
- tutor
- tutoring
- online tutor
- student
- university student
- education
- after school care
- student tutor
- teaching
Interviewing tutor candidates
Strong candidates for tutor positions will be confident answering questions regarding:
- teaching methods they apply in classes
- ways to motivate and inspire students
- strategies for managing inattentive students or students with behavioural problems
- communicating with parents who are dissatisfied with their child’s progress
Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of tutor interview questions for examples (with sample answers).
*Indeed provides this information as a courtesy to users of this site. Please note that we are not your recruiting or legal advisor, we are not responsible for the content of your job descriptions, and none of the information provided herein guarantees performance.
