Choosing An Agency - Or Go It Alone!

Choose An Agency or Go It Alone!

The tutoring industry today is littered with tutoring agencies of all shapes and sizes. Agencies act as the middle-man between the Parent/Student and the Tutor, the tutee-tutor relationship , and often take a large commission rate for every hour worked by the Tutor the cost of introducing you to the client! This commission rate can be a frustrating obstacle to your earning power, so

This leaves prospective tutors with a decision to make choose an agency or go it alone!

Below, I will outline some of the pros and cons of both options. While each agency will have their own policies and contract specifics, and while you may find that a tutoring gig you have found yourself differs drastically to what I discuss below, this list should act as a helpful outline for how to choose your best fit.

THE AGENCY

PROS:

1. Finding clients: agencies main advantage is that they will seek out and advertise to clients on your behalf so that you don t have to worry about looking for students yourself. This may sound like a given but one of the most time-consuming tasks as a self-employed tutor is looking for potential tutees!

2. Managing parents needs/aims/problems: as the mediator between Tutor and Tutee/Parent, the agency will deal with managing the Parent s aims for their child (or directly with the Student if they are organising the sessions themselves). These needs and aims can often include which schools to apply to, which exam boards to choose and how many sessions are necessary. The agency will look after this for you and will only provide you with the important elements, cutting out your involvement in the non-teaching side of things.

3. Assuring financial safety: most agencies will have an established cancellation policy meaning that you are covered if the Tutee cancels or postpones a session (normally) 24 or 48 hours beforehand with independently-agreed work, this can often be an awkward point of conflict!

CONS:

1. The Commission Rate: agencies need some way to make their profits and their primary way of doing this is by charging a commission rate for each hour of tutoring. While it can be frustrating for both parties, this is the price to pay for the agency s knowledge, management and expertise. If you Go It Alone, you can wipe out this fee entirely!

2. Distance between Parent and Tutor: it can become very complicated for the agency if the Parent discusses terms or changes directly with the Tutor, as they miss key information. Consequently, as the Tutor, especially with online tutoring, you may find yourself in fairly infrequent contact with the Parent again, this can be frustrating, as the subtleties of what the child needs can often be lost via the three-way communication from Parent, to agency, to Tutor.

3. Part of a large company: similar to the point above, working for a larger organisation often means a reduction in your own personal value and involvement and it is certainly true that many Tutors prefer to be able to set their own rates, deal with their own clients personally and recuperate all of the fees they have earned. This one is very likely to be a matter of personal preference however

ME, MYSELF AND I

PROS:

1. Setting your own rates: as mentioned above, working independently means setting your own rates! This is a particularly attractive option as it gives you the freedom to start at a low rate to attract clients, and then increase incrementally as your experience and connection with the Student develops. No more Commission Rates!

2. Friends and family: tutoring your neighbour s kids or your younger cousins will almost certainly involve Go It Alone-style tutoring, and the benefits of this are enormous. Gone are the lengthy discussions about rate, location and style of tutoring tutor in an informal setting to earn both a bit of cash and great brownie points with those around you!

3. Goodbye, review system: traditionally, agencies will require some sort of two-way feedback system where Tutors give comments on the Tutee s performance and vice-versa. If you find this process laborious or stressful, then tutoring independently will allow you to form a closer connection to the Student, removing the need for a structured feedback system.

CONS:

1. Consistency of work: getting to know students, creating lesson plans, finding exercises, marking work tutoring requires a fair amount of work outside the classroom as it is having to advertise yourself to clients on top of that can be quite challenging and, at times, demoralising, as there are so many tutors out there looking for similar work. Making sure you have a pool of contacts or an avenue for self-marketing will be key to securing a steady stream of work and avoiding those barren periods!

2. You and your own devices: without the wider support of an already-connected network of tutors, such as that found in an agency where hints and tips can be shared around, you may find that you become stuck with certain students, particularly with less familiar exam boards or more complex modules. Being able to access a wide range of online resources will be very helpful for getting you out of tricky situations!

3. International opportunities: the rise of international tutoring has been fairly meteoric in the last 5 years or so and being able to tap into that market as a young tutor can be fairly challenging. Agencies are able to use their superior resources to advertise all around the world this may not be an issue if you can find enough work around you, but it s always worth keeping in mind!

Working for an agency has become a much more popular option for tutors in the last few years and is only going to continue its upward curve. But that s not to say it s the only option.

Researching agencies websites online to find out which one suits you best will go a long way to assuring that you enjoy your tutoring work. If you find that they don t offer you what you re looking for, don t be afraid to look for work independently. A good place to start is by placing adverts in your local area or school, promoting your tutoring services and spreading the word that you re free to help out. If you want to look further afield, websites allow you to post your profile for free (only those looking for tutors will pay a fee!) and this will give you a much wider audience.

Remember that there are always tutoring opportunities out there, you just need to make sure you re in the right place to fill them!