Ever thought about becoming a tutor in a subject you love? For many people who love learning and have a lot of expertise in one — or more! — subjects, becoming a tutor seems like an attractive career or side gig.
But how do you know if you have the qualities of a good tutor?
What Makes a Great Tutor?
1. You Have Strong Subject Knowledge
If you’ve spent years of your life devoted to studying a particular subject, you likely have a wealth of information that you could be sharing with students. Having subject matter expertise is one of the most important qualities of a good tutor because it qualifies you to teach that material.
If you had the chance to take swimming lessons with Michael Phelps or your neighbor down the street who only knows how to doggy paddle, you’re obviously going to choose the Olympic athlete as your coach. Same goes for why your students will pick you over a less knowledgeable tutor!
2. You Have a Passion for Teaching
We all know that one teacher who has a ton of knowledge to share but clearly isn’t cut out for teaching. Maybe they get frustrated with students easily or do the bare minimum when it comes to lesson planning. Having expertise is only one part of what makes someone a good tutor or teacher.
If you love the teaching part of sharing your knowledge – helping students reach their academic goals and watching them master material — you’ll make a much better tutor than someone who simply knows a lot about their subject but has no real interest in teaching.
3. You're Unafraid to learn the Business Side of Tutoring
Becoming a successful tutor isn’t just about teaching. You’ll also be running your own business and being your own boss, which can be both attractive and intimidating — especially if you’ve never done either before. But what matters most is that you have a willingness to learn and will do what it takes to set yourself up for success.
Here are just a few factors that go into running a tutoring business:
- Setting up your business: Choose a business structure, name it, register it, and get a business bank account.
- Filing taxes: Your business’ structure will dictate your filing requirements (we recommend consulting with a tax pro, especially if this is your first rodeo).
- Seeking out job opportunities: Check with local schools, tutoring agencies, or search online tutoring job boards for local or remote work.
- Getting insured: Many tutors don’t think about their liability until something goes wrong. If you get sued because a student doesn’t ace a test or get into their preferred school, your legal fees (let alone damages if you’re found at fault) could be tens of thousands. Get ahead of risks like these and protect your business with tutoring liability insurance — it’s one of the smartest investments you can make in your career!
4. You Have a Knack for Communication
Being able to communicate clearly and effectively is a skill not everyone has. Plus, most people are usually better at one form of communication — written or verbal — than the other. If you’re good at both, you’ll be set up for success as a tutor.
Tutors need to communicate with students and with their students’ parents and teachers regularly to set goals, give feedback, and provide regular progress reports. Not to mention the obvious: tutors have to present subject matter in a way that makes sense to their students.
5. You're Patient and Understanding
If you’ve ever been commended for your patience or your ability to empathize with others, that’s a sign you’ll make a great tutor.
You recognize that everyone learns at a different pace, and some people have a harder time grasping certain concepts or subjects than others. And you know that what might be easy to you won’t necessarily be easy to your students.
This is an important part of being a supportive, encouraging tutor who can help their students feel confident about what they’re learning.
6. You're Flexible and Can Adapt to Your Students' Needs
In the same way that everyone learns at their own speed, people have different learning styles that work better for them than others. In fact, there are four main types of learners recognized in education:
- Visual: People who find that visuals like images, videos, charts, graphs, tables, diagrams, maps, and so on make it easier for them to learn
- Auditory: Students who learn best through audio means — listening and speaking
- Kinesthetic: Learners who retain information best by doing and prefer a hands-on experience
- Reading/writing: People who learn best by reading or writing down the material
Part of being a good tutor is recognizing which learning styles work best for your students and being flexible in adapting your approach to match their needs. Your students will have a much easier time grasping the material if you can cater each lesson plan to the individual instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach to tutoring.
8. You're a Great Listener
While being able to speak effectively is important for being a good tutor, the best instructors also have excellent listening skills. Tutors need to be good at listening to their students’ concerns and frustrations so they can adapt and adjust lesson plans accordingly.
Tutoring isn’t just a one-way street — if you’re simply talking at your student for an hour straight, they may as well have just listened to a podcast or watched a YouTube video instead. Teaching should be a conversation between you and your student, so being an active listener is an important skill for any tutor to have.
9. You're Professional and Reliable
Nobody wants to be tutored by someone who shows up late to sessions or frequently cancels last minute. One of the most important qualities of a good tutor is someone who is punctual and stays true to their commitments because it shows that you take your job seriously.
Additionally, a good tutor conducts themselves in a professional manner — dressing and acting the part, and keeping healthy boundaries. You shouldn’t come to sessions in your pajamas, overshare your personal details, or aim for BFF status with your students.
10. You're Good at Building Interpersonal Relationships
Building on the point above, the best tutors are able to build strong interpersonal relationships with students without sacrificing professionalism.
You can be the most knowledgeable person in the world, but if students don’t find you friendly or easy to be around, they’ll probably opt to study with a different tutor instead. If you’re sociable and show interest in your students’ lives and interests outside of what they’re learning from you, they’re more likely to book you for future sessions.
11. You're Comfortable With Technology
There’s a whole host of educational tech on the market you can use to streamline your business as well as your tutoring sessions. Here are some of the apps that can make learning new material easier for your students:
- Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Canvas, Blackboard, and Google Classroom
- Educational software and apps such as Quizlet, Kahoot!, and Socrative
- Virtual meeting platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet for introductory meetings, progress updates, or remote sessions
- Course creation tools like Udemy, Thinkific, or Teachable
- Assistive technology, including text-to-speech and speech-to-text that supports students with disabilities
12. You Know How to Set and Achieve Realistic Goals
Anyone can set goals, but it takes a certain amount of wisdom and understanding to be able to set realistic ones. Students will often have goals of their own, such as getting a certain score on an exam, passing a class, or getting into a particular program. They’re coming to you for help specifically because they aren’t sure they can achieve these goals on their own.
Sometimes, this means knowing when a goal isn’t attainable and may need to be broken down into smaller steps. Or if a student comes to you with no clearly defined goals, you’ll need to help them articulate what it is they’re trying to achieve and then map out a path to success.
13. You're Considerate of Different Backgrounds
Tutors work with students from a wide variety of cultural, economic, and educational backgrounds. An important quality for any good tutor is being considerate and sensitive to this fact and understanding how that might affect how your students approach learning, how often they can afford to meet with you, and what their goals or expectations are.
Here are some strategies for being more inclusive and culturally sensitive as a tutor:
- Avoid making assumptions or generalizations based on a student’s background
- Create inclusive lessons with materials that reflect a diversity of cultures, genders, and experiences
- Adapt your teaching methods to cater to individual learning styles
- Be aware of your own biases so you can challenge and mitigate them
- Take courses and educate yourself on inclusive teaching practices
14. You're a Lifelong Learner
Last, but certainly not least, one of the most important qualities of a good tutor is having an insatiable thirst for knowledge and a desire to learn and grow. Effective tutors know that teaching methodology and philosophy has changed a lot over the years, so embracing change when something better comes along is very important.
When you’re tutoring a student, you expect them to be open to learning and expanding their horizons. If you can lead by example and show them that you’re always trying to improve yourself as a teacher (and as a human being), they’ll have a great deal more respect for you as a result.
Start Your Tutoring Business the Smart Way
Did you read through this list and think to yourself “Yup, that’s me!” after each item? Congrats! You’d make a great tutor and your students would be lucky to learn from you.
Once you’re ready to get your tutoring business up and running, check out our guide to private tutor liability insurance and discover why all the best tutors protect their earnings and professional reputation by getting insured!
FAQs About Becoming a Great Tutor
How Can I Market Myself Effectively to Attract Students or Clients?
Marketing yourself as a tutor involves a mixture of online and offline strategies, including:
- Building a website
- Utilizing social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram
- Registering on online tutoring platforms like Wyzant and Tutor.com
- Networking with local schools, teachers, school counselors, community centers, and libraries
- Encouraging word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied students with discounts
What Challenges Might I Face as a Tutor and How Can I Overcome Them?
Some of the most common problems tutors face are getting disinterested students to engage with lessons, navigating different learning styles, and building up students’ confidence in their abilities.
Here are steps you can take to contend with them:
- Personalize lessons to each student’s interests and goals
- Make lessons fun and interactive with games and hands-on activities
- Assess each student’s learning style to determine how you should plan their lessons
- Celebrate your students’ successes, no matter how small
- Make lessons and activities incrementally more challenging to help build confidence
What Professional Development Opportunities Are Available to Improve My Tutoring Skills?
To bolster your tutoring abilities, consider taking advantage of professional development opportunities like these:
- Workshops and seminars that cover teaching strategies, educational technology, and specific subject matter
- Online courses and webinars for teachers via Coursera, edX, Udemy, or the National Tutoring Association (NTA)
- An official tutoring certification from the NTA
- Courses on teaching students with learning disabilities and other special needs
JoAnne Hammer | Program Manager
JoAnne Hammer is the Program Manager for Insurance Canopy. She has held the prestigious Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation since July 2004.
JoAnne understands that starting and operating a business takes a tremendous amount of time, dedication, and financial resources. She believes that insurance is the single best way to protect your investment, business, and personal assets.
