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This page, How To Become A Tutor with A-1 All Subjects At-Home Tutoring Service®, is for people who wish to tutor for us in New York City (Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens or Staten Island) or the neighboring counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan. Here you'll find complete details about everything you'll need to do to become one of our A-1 All Subjects At-Home Tutoring Service® tutors.
If you DON'T want to tutor in New York City or in the suburbs mentioned above but instead would rather tutor elsewhere in the Untied States or in Canada, please leave this web page by clicking on the How To Become An Associate Tutor link.
First, let's clear up one very important point. This is a job. This means you work as a tutor giving lessons to our students and we pay you a set fee for your labors. You never pay us. If anyone offers you a "job" but you first have to pay a fee, get up and leave immediately. It's a rip off!
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, there are three things you must complete before you have a telephone interview with us:
You must follow the following six steps before you can join us as an A-1 All Subjects At-Home Tutoring Service® tutor:
Remember, you first finish the six steps and then return to step 5 to complete and submit the application to be a tutor.
This page covers the following topics:
Before beginning the six steps leading to becoming an tutor with A-1 All Subjects At-Home Tutoring Service®, it's vital to find out if you qualify for the job and if you'd like to tutor for us. Click on the web page Teacher Requirements to learn what requirements you must fulfill to become one of our tutors. Click on the web page Why Teach With Us for several excellent reasons why you might like to become one of our tutors.
A-1 All Subjects At-Home Tutoring Service® provides tutoring services for New York City students (Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island) and students in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties. As is true of almost every tutoring service in the United States and Canada, we always seek capable and effective tutors. We've glad you're considering working with us.
Although we DO require a college degree, we DON'T require a teaching license, a teaching certificate or prior classroom teaching experience. Also, we encourage you to teach subjects, grades, levels and standardized tests outside the scope of any license, certificate or prior classroom experience you do have. While having these credentials can be an advantage, they in no way guarantee we'll offer you a position. If fact, we've rejected people with licenses, certificates and classroom experience because we felt they taught badly and accepted people without them because we were sure they'd be excellent teachers. In other words, we don't care what is said on a sheet of paper; our primary concern is your ability to TEACH accurately, effectively and successfully.
The first step of becoming a A-1 All Subjects At-Home Tutoring Service® tutor is to learn the educational, theoretical and practical principles of our tutoring service.
Carefully read the following five web pages which constitute the backbone of our service:
Please read the above web pages carefully and thoroughly. In the past, every tutor who made use of these web pages held on to their students a long time, enjoyed many pleasurable tutoring experiences, helped students make substantial progress and won the undying loyalty of the parents. Conversely, tutors who ignored these web pages had very few lessons and ended up with dissatisfied students and disappointed parents. These web pages and the philosophy they express are based on 50 years of extensive tutoring experience with actual students at actual lessons. Consequently, failure to follow our philosophy and procedures as stated in these web pages will lead to your immediate termination as one of our tutor applicants.
In Step 1, you learned about our basic principals and techniques. In this step, we need to make sure you can comfortably and successfully handle tutoring calls and become an effective, successful, professional tutor.
How We Give You Student Referrals Top Of Page
We usually leave information about a new student on your voice mail or answering machine. We refer students to you only if they live in zip codes and study subjects you've specified on your application. You must let us know when you'll be away or out of town more than one day. If we refer a student to a tutor who's away and is unable to tutor the student, the result is almost always a lost student. So, absolutely make it a point to tell us when you'll be away more than one day; we don't want to be forced to dispense with your services.
We always establish the tutoring fee for lessons when we first speak with the parents. When we call you shortly thereafter to refer the new student to you, we'll tell you what rate has been set. Since it has already been set, there is no further discussion about the rate. If, for some reason, the parent decides to ask about a new rate, you must inform them you're not allowed to discuss that with them; they can only discuss it directly with us at (718) 434-8886.
The Monthly Tutor Report Top Of Page
As long as you're one of our tutors, you MUST send us a Monthly Tutor Report on (or before) the last day of each month.
If you had one or more active students who took lessons with you that month, your Monthly Tutor Report MUST contain the following four items:
If you had no active students who took lessons with you that month, your Monthly Tutor Report MUST consist of a simple message stating your name, the month and a statement you had no students that month.
Remember, you may, if you wish, submit your Monthly Tutor Report a day or two before the last day of the month; however, it MUST be completed by the last day of the month.
In short, we expect to receive Monthly Tutor Report from each of our tutors twelve times a year: Jan 31, Feb 28 or 29, Mar 31, Apr 30, May 31, Jun 30, Jul 31, Aug 31, Sep 30, Oct 31, Nov 30 and Dec 31. If we fail to receive a Monthly Tutor Report from you on any of these dates, we will conclude you no longer wish to be one of our tutors and cease allowing you to tutor any of our students.
The Tutor's First Call To A New Student's Parents Top Of Page
Whenever we place a new student with you, you agree to try making first contact with the student's parents either during the same day or, at the very latest, during the next day. For this reason, we require you to let us know when you'll be out of town for more than one day. This way, we can refrain from giving you new students until you return home.
You must discuss several items during your first call to the student's parents. These are fully discusses in the web page Winning The Parent's Trust.
One of the objectives in your first call is to set up the date and time for the first lesson with the student. In attempting to arrange this first appointment, there four possible results or outcomes or, as we like to call them, scenarios. Every time you try to place a first call to the new student's parents, one (or more) of these four scenarios will always occur. Therefore, you must know them thoroughly, including how to handle each one and how to report to us so we always know exactly what is happening.
SUCCESS: You contacted the parents and they agreed to set up a first appointment. Call us THAT SAME DAY and report the exact time and date of the first appointment.
NO VERBAL CONTACT: You tried to call the parents several times the first day but each time you called you got either no answer or a busy signal. After you've made your last attempt that day to reach the parents, call us THAT SAME DAY to report what happened and to tell us you'll attempt contact with the parents the next day. In this message, tell us what number you dialed and we'll call you if you were dialing the wrong number. Try again the next (second) day. If the same thing happens the second day (i.e., you called several times but each time you called you got no answer or a busy signal), call us THAT SAME DAY to report what happened and to tell us you'll attempt contact with the parents tomorrow. Try again the next (third) day. If the same thing happens the third day (i.e., you called several times but each time you called you got no answer or a busy signal), call us THAT SAME DAY to report what happened, tell us this was your last attempt and make no further attempts to contact the parents.
LEFT A VERBAL MESSAGE FOR THE PARENTS: You left a message (including your name, telephone number and the purpose of your call) with a voice mail, an answering machine or someone other than the parents. Call us THAT SAME DAY to report what occurred and to tell us you'll make a second attempt at contact with the parents in three days. Attempt contact with the parents three days later if they have no returned your call. If the same thing happens on your second attempt (i.e., you left a message with a voice mail, an answering machine or someone other than the parents), call us THAT SAME DAY to report what occurred and try again three day later if your call is still not returned. If the same thing happens on your third attempt (i.e., you left a message with a voice mail, an answering machine or someone other than the parents), call us THAT SAME DAY to report what occurred and make no further attempts to contact the parents. So, in this scenario, if you leave your first message on Monday, then you leave your second message on Thursday and your third (and last) one on Sunday.
THE PARENTS ARE NOT READY TO BEGIN: The parents told you they weren't ready to begin (even though they had assured us they WOULD be ready). Give them your name and phone number and ask them to call you when they're actually ready to start. Call us THAT SAME DAY to report and make no further attempts to contact the parents.
Once you've called to inform us of the date and time of a planned first appointment, we expect no further calls about the new student (unless you wish to discuss a problem).
Every tutor must carry out all the above procedures precisely as stated. Failure to do so is very likely to result in losing your position as a tutor.
Termination Of Lessons Top Of Page
As is true of everything in life, lessons will eventually stop. As soon as the parents have informed you of the date of the last lesson or you have some indication that lessons will stop, you MUST call us The SAME DAY to report the following three items:
Call us at (718) 434-8886 and leave a message reporting each of these three items. Until you place this call to us for a particular student, we’ll continue to regard that student as active and expect him to be included in each month’s Monthly Tutor Report. When you do place this call for a particular student, include his final report in that month’s Monthly Tutor Report.
Of course, you must, as usual, email or FAX us copies of the report cards on the last day of the month. However, we don't want to wait until the last day of the month to fine out about a student's termination of lessons. We expect you to pick up the phone and call us the same day you find out that lessons will cease (or have ceased). Failure to do so is very likely to result in losing your position as a tutor.
Canceling Appointments Top Of Page
We have two distinct cancellation rules which must be firmly, but politely, enforced without exception. Here are our two cancellation rules:
LAST MINUTE CANCELLATIONS AND CHANGES: To cancel or change an appointment, the parents MUST telephone you directly (not us) no later than 3:00 P.M. of the afternoon of the previous day. If the parents cancel or change an appointment after 3:00 P.M. of the day before the scheduled appointment or if the student is not ready for the lesson when you arrive, they must pay you the full fee due for one hour of the lesson.
FREQUENCY OF LESSONS: The student must have at least one hour per week of tutoring as long as lessons continue. All missed lessons must be made up in any of three ways. They can schedule a make-up lesson for later that week, a make-up lesson for the following week or extra time (for example, an extra 10, 15 or 30 minutes) during the next few weeks.
These two cancellation rules are clearly explained to the parents on several occasions:
WE SPELL THEM OUT TWICE: In our initial conversation when they agree to use one of out tutors. In our New Student Welcome web page you give them at the beginning of the first lesson.
YOU SPELL THEM OUT TWICE: During your first telephone contact with the parents, you must explain both cancellation policies to them and ask them if they understand. Then, at the first lesson, you must repeat your explanation of both cancellation rules and again make sure they tell you they've understood.
A potential client becomes an active student the moment you either tell us or leave a message on our voice mail informing us there'll be a first appointment and the planned date and time it will take place. A student remains an active student until we receive a Student Report Card indicating you believe this student will cease to have lessons with you the following month. There's no other way for a potential client either to become an active student or to cease being an active student .
In Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island and Queens, we charge a client $46.00 to $60.00 per hour and pay the tutor $23.00 to $30.00 per hour. In Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan Counties, we charge a client $56.00 to $70.00 per hour and pay the tutor $28.00 to $35.00 per hour. In Manhattan, we charge a client $66.00 to $90.00 per hour and pay the tutor $33.00 to $45.00 per hour. However, there are occasions in which we must charge the client a higher rate. If this happens, we will always inform the tutor of the higher rate and pay the tutor half of that higher rate. So, no matter what we charge the client, we always pay the tutor half.
Only one out of every five people who call us for tutoring actually signs up for lessons. The other four say something like Thanks for the information. I'll call you back after I've had time to discuss it with my spouse. but we never hear from them again because they find our rates too expensive. To make it possible for some of these people to afford lessons, we now offer some potential clients a sliding scale fee. As a result, some students pay from $5.00 to $20.00 less per hour for lessons.
The Subjects Most In Demand For Tutoring Top Of Page
During the past fifty years, about 90% of all tutoring requests are in one or more of the following areas:
In addition, about half of those who require tutoring in elementary school reading also want lessons in elementary school math, both taught by the same tutor.
During my first few years as a tutor, I noticed how much lesson time was lost due to lack of advance preparation by the student. Some students weren't able to find writing implements or left their books in school or at a relative’s house. Others didn’t have books because the school had failed to hand them out yet or had already collected them near the end of the year. Many times, parents who promised to purchase needed materials did not get around to it until a few weeks later.
To remedy this tremendous source of annoyance and waste of time, I began to require every new student to buy a kit from me at the first lesson. The kit consisted of the following items:
I clearly instructed both the parents and the student to ALWAYS leave the kit at home and use it ONLY for work having to do with our lessons. I presented the parents with a bill to reimburse me for both the cost of the kit and my time in getting it. I was paid either at the first lesson or at the second.
What was the result my requiring every student to have a kit ? All the problems mentioned above immediately vanished and all my lessons became more effective and well organized
Scheduling: How To Tutor More With Less Travel Time Top Of Page
The following statements are true for most tutors in most cases in most parts of the U.S. and Canada:
These four facts are the bases by which an associate tutor can make effective of travel time and scheduling.
Suppose someone who lives 30 miles north of you wants you to be their tutor and you agree to have lessons every Monday. Suppose, a few days later, someone who lives 30 miles south of you wants lessons with you and you agree to set the schedule for Tuesday. Suppose, a few days later, a third person who lives 30 miles east of you agrees to see you every Wednesday. Suppose you get another student a few days later who lives 30 miles west of you and you set the tutoring day for Thursday.
At first glance, this seems to be a waste of time and money - you've agreed to a sixty mile round trip every day for just one lesson a day. That's true . . . But, during the subsequent weeks, you get more and more new students and gradually fill up each day of the week. You put those who live north of you on Monday, south of you on Tuesday, etc. By the time six to eight weeks have passed and it's late October, you now spend Mondays seeing several students to the north of you and having them split the travel time among them. Likewise, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are filled up in the same manner. This is really the only sensible way you can build up a satisfactory quantity of students.
Of course, you could have turned down those first four students with the statement: No! He's too far! However, this way you'd end up with just one or two students, rather than ten or more as described above.
To work with new students and keep a record of lessons taken, you need Student Information Sheets and Student Report Cards. You'll see an example of a Student Information Sheet in Student Information Sheet and an example of a Student Report Card in Student Report Card. Print out copies of these forms to use for all your lessons with students we refer to you. Don't forget; you're required to send us completely filled out Student Report Card for each of your active students on the last day of each month.
Inform A New Client About The New Student Procedures Top Of Page
Make sure you're intimately familiar with all the procedures parents and students are required to follow. We reserve the right to discontinue lessons with any student or parent who feels the rules don't apply to them. You must inform all parents about our New Student Welcome web page when you call them to set up the first appointment. Give them web page's address both during your first call and then again at the first lesson. The address is a1tutor.com/welcome.html. If the family has no internet access or is computer illiterate, please print out a copy of New Student Welcome to bring them during the first lesson.
Know How To Find The Student's Home Top Of Page
Make sure you know exactly where the student lives, including the address, cross streets and apartment number. It's completely unprofessional to be late or not show up because you got lost. To avoid this, buy appropriate zip code/street guide maps of the areas in which you'll tutor. A copy of
will make locating any house in New York City and suburbs a snap. With these books, getting lost is a thing of the past; they are truly indispensable aids for any tutor.
Make Sure You Exchange Correct Contact Information Top Of Page
Make sure you give the family your name and phone numbers (home, work and cell) and write them down in a safe readily accessible place. Check to make sure they have your correct contact information at least three or four times, including during your first call and during your first lesson. Also, during your first call, make sure you have their address (including apartment number and cross streets) and phone numbers.
You must know two important phone numbers to communicate with A-1 All Subjects At-Home Tutoring Service®. To contact us about any of our student referrals and to report on your progress setting up the first appointment, call us at (866) 463-7487. If you have any problems with payments or paperwork, call us at (866) 463-7487.
Now that you know how to handle the day to day requirements of being one of our associate tutors, you must make sure you know how to handle the monthly referral report. On the last day of each month you have active students, send us half of the tutoring fees you earned for the month and give us a report of your tutoring activities of the month. However, you must first open up a Paypal account before you can proceed.
On the last day of each month you have active students, you have three clerical chores to perform. However, you must first open up a PayPal account before you can proceed.
All A-1 All Subjects At-Home Tutoring Service® tutors must immediately open a PayPal account before we can allow them to tutor our students. PayPal accounts are free of charge, carry no fees and take just a few minutes to open. So, make sure you open your account; we can't place students with you until the account is up and running. Here's what you do:
Again, there are absolutely no costs nor fees. Remember, however, you can fund your account only with your checking account; you CANNOT fund it with your credit card.
Using Your PayPal Account In Your Monthly Tutor Report Top Of Page
Now that we have our PayPal account established and verified, let's examine your three clerical chores to be done on the last day of the month. Suppose you had three students in September: Ann Abrahams who spent $200.00 for 4 hours, Bill Brewster who spent $300.00 for 6 hours and Chuck Cochran who spent $250.00 for 5 hours in September. Here's how you'd proceed on September 30:
These three steps should take up no more than 15 to 20 minutes of your time. Once they are done, your clerical duties for September are finished and your attention can then turn to October.
Everything stated above in this article is to be taken with absolute seriousness and conviction. If you act unprofessionally, if you're careless in your treatment of students and families, if you disregard any of the rules and procedures we've set up, if you fail to apply the comprehensive diagnostic test with every student we give you, if you're not on time with mailings and payments or if you're in any way a black eye for our service, we'll take strong and immediate action. Should we have to do this a first time, well begin to watch your behavior very carefully. Should it happen again, we'll terminate our tutoring relationship and sever all relations with you. So, it's imperative you always behave in the most professional way; we don't want to be forced to let you go.
Once you've carefully and thoughtfully read each of Steps 1, 2 , 3 and 4 above, followed and read all the links contained in each step, feel certain you understand our tutoring philosophy and accept the conditions under which our tutors agree to follow, it's time to fill out and submit the Application. A careful reading of Application Directives will help you in selecting subjects, grades and zip codes. When you're ready to apply, please click on Application, fill it out completely, make a copy to keep in your records and send us the original.)
After you've submitted your Application, we'll keep it on file and consider it very carefully
In addition, please submit copies of all your teaching credentials. These include:
(If you prefer, you may send copies of your official transcripts instead of your degrees). Please email them to tutor@a1tutor.com or FAX them to (206) TUTOR-66 (206-888-6766).
Once we've received your Application and your teaching credentials, all that remains for you to do is to have a telephone interview with us.
Before you call us, carefully reread Steps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 above and the web page Winning The Parent's Trust as many times as necessary to fully know and understand them. There, you'll find all the tools you'll need to comfortably, professionally and successfully handle lessons with the students we place with you. Familiarity with and knowledge of the principles and pointers you'll find there can easily convert you from an unsuccessful tutor with a few short-term students into a successful tutor with many students taking lessons with you for several months. As a result, we'll not be able to complete the interview unless you're intimately familiar with all of Steps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 above and Winning The Parent's Trust.
After you've read Steps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 above and Winning The Parent's Trust several times, please call us toll free at (877) 674-5067. If we're out of the office or otherwise busy when you call, please leave a message stating three different days and times when you'll be home and be ready to complete the interview. We'll be glad to return your call during one of the three days and times you specified.
It's most essential you call us! If you do not call us as described, there will be no interview, your application will be discarded and you will not be hired as a tutor.
In the interview, we'll discuss the following:
If we're completely happy with the interview, we'll welcome you aboard as one of our new tutors!
Once again, don't call us for the interview until you've completely familiarized yourself with Steps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 above and with Winning The Parent's Trust!
In addition, make sure all these pages remain readily accessible after the interview so you can consult them whenever necessary. From time to time, we add new material designed to help a tutor maintain a high level of skills and professionalism.
Well, we've covered everything. However, please revisit this page from time to time. As ideas and pointers occur to us, we intend to add them to the mix. We wish you much success, satisfaction, profit and enrichment in all your future tutoring efforts with A-1 All Subjects At-Home Tutoring Service®. Good luck!
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