14+ Pros and Cons of Being a Tutor (Explained)

A tutor is a professional who teaches one or more people on a certain subject. The tutor has deep knowledge or expertise in a particular set of subjects. Tutor imparts knowledge or skill to the students, learner, or tutee.

The purpose of the tutor is to help students or to assist or guide them to the level at which they become independent learners.

Advantages of Being a Tutor	Disadvantages of Being a Tutor
Demand for Tutor	Tutors do not make really good money
Teaching from a remote location is also possible	One will not have long term contracts most of the time
Be your own Boss	One has to be flexible as a tutor
Low cost for setting up a start-up	Some kids will simply not improve in school
Work with different age students	Parents can also be difficult

Advantages of Being a Tutor

Demand for Tutor

As Competition is increasing in colleges and schools day by day, students need a tutor to excel in their studies. It will enable them to qualify for exams with better grades.

Many children do not find interest in studying, If not redirected; they may become school or college dropouts. It triggers the need for a tutor, who motivates interest for studying in them.

Many other students do have interests but need a tutor as an enabler. As the gap between qualified and unqualified is getting narrower, they need a tutor for proper guidance. Everybody wants to beat the competition.

Teaching from a remote location is also possible

The COVID pandemic has pushed society to devise new ways. In the old days, people believed that students must have physical interaction required for imparting knowledge.

Tutors were visiting the homes of their students or the students flocked to the tuition center. Things have undergone drastic changes post COVID.

Online tutors are also in demand. Apps like FILO, Skooli, Chegg, Learn To Be, Tutor.com, Preply, Pearson, TutaPoint have evolved tailor-made for various educational streams.

Be your own Boss

Tutors have no rule books or bye-laws to abide by nor timing or any other restriction. Most private tutors have flexibility in teaching and they can schedule for daily or weekly timings or can offer whatever schedule suits them.

They can decide to teach simply about anything they believe they have expertise in. They can even launch separate courses to help students to prepare for their exams.

Low cost for setting up start-up

Unlike most businesses, a tuition center does not require a big capital investment. Sound knowledge in any subject combined with a passion for teaching is the only thing one will need.

A tutor does not require anything else, besides an owned or rented place, benches. The word of mouth is the best advertisement though one may also place some flyers up around residential areas and marketplaces.

One may also launch an online tuition app or portal. Joining an existing online tutoring site is also an option to offer their service.

Work with different age students

A tutor usually works with students of age groups. They can educate any child as per their knowledge in particular subjects. They can also teach elementary school children. This can be for them to observe how various people learn and what they require to excel in their career.

It will enable college students in grasping the tougher subjects and clearing doubts. It will not be possible to teach university students individually as the education level is higher and each student has a different educational background and mental capability.

Even then tutors have to upscale their skill set and ascertain to teach the advanced education.

Disadvantages of Being a Tutor

Tutors does not make really good money

The biggest problem a tutor faces is that they do not have good money. Though one will, at times, be able to earn a decent wage per hour, most people simply work part-time as a tutor and it will not be sufficient for them to meet their expenses most of the time.

Even if one works as a full-time tutor, there is a probability that they will not be able to purchase a house or be able to afford other luxury items as their income will simply be too few for that.

One will not have long term contracts most of the time

Most tutors also do not have long-term contracts. As per available online data few tutors even do not have contracts, all they do is keep offering their service.

They simply work on a per hour basis for their clients and if their clients do not require them at any moment, they will be forced to search for fresh clients. Therefore job security will not be there for a tutor and they constantly have to fear for their financial security.

Most tutors have a tough time while getting a mortgage as banks enquire about their financial position and will not sanction them a loan. In tougher times even full-time tutors need a support second job to meet their expenses.

One have to be flexible as a tutor

Most parents change plans very frequently and it means that one will have to be flexible to accommodate the demands of parents and students.

For example, one may schedule a tutoring lesson scheduled for the next day. In the evening, the parents of the kid may call and inform them that their kid is not well and that he will not be able to attend the lesson tomorrow.

It will not only be very irritating, but they will lose income from these dynamic changes.

Some kids will simply not improve in school

One should also not expect very much from their tutoring job. While many kids learn very fast, several others will be adamant and difficult to improve.

Moreover, many children may simply not improve at all and one should make certain that their learning incapability will not demoralize them as they will undergo it very frequently during the tutoring.

These students further increase stress and cause souring of mental composure. Lots of energy and attention is spent on these students, it may lead to less than required attention to other kids.

Parents can also be difficult

Not only are some kids adamant, but some parents may also be very difficult to tutor. Though most parents will really like and support their work, few will simply not like the tutor or not trust them at all.

They will also usually look one over their shoulder and if they notice even minute things they will not like about their teaching methods and pedagogy. Irritated parents may interfere with intuition or may even fire them.

Consequently, one must be prepared that they will not have to deal with those difficult people sooner or later and that they are mentally prepared for extensive discussions in this regard.