A Tutor’s Guide – Finding Tutoring Gigs Online [Care.com and More]

If you want to earn money as a tutor, the first step is finding gigs and students. The good news is that the internet gives you a lot of opportunities in this realm. But finding these gigs, such as those with the care.com tutoring platform, can still be challenging. Partly, this is due to the competition involved in the process. Many other tutors are also trying to get tutoring gigs — and to a point, you’ll need to come out ahead of the pack to land the best jobs and students. This is also partially because the process of successfully landing better tutoring gigs isn’t always clear to tutors. So in this post, you’ll learn everything you need to find gigs online in the modern tutoring gig landscape.

The Basics: Starting The Process Of Finding Tutoring Gigs Online

As a tutor, putting your “marketing” hat on for a while as you prepare to compete for the best tutoring gigs on the best marketplaces will be necessary. We’re going to go over our list of favorites in a minute. But first, let’s talk briefly about the strategies involved in increasing your likelihood of grabbing that initial gig.

1. Get Your Credentials In Order

This part is essential, regardless of whether you’re trying to become a full-time or part-time tutor. Getting your credentials in order means collecting, for the world to see, all of the available information that explains your skills and experience as an expert. In other words — if you’re going to be a math tutor for high school or elementary school students, you’ll want to put together a list of accolades (schooling, training, experience, etc.) that proves you’d be an ideal candidate for the job.

2. Figure Out What You’ll Specialize In

You probably specialize in one or more specific study areas as a tutor. With private tutoring services, you can generally command higher hourly rates if you have a niche and specialize in a particular subject area. For example — you may specialize in math, English, history, geometry, special needs education, or others.

3. Draft An Amazing Cover Letter And Bio

After getting your credentials in order, it’ll be time to draft a cover letter and a bio. These things may need to be altered slightly as you sign up for different tutoring gig websites. But the general idea is that you want to stand out as an ideal candidate for new jobs in the tutoring space. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to put your best foot forward and spend some time crafting a polished, beautiful cover letter and bio for your profile.

4. Get Some Professional Photography Headshots

Of course, your profile won’t be complete without some fantastic photography. A lot of people overlook this. They think their accolades and bio will do the trick and get them amazing gigs. But here’s the thing. As with any job concerning the care of children or older people (this includes tutors and babysitters, nannies, caregivers, pet care, senior care, etc.), building your know, like, and trust factors are crucial. You need your clients to feel good about you right from the beginning — and a beautiful headshot on your profile, with a professional picture of you smiling, plays a significant role in this.

If you post an avatar — well, that may look shady. And if you use a bathroom selfie or some other kind of amateur photo, your clients may question: “Why did they not get a professional photo? Do they not care about this gig that much?”

It matters! Schedule a professional photography session and get some photos taken ASAP! After this step, you’ll be ready to start looking at (and applying to) tutoring session job posts.

How To Get Your First Online Tutoring Gig – Using Care.com As An Example

Now, there are many different types of tutoring gig websites out there. And in a moment, we’ll closely examine some of them. But for the sake of this example and to give you a general idea of how this process works, we’re going to walk you through setting up a successful profile on Care.com and show you some tips and tricks you’ll need to know to run a successful tutoring business using a tutoring gig platform. The general idea behind these steps is that they will help guide you as you set up profiles on other platforms, even though we will talk specifically about using Care.com for now. So let’s jump in and talk about it.

1. Join The Platform

You’ll need to join the platform to get started. To do this, you’ll want to click the “Join Now” button located on the home page. Then you’ll want to click the “Find Jobs” button on the “Getting Started” page. Next, you’ll be asked a series of questions to help determine what services you’d like to offer on the platform. You’ll also be asked for some basic contact information. This is a pretty standard process. Just fill it all out and get yourself logged in.

2. Learn Care.com Pricing

First, you must agree to have a CareCheck run before you start building a profile on Care.com. It is a background check and is also a standard procedure. This kind of thing will be required on any website related to childcare providers, sitters, babysitting, etc. Then you’ll need to choose whether to sign up for a Basic or Premium membership. You can look at the differences between these two types of memberships here. But most serious tutors will want to pay for the premium membership — which costs you $13 per month if you sign up for 12 months and gives you many extra perks.

3. Set Up Your Profile

Care.com is an example of a platform that gives you quite a few options for creating your profile. And to be as successful as possible, you’ll want to utilize as many available tools as possible. You can post photos, background checks, references, reviews, videos, a bio, and more. You’ll want to put some care and detail into this step. The better you set up your profile, the better your odds of getting great gigs and tutoring jobs.

4. Start Browsing Jobs

You can browse both local and online jobs on Care.com. This process takes some getting used to — but this will also be true of any platform. Every tutoring platform is going to feature slightly different job browsing features. So give yourself some time to get acclimated to the process.

5. Apply For Tutoring Jobs You Feel Confident About

You can apply for jobs directly on the Care.com platform. Remember that you will compete with other tutors for those jobs, so your application and profile must be spotless. Select the job and read the description to apply for a tutoring job. If it sounds like a good fit, you can use the platform to be considered for the position. If the client contacts you, you can negotiate tutoring rates and agree on pricing and services. Just stick with it. And before you know it, you’ll land your first client!

6. How Care.com Handles Payments

Care.com payments are handled by a payment service called Stripe. This empowers you to accept payment directly through your Care.com profile. With Stripe, you can quickly transfer funds directly from your Care.com account to your bank account. You can even withdraw your money to your bank account automatically if you’d like.

Read more: Freelance Payment Methods: A Breakdown for Freelancers, Contractors, and the Self-Employed

7. Understand Your Tax Responsibilities

While Care.com contracts are typically handled with Stripe payments, some utilize their onboard payroll service. When you get paid through Care.com via Stripe cash payments, keeping track of your income to report your earnings to the IRS when you file your taxes as a self-employed gig worker is essential. But if your employer uses the onboard Care.com payroll service, you’ll get a W-2 showing your earnings with the client.

Our 10 Favorite Online Tutoring Gig Websites, And How To Use Them

Alright. Now that you’ve got a better idea of how these platforms work (using Care.com as an example), it’s time to look closely at some of our favorite tutoring gig websites. Whether you’d like to specialize in large homeschool classes, 1-on-1 tutoring, tutoring for children with autism, or even foreign language tutoring, these are the sites you’ll want to consider to avoid scams while also getting a fair pay rate for your work.

1. Care.com

As we’ve already discussed, Care.com is one of our favorite platforms for finding tutoring gigs for several reasons. First, they’re a legitimate, longstanding name in the industry — and are trusted by clients ranging from parents of 1-year-olds looking for sitters to college students, special education students, and more.

2. Tutor.com

Tutor.com is a significant tutoring site based on the premise that every student deserves a personal tutor. They partner with multiple colleges, universities, K-12 schools, and even state libraries — and do a great job supporting tutors and students.

3. Skooli.com

Skooli is a popular tutoring platform that makes it easy for students to get help for subjects and earn money as a tutor.

Becoming a Skooli tutor will require approval, necessitating an approval and verification meeting. But once you get in, you’ll have access to a collection of excellent platform tools and the ability to start earning money as a tutor.

4. Tutorme.com

Tutorme.com utilizes a unique smart matching system to pair students with the perfect online tutors. They’re known for providing 1-on-1 tutoring help and test prep, and special online teaching tools. Tutorme offers tutoring in over 300 different subjects, which means there’s a demand for tutors who know their stuff.

5. Varsitytutors.com

Varsitytutors.com allows tutors to earn extra money while working from home — giving them a chance to make a real difference. They offer all kinds of different tutoring opportunities, both part-time and full-time. They also simplify the payment process and make it easy to schedule things flexibly.

6. Wyzant.com

Wyzant.com is a popular tutoring website where you can create a free online profile with videos, student reviews, pictures, a bio, and more. You get to showcase your qualifications and experience and then participate in the marketplace — millions of new students and parents come monthly to find tutoring. Tutors listed on Wyzant have earned more than $64 million since the website was born, which shows you that money can be made.

7. Geeklyhub.com

On Geeklyhub.com, you can earn an average of $20 per hour tutoring students. The application and approval process is also straightforward. You can jump right into it and start making money fast.

8. Outschool.com

Outschool.com is another online tutoring platform that makes it easy to become a tutor. Make your schedule, earn a flexible income, and teach from wherever you are.

9. Yup.com

Yup.com is another excellent tutoring platform that allows tutors to work when they want (and to earn money simultaneously). The application process is simple and includes a written application, math proficiency exam, and mimic tutoring session.

10. Takelessons.com

Takelessons.com gives you everything you need to start a tutoring side gig.

You can create a professional profile that shows off your skills and experience, help your students learn, and earn money at your own pace. The website handles booking and payments, so you never have to bid for jobs.

Conclusion

We hope this post has helped you learn how to become an online tutor. It may take a bit of effort to get the process started. But once you start making headway, you can quickly make a good amount of side or full-time income as a tutor.