Many ESL tutors might struggle when they are new to the industry because the job demands a lot of work and effort as parents have high expectations. Tutors can help to increase the likeliness of having good learning outcomes, as well as be a good source of income.., This article will share tips on how to succeed and make more money as an ESL tutor.
1) Online Classes
With the availability and increasing popularity of online classes, online tutoring is one way to make a decent amount of money on the side as it is flexible and you can manage it from the comforts of your own home. Class materials can be arranged easily, and it’s not too difficult to promote yourself online to attract more students. You might want to invest in decent quality equipment such as a computer/laptop, headphones and if necessary, a microphone as well. Strong internet access is also a must.
2) Update your resume
As an educator, qualifications are proof of your level of education and experience. It will be necessary to keep your CV updated so that parents and students can see if you have what they are looking for in a tutor. Different experience and even fluency in other languages is always an excellent option to put in your resume, as evidence that you’re doing things to keep improving yourself and also have more language learning skills to leverage.
3) Get Certified
Although it’s not necessary for tutors teaching online to be TEFL, TESOL, or CELTA certified, it can greatly enhance how you appear to your potential customers. Training alone and having some tutoring experience might be enough to qualify nowadays, but having certificates can help you save time and have an overall smoother process for finding a student.
4) Interpretation / Translation Work
If you’re a bilingual ESL tutor, you can work as a translator in different fields where they might require your assistance such as in legal situations, schools, or even hospitals. Depending on what languages are more frequently used in your country and what type of assistance you can provide, you can earn a decent amount of money for this type of work as well.
5) Blogging
A Google search for “teaching blogs” produced 73,300,000 results. Think again if you’ve been using blogs as a platform for rants and unimportant topics. Many professionals can now boost their visibility, make extra money, and even establish book careers by blogging.
How does it work? Bloggers can get paid in various ways, such as by ghostwriting for other blogs, running adverts on their websites, or producing guest pieces for other websites.
6) Increase your teaching availability
This is a strategy to increase your income as an online English instructor. The option to choose your timetable is part of the flexibility of online English teaching. You will acquire a lot of reservations by opening teaching slots during peak times, which typically depend on requests from students or parents.
7) Try multiple companies
If your employer allows it, you might want to choose to work with more than one online tutoring business in different time zones to increase your income. You can change your schedule in this way to generate more money. As the students will be studying at different times, a group of students will be up and prepared to study when students in one time zone are asleep.
8) Freelancing
Become an independent instructor if you want complete control over your online classes. Teaching is not always a straightforward job but being an independent tutor allows you to choose your class rates and get 100% of your students’ money, however you must handle class preparation, marketing, and financial matters on your own.
9) Be open to criticism
Getting positive evaluations is one quick and simple way to increase your income as an online English teacher. Within a company’s online tutoring platform, students and/or their parents will have the chance to review their teacher. Alternatively, if you’re a freelance teacher, your pupils might post evaluations on your website or Facebook page or just tell their friends about you.
10) Try a new method of teaching with technology
There are many different ways to teach your students now – whether it’s through group work, presentations, or various kinds of homework assignments utilizing many free and paid resources such as YouTube, free worksheets from Twinkl ESL, and more.
About Sensay
Different students have varied learning styles and after Covid, most students are now used to remote and distance learning. Most students do have access to a device such as a tablet or mobile phone. Therefore, it’s important to keep your skills fresh and diverse as well by learning new education technology tools.
With so much technology now available, one innovative tool available for ESL tutors now is using AI assistance. Lucky for you, Sensay is an AI-based online platform that lets you create custom classes and speaking lessons for students. If you want to improve student engagement and allow students to practice listening and speaking often, give Sensay a try today.