Tutor.com Employee Reviews about "no benefits"

Pros

Extremely flexible scheduling. In theory you need to work a minimum of 5 hrs/week, but they won't really bother you if you need to take several weeks or even a month off. The schedule for each week opens the week before - Tutor 2's and 3's get priority access, then Tutor 1's, then probationary tutors (new hires). Pay for the upper level math/science subjects is actually pretty good, and they are always hiring good tutors in calculus, physics, chemistry, and statistics. With a performance bonus it's quite possible to earn $15/hour in those areas. With good ratings, you'll be promoted quickly. Their unique mentoring system is well designed. Each tutor is assigned a mentor who reviews his work periodically, answers questions, and gives the tutor feedback. Tutor.com takes student ratings seriously. They determine performance bonuses, and your mentor will often contact you about sessions where you received a poor rating (particularly if you're new). Don't take the ratings personally; use them as a chance to improve. I've never encountered a rude or abusive student, out of well over a thousand tutoring sessions - but then again, I tutor the upper level math/physics topics, so the students I'm working with are probably more mature. It's really rewarding work, especially since you work with a lot of military students (tutor.com has free tutoring for the military). Students ask a wide variety of questions. This is definitely a great way to keep your math/science/problem solving skills sharp.

Cons

It's part time work with no benefits - but then again, this is an online tutoring business. You can't expect a 6 figure salary with a Cadillac health care plan. There is no way to talk to other tutors. It would be nice to have some sort of forum where we could do that. Writing on the whiteboard with a mouse or touchpad can be a pain, but you will get used to it.

Pros

Flexible as you schedule your own hours. Convenient as you can do it anywhere easy job

Cons

No benefits and sometimes you have to deal with some annoying snobbish kids. Bonuses are based on the students reviews, which is often unfair.

Pros

-It has flexible hours - work from home - all you need is an internet connection and a computer

Cons

- low pay, they do not make it easy to get promoted to tutor II or tutor III - raise is only $1 which is insulting, and they will make it hard for you to get that when you ask for it. - Management will find any flaws in your sessions even if you have almost 100% ratings from the students - No benefits of any kind

Pros

Best place I’ve worked for thus far. Flexible schedule

Cons

It is not a full-time position. And no benefits.

Pros

While I have more cons than pros, there ARE a few perks which prevents my rating from having only 1 star. One is the flexibility of your work schedule. While other reviewers are correct about the lack of available hours on the schedule much of the time, you can still log on and "float" at any time you want. This means that you can set yourself to "available" and tutor extra students not covered by the tutors on the schedule. The big difference is that a floating tutor is not paid for waiting, so while you may have a set hourly wage, that wage is only for an hour of *in-session* time. You have a separate and smaller wage for waiting time (if on the schedule) and you are not paid at all to wait if floating. You can also remove hours from the schedule if they end up not working (which is so different from other jobs), but the higher ups hate this and send you emails letting you know that they're keeping track of tutors who remove hours within less than 24 hours notice, removing some of the flexibility. (See, I can't even write the pros without the cons sneaking in there) Another pro is the ability to take a break whenever you need one (if not scheduled on that hour). If you had a bad session and need a break from it, you can take that break. You can even do this while scheduled, but you HAVE to be there for at least 70% of your total scheduled hours or it will factor negatively into your assessment given by your mentor (who will be discussed later in the con section). It's better to reserve the freebie 30% for emergencies/inconveniences (car breaks down, alarm doesn't go off in the morning, get a monster case of the trots while scheduled). Another nice perk is being able to surf the web/listen to music while you work (if you have a student slow to respond).

Cons

Here we go... Let's start with the reason I'm able to write this extensive review while 'available' as a floating tutor. The major holidays are your worst enemy when trying to make some extra cash. It's totally dead right now and I wasn't able to get ANY scheduled hours. I know that people who work in retail totally hate how tough working during this time of year is, but it's better to make that extra cash than to make none at all. There are definitely dry spells and you feel like you're wasting your time at the computer (and you kind of are). The summer months and Christmas break are the harder times to make money. Let's move onto the students. At least 60-70% are civil or pleasant and willing to work with you as you attempt to conduct the session under tutor.com's many rules for conducting sessions. The remainder however are a pain in your rear, and it's your challenge to remain calm and collected as they tell you to hurry up, cuss at you, type in caps at you (yell at you),refuse to do any work, etc. If it gets really bad, you have a block button, but you're discouraged from using it in their rule book (which is really long, by the way). This is where I move onto the mentor. Your mentor is really your boss as has been mentioned in other reviews, and every month or so you get an assessment from them basically detailing anything you did wrong (it's so hard reading them). 9.5 times out of 10, bad sessions with students such as I have described earlier are your fault. It's their job to make it your fault. If you try and defend your action(s) and supply logical reasons for the way you conducted the session, it's usually met with no response or more arguing. Only once was I able to correct the mentor -- but I had concrete proof of the error. Interestingly enough, the senior mentors (your mentor's boss) are more discerning and can more easily tell when a bad session was unavoidable -- they won't always lay the blame on the tutor. It showed me that the mentors are learning themselves from higher ups and are subject to their own assessments. However, whenever you try to follow the guidelines as closely as you can, you'll find that some students get more angry and leave you bad ratings (which affect bonuses and even job security). If you try to bend the guidelines a little bit (usually construed as 'giving answers') and adjust so that as many students leave happy as possible (high ratings), management reams you for it, you have more arguments, and you don't get promoted. It's a vicious cycle. It's not really worth the extra stress and bad ratings to make each and every session totally perfect just for a promotion, because you won't make that much more. Another con is the loneliness and sedentary lifestyle factors. It's tough to get as many hours as possible (I think 30 is the max you're allowed) and you do so much sitting. You don't get to talk to other tutors and don't have coworkers. Being in front of the computer so much means that you're not out there networking and meeting people, which is sort of keeping you trapped with tutor.com (if you're in dire need of the job/money). It's not a job you can live off of because it's part time and there are no benefits. All in all, I'm thankful that this job is here, but I find myself looking for greener pastures in the future.

Pros

Scheduling is very flexible- If you can't schedule full hour blocks, there is the opportunity to float to pick up some extra sessions when it is convenient for you. You can also work from anywhere as long as there is a strong internet connection. Mentoring System- The mentoring system allows for tutors to share tips and techniques to create the best experience for the students. Mentors are always available to answer any tutor questions as they arise. Ability to help a wide variety of students- There are many subjects offered. The more subjects you are able to tutor, the more tutoring and floating opportunities there are. Students of all grade levels connect for help with homework questions, so each session is different.

Cons

Benefits are not offered at this time

Pros

Wonderful team, flexible, supportive, fantastic benefits, tons of opportunities for professional development

Cons

Workload will often have you burning the midnight oil (without overtime) but the benefits way outweigh the occasional late nights!

Pros

This is a continuation of my previous review. The truth about Tutor.com's labor policies and practices needs to be fully exposed to the light of day.

Cons

Anyone interested in working for Tutor.com should be keenly aware of tactics and policies used by its management to completely disempower employees and deny basic employment rights. Firstly, tutors are kept completely isolated from each other in a deliberate effort to prevent any attempt at organization or unionization. Any effort to contact fellow tutors for this purpose would in all likelihood be met with immediate termination. This is why an effort should be made to involve the National Labor Relations Board as an advocate for the plight of the tutors and stop the abusive employment practices of Tutor.com. While Tutor.com advertises to the world that its tutors typically hold advanced degrees in their respective subject areas, what is kept a closely guarded secret is that tutors start as 'probationary tutors' at $9/hr. Even after working for a couple years the top rate is under $16/hr and this holds typically for just areas like physics, chemistry, and calculus. So of the $40+/hr they typically charge clients for tutoring, the company keeps the lion's share of the revenue. Tutor.com will not allow any tutor to work more than 30 hours/week (in fact they lock you out of their system once you reach 27 hours in a given week) all in the effort to make sure every tutor is perpetually kept as a part-time employee so that no benefits or any kind would ever have to be provided to tutors. Every tutor is hired as a 'private contractor' meaning that the entire tax obligation is on the shoulders of the tutors. So if you have the endurance and lack of self-respect to put up with all the chicanery of Tutor.com, your effective maximum wage is more like $14/hour. And if you have any legal dispute with Tutor.com, the agreement you sign upon becoming a tutor mandates that all legal issues be conducted in NY. So good luck if you live anywhere else than NY and have legal troubles with this company.

Pros

Great for those who are looking for flexible side positions. Pays every two weeks in some states. Starts at 10 an hour. Perfect for a young college student who may not have much flexibility with transportation in between classes.

Cons

Not great for someone looking for a full time position. Caps you at 28 hours to avoid full time pay and benefits.

Pros

You get to work from home, have a flexible schedule, and there are ways to move up the ladder to have more involvement as a tutor.

Cons

You only get paid once a month and there are no health benefits for tutors.