Social Skills for Tutors

“He was not prepared and could not give me the times he was available quickly.  Plus he called at 9:30 pm which is a little late in my opinion…”

This lady was actually talking about one of our experienced tutors… which made us think that it’s worth putting down a few bullet points for ways we’d like you to treat our mutual clients. Again, forgive us if this is obvious to you!

• You never get a second shot at making a first impression. So when you call the first time, be prepared: know the name of the client and the name of the student and what grade they are in. Have your calendar in front of you.
• Don’t call later than 9pm.  You may want to set the cutoff at 8, but our experience is that everyone is so busy with dinner and getting kids settled, a call after 8pm (but not too late) is often appreciated
• Do everything in your power not to cancel or reschedule the first session. It leaves a terrible impression about your reliability and seriousness and frequently leads to the client going away altogether.
• We don’t want our tutors to fake their credentials but also we don’t want you to damage your credibility at the very first session.  We’ve had tutors who walk in the door and say, “well I’ve never tutored AP chemistry before, but I’ll do my best….”  You don’t have to say that! (And if we do ask you to go outside your comfort zone with a curriculum you are not familiar with, prepare by looking up the basics of the course on the internet ahead of time.)
• Arrive on time. Punctuality is our #1 client complaint. If you are caught in traffic and will be more than 5 minutes late, call or text ahead and let the student know.  Which means, always add your clients’ contact info to your cell phone contact list.
• A short recap of the session when you leave is always a good idea.  Even if you are in a rush to get to your next client, try not to leave without checking in with the parent.
• Every few weeks, it’s a good idea to ask the parent at the start of a session if it is OK to stop a few minutes early to do a status check.  You’ll tell the parent what improvement you’ve noticed with your student and any concerns you have; and they, in turn, can report on any feedback they are getting from the school. This way you will avoid being surprised by a client suddenly canceling, when you thought things had been going well.  Note that by getting permission to stop early for this discussion, you set the expectation that this parent consultation time is part of the paid hour, not something you should be expected to do for free.
• Do not take food into a session.
• If you are a smoker, take a breath mint as you arrive at the client’s home.
• Minimize use of your mobile device during the session. Next to punctuality, this is the next most common complaint from parents. It may be tempting to check email while the student is working a problem, but resist. The parents or student will notice and not like it.

Finally, please be sure you are familiar with our code of conduct. As always, your comments are welcome!