If you’re looking for some extra help with your own studies, or if you are a parent wanting some assistance for your child, some tips for finding an online tutor will be most welcome. Like anything on the internet, there is inherent risk because you don’t know exactly who you are dealing with. With these tips for finding an online tutor you stand a good chance of finding someone decent. Some of them apply equally well to personal/face-to-face tutors too.
Teachers and professors are asked about personal tutors and online tutors by parents and other students at least once every semester, so there's a chance they will know a few good ones or at least will have a few tips for finding an online tutor. Just make sure it doesn’t appear as if you are judging their teaching ability when you ask. Mostly, you should claim it is because you think you need extra help to get higher grades.
If you Google “online tutors” then you are going to see tons of pages of tutors advertising their services. It is one way to go if you want a tutor, but it is hard to tell which are real tutors and which are companies trying to steal your card details. Still, they will give you a very good idea of how much a tutor is going to cost you, and will give you idea on the various types of online tutor programs there are for you.
You should be extremely cautious when paying for any service online. Please be careful about giving your financial details away, and use PayPal if you can.Even then, there are companies that can trick you into giving away your PayPal password. Paying in advance is also a bit of a danger sign. It is more common when you are trying to learn a language and they ask you for payment in advance only for you to find out that their learning videos are scraped from a batch they found on YouTube.
There are review sites for every service you can find online, from insurance companies to essay writing companies. Look for reviews of online tutors but remember, it is easy for companies to set up their own review sites so they can claim their own company is the best.
Ideally, a free trial is always the best way to go. You just have to be sure there is no obligation to buy if you sign up, plus if they take your card details before the trial, then it is a danger sign. The trick is to take your details and ask you to cancel your account before the end of the trial. They then hope you will forget so you are charged, or they keep you on hold for two hours before being able to get through to cancel your free trial/ account.
Referrals from people you know are the most valuable recommendation. They have no incentive to lie and they may lose your respect if they point you to a bad company. If you are lucky, then someone you know may have used an online tutor and may be able to send you their way.
There is a chance that the many people you have on your Facebook and Twitter account are going to know online tutors. It is even better if they know online tutors in your local area. They are at least going to be able to give you a few tips for finding an online tutor, and if you are lucky, they will enlighten you on some of the con tricks that the more nefarious companies use, such as offering a free trial but making it obligatory to buy afterwards.
You can’t interview an online tutor like you can a personal one and therein is the biggest issue. You therefore have to ensure you don’t fall foul of the many scammers out there. When you find a good one, they will usually be able to provide access to tutors in all subjects. Have you used online tutors? Was it a good experience? Do you have any recommendations for our readers?