Job Discussion Forums

[Evil Giraffe]

Has anyone here ever taught for (or took classes from) www.tutorabc.com?

I am thinking about earning a little extra money and would like to hear your experiences before I go out any buy a webcam.

Thanks.

[xtollerant]

[quote="Evil Giraffe"]Has anyone here ever taught for (or took classes from) www.tutorabc.com?

I am thinking about earning a little extra money and would like to hear your experiences before I go out any buy a webcam.

Thanks.[/quote]

[b]Thinking TutorABC,- Think Twice![/b]

If you�ve been thinking about the prospect of working online as tutor then just be aware of some pitfalls. I agree that there is a good opportunity in online teaching but here are some poignant facts from an ex TutorABC consultant for you to consider before jumping in.

I worked for TutorABC for recently, I completed scores of sessions with them and so I know their system and their methods very well.

Things you should know,- firstly, the widely promoted rate of pay indicated as being an average of $630 per month for 45 hours ($14 per hour) is totally false. I believe that it�s deliberately misleading. The most I ever averaged with them was just over $10.50 per hour,- and that was by working very hard and by being able to attain some session bonus payments. At first I thought that I could get the average up to $12 or $13 per hour, but after some very consistent performance I realized that it was completely impossible for even the very best of consultants to crack the $1.50 average session bonus on a regular basis. Their base rate is set at $10 per hour if you�re a white Caucasian �English as first language� instructor, but otherwise you�ll be on a lower rate. Many of their consultants are Filipino that are on $5 to $6 per hour because TABC know that they can get away with paying that to them. I know that some Filipino instructors speak excellent and very fluent American English, and many of them are really excellent instructors,- but the fact is that generally they don�t command as high fees as native American or English speakers and unfortunately this is a fact that�s rorted by TutorABC.
TutorABC have a bonus system that pays up to $1 per student per session provided that the student leaves a bonus score of �10� (on a scale of 1 to 10) 75cents for a �9�and 50cents for an �8�. They say that with an average of 3 to 4 students per session you can earn $3 to $4 bonus,- but in reality what happens is that 30% to 40% of students fail to leave any score at all, and then others will leave a �5� or a �6� which brings your overall session average back down to a �7� for which there is zero bonus paid for that session. Even worse though is when the average score gets rounded down to a �6� for which there is a deduction of $1.50 made to the session,- and that�s for each student in the session, so if you just worked your ass off teaching 4 students then you�ll get handsomely rewarded with a $6 debit against the session resulting in a $4 earn. That�s how they keep the payment average per session down to a minimum and the poor old consultant ends up chasing its tail trying to stay above an average of $10.50 per session for the month.
Their system of lesson delivery is quite streamlined with the use of PPT presentations for the consultant to walk the students through. Some of those lesson plans are quite good but most of them really suck and lack any pedagogical structure or uniformity and there are numerous spelling and atrocious grammatical errors as it appears that most of the material is put together by Taiwanese graduates of English. The sessions that have more than three students per session are a joke and that practice should be stopped because it means that one or more of the students feels left out or can�t keep up and that just reduces the overall session experience for all and results in frustration for the teacher and low scoring bonus points from the students. I did many sessions in which there were 4, 5 and 6 students per session and they were a complete farce. Those sessions are mostly fraught with problems and end up in either zero bonus or a deduction to the consultants base rate,- it totally sucks! And added to the frustration is the fact that with several students in a session the sound quality reduces to the point where you can hardly hear the students for sound drop out and interference and video failure,- when that happens you can virtually guarantee a low score!

Their online I.T. support is a joke and it seems that whenever there�s a problem then I.T. can�t fix it or they mysteriously disappear of screen and then later blame the consultant�s bandwidth or make some other lame excuse but they'll never take any of the blame themselves or admit error.

If that�s not enough, when it comes to payment time you may end up chasing them for a week to get paid whilst they make excuses about some Paypal glitch with your account (which is always YOUR fault) and then they�ll remove 20% tax which they insist is required by law under ROC taxation rules. This in fact is a complete sham as they are paying service providers located overseas in a foreign currency ($USD) and the consultant is not a resident of Taiwan (and never will be). Everyone knows that whatever income you place into a banking account of the country of your own residence is subject to taxation from that country. I suspect some kind of rort in which they�re pocketing an extra 20% margin from casual consultants that generally will come and go every month or two via the revolving door that appears to operate at TutorABC,- this explains their constant efforts to recruit new unsuspecting recruits into their fold.

So, if you�re happy to work your ass off online for around $10.50 per hour (if you�re lucky) less 20% ripp-off tax (now you�re down to $8.40 per hour which you�ll be taxed against in your own country) then go ahead and be my guest. But my suggestion to you is that you can spend your time far more productively elsewhere and also keep your sanity and blood pressure levels in check!
SOL

[josephinesterling]

I really have to say that I disagree wtih xtollerant here.

I have worked for TutorABC for about three years now and while the company is not perfect, I have been relatively happy with my experience. Working for TutorABC can definitely be frustrating, but every job has its perks and pitfalls. I enjoy the fact that I never have to spend any time prepping my lessons; I just log-in, teach the class, and move on with my day a couple dollars richer. IT support and connection issues can become a problem every now and then, but things have been steadily improving over the last year, and I have hopes that the upward trend will continue. If you like the idea of working from home on a flexible schedule, I definitely recommend giving TutorABC a chance.

I have started an online forum at http://alliancetutorabc.ning.com/.

I'd like it to be a place for current TutorABC employees to share their experiences, ask for and give advice, and offer constructive feedback for the company as well as a space where prospective employees can ask questions from those of us who are currently working for the company.

So come check it out at http://alliancetutorabc.ning.com/