Job Discussion Forums

[killian]

my school wants me to teach toefl and sat courses. generally, are the pay rates the same for these compared to run 'o the mill conversational english courses?

thank you.

[Sgt Killjoy]

It depends on two things, where are you and if you've been trained specifically on these courses.

If you've trained by a company that primarily only does these courses like Princeton Review or Kaplan, I'd charge double. Why? You are providing exceptional value for your students and they will increase their score.

If you have training in these areas and are going in blind, then I'd charge the same rate. Your institute may be charging more for the classes, but they are selling classes they can't reliably offer with teachers trained for these tests. You could ask for me, but then you'd be a party to the fleecing.

[SueH]

I take your point Sgt., but the problem with going in low is that it then becomes almost impossible to increase (with the same employer) after you have gained the requisite knowledge/experience. The same applies to private lessons: it's always easy to give a discount (for reliability, every tenth lesson free, for introducing another student or whatever) but not the other way.

Perhaps increase your rate, reduce your hours a bit and spend the time made available for getting up to speed and for prep. Later you could increase your hours. You could start the same and be able to write in an agreement for an increase in (say) 3 months, but it might be hard to negotiate.