Have you thought about why the tuition industry is so popular and successful?
Why are there many quitting their full-time jobs to become full-time tutors? What is it about tutoring that makes it so special?
Well, then, this article is for you.
We spoke to two successful tutors who left their previous jobs to become full-time tutors, helping their students to achieve their fullest potential.
Read on as they shared with us about the fulfilling journeys that they went through and why being a tutor is a uniquely satisfying job!
Ms. Niki Wang
Ms Wang is a tutor who specialises in helping Primary 6 students do well for their PSLE Mathematics. Most of her students achieve a perfect score of 100 after her help.
However, being a tutor wasn’t a part of her plan initially. She went through the struggles of other jobs before finding her calling as a tutor.
Ms Wang previously worked as a telemarketer for a bank, selling loans that met with rejection after rejection. She found the environment stressful and had long working hours.
“It is a very soul-sucking job where you’re not helping society; you’re not doing anything useful,” says Ms Wang.
She also worked as a real estate agent but personally struggled to make deals as she found it hard to find prospects due to her limited social circle.
Ms Wang struggled with no income until her turning point came. She taught a friend Chinese for free and he told her that she had what it takes to be a teacher.
That motivated her to sign up on a tuition portal, where she received her first tuition assignment.
Her first student started off with 50 marks for his mid-year exam and she had only a few months to coach him, until his prelims.
“I had to really hold his hand and guide him because there wasn’t a lot of time left,” said Ms. Wang.
Eventually, both of their efforts paid off as her student achieved 70 marks for his prelims.
What’s more heartening for Ms. Wang was what the student told her.
“During the exam itself, he could hear my voice in his head, guiding him,” said Ms. Wang. “I felt very touched that he actually took my teaching to heart. I really felt like I helped him a lot.”
She finally felt that she was able to make a direct and positive impact on lives in her job and mould children for the future. Ms. Wang has been tutoring for 12 years now.
“There is a real human connection, real job satisfaction in what I do because I feel that I’m really helping them in some way to become better versions of themselves,” said Ms. Wang.
Ms. Jennifer Ng
Ms Ng also quit her job as a marketing executive because it required her to sometimes work overtime until 2am and she found it stressful.
She then turned to try out private tutoring but was not very confident initially.
“I felt I was not performing well enough when teaching them, but when they started texting me their results, I was like ‘Yes! Our hard work finally paid off!’” said Ms Ng. “Whenever parents thank me, I always feel a sense of achievement and am also thankful that I was able to help their kids.”
Although she was advised by her aunt, who was also an educator, to be strict and fierce with students, she felt that the education system was already as stressful as it is, so she did not want her students to hate tuition or their tutor.
She treats her students like friends to share her knowledge with. At times, they will even head out together after tuition to get food.
“One parent even told me amongst many tutors, I was her daughter’s favourite tutor and I felt so touched by that,” said Ms Ng.
Ms Ng has been teaching for about 10 years now and is still getting referrals from the parents of her students from years ago.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms Ng was worried about conducting most of her lessons online.
“I had my doubts initially, but when I saw that my students maintained their results or even got better grades, I felt really satisfied,” she said.
Ms Ng believes that she will remain in the tuition industry in the long run because she believes that there’s a lot more that she can learn to impart knowledge to her current and future students.
Conclusion
As we have seen from what the tutors have shared, being a tutor is a satisfying profession that can give you the power to help mould future generations. The fulfilling sense of accomplishment attracts tutors to stay on for many years.
We hope that these stories have inspired you in one way or another!
Want to become a tutor? Register as a tutor with us.
Ms. Wang and Ms. Ng are registered tutors at SmileTutor. Request a tutor with us today.
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