TutorMe Review Summary

TutorMe is a US-based online tutoring company hiring university students/graduates to teach 300+ subjects. They are well reviewed, pay $16 an hour with weekly payments, and the application is simple with no interview or demo, though they only accept 4% of applicants, and lessons are often ‘first come, first served’.

TutorMe Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Simple application, with no interview or teaching demo
• Weekly payments
• Easy-to-use platform
• Many positive reviews from existing teachers

Cons:

• Flat rate of $16 an hour, regardless of expertise, with no opportunity for a raise
• Only a 4% acceptance rate for tutor applicants
• Can take a month for applications to be reviewed
• Competition to claim matched students on a ‘first come, first served’ basis

What Is TutorMe and Is TutorMe Legit?

TutorMe (not to be confused with TutorMe Education) is a legitimate EdTech company, founded in 2015, and based in Los Angeles, California. They hire more than 15,000 tutors to provide online tutoring to over 1.5 million students worldwide, and partner with thousands of school districts and higher education institutions in the USA. They have a Trustpilot score of 4.7 out of 5, are certified as a ‘Great Place to Work‘, and were named as one of Built In’s 2022 ‘Best Places to Work’.

How TutorMe Works

There are over 300 TutorMe subjects that can be taught (with you prioritizing three of them). They are too numerous to list here, but can be broadly cataloged into fields of:

• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Foreign Languages
• History
• Humanities
• Mathematics
• Professional
• Science
• Social Sciences
• Test Prep

Students can either request TutorMe tutoring directly with a teacher by messaging their profile, or they can submit their requirements to be matched with suitable candidates. Qualified tutors are then notified, until the booking is claimed by one.

This video presents a visual overview of the TutorMe platform and online classroom:

How Much Does TutorMe Pay?

The TutorMe salary is determined by the number of minutes spent tutoring, based on a flat rate of US$16 per hour, which is the same for all TutorMe tutors. The minimum lesson length is 5 minutes, so if you connect with a student for less than this you will not be paid for that time.

How Does TutorMe Pay?

The TutorMe payment method is via PayPal, which is issued every Thursday for the preceding week up to Sunday (though Federal holidays may delay this by a day or two).

TutorMe Hours

TutorMe operates 24/7, and there is no standard amount of time for a lesson, though the minimum length to claim payment is 5 minutes and some subjects have a time limit of 45 minutes. Otherwise, you decide your availability.

TutorMe Job Requirements

The general TutorMe requirements to become an ‘Online Tutor (Various Subjects)’ are as follows:

• Be at least 18 years of age
• Have previous tutoring or teaching experience
• Mastery of subjects tutored
• Be enrolled in or have graduated from an accredited university
• 3.5+ GPA
• A high-performing computer with microphone and camera capabilities
• Strong internet access
• Desire to help others learn

There may be additional requirements should you apply for one of the more specialized positions listed on the TutorMe careers page (e.g. ‘Writing’, ‘Nursing’, etc.).

How to Become a Tutor on TutorMe

To apply for TutorMe jobs, visit the TutorMe sign up page and click on the ‘Apply Now’ button. You will be given the option to complete your TutorMe tutor registration with your Facebook or Google account or your email address.

Once your TutorMe account is created, you’ll be presented with what looks like a student portal. Just click on the profile icon in the top-right hand corner of the screen and select ‘Become a Tutor’:

You will be taken back to the original sign up page, but this time if you click on the ‘Apply Now’ button you will be presented with an application form to complete with the following details which will form the basis of your TutorMe tutor profile:

• Account:
  • Profile picture
  • First name
  • Last name
  • Email address
  • Where are you in life? Career/University/K-12 (optional)
  • Mobile phone number (optional)
• Tutor Profile (here are other TutorMe profiles for reference):
  • Headline
  • Gender
  • About (Write a short bio)
  • Teaching experience
  • Work experience:
    • Title
    • Company
    • Start date
    • End date
    • Description (optional)
  • Education:
    • College
    • Major
    • Degree
    • Enrolled date
    • Graduated (or expected) date
• Subjects:
  • Which subjects have you mastered?
  • What are your top three subjects? (You will receive priority for these subjects)
• Questions (for each of your top three subjects):
  • ‘Create a well-thought-out question that pertains to the subject listed above. The question can be as typical or as unique as you like.’
  • ‘Type out a well-written, original answer to the question you created above. These answers will be displayed on your tutor profile.’

The TutorMe selection process can take up to a month.

Unfortunately, candidates only have a 4% chance of being accepted, and cannot reapply should they have their TutorMe application rejected.

TutorMe Job Reviews

The TutorMe Glassdoor page gives the company a notably high rating of 4.5 out of 5, with 90% willing to recommend them to a friend. One should be wary about taking these scores entirely at face value, however, as one employee revealed that the company was incentivizing and monitoring 3rd-party TutorMe reviews (though they clearly have an axe to grind):

With that in mind, having read through a large number of these TutorMe tutor reviews and putting their numerical ratings to one side, you can still extract a balanced mixture of positive and negative comments about working for TutorMe that can be summarized as follows:

• Positives:
  • simple and easy-to-use platform with good tools and functionality
  • polite students
  • schedule flexibility
  • helpful support team
  • remote work
  • prompt payouts
• Negatives:
  • lack of bonuses/incentives
  • limited bookings at certain times of day – not enough requests for a full-time job
  • difficult to claim lessons due to competition
  • requires a strong internet connection
  • papers to grade
  • selective recruitment
  • time limit for some subjects

The subject of pay attracted mixed views.

A couple of tutors have reported on Reddit that they had their TutorMe accounts suspended without warning, with their services deemed ‘no longer needed’:

There was a similar claim in one of the Glassdoor reviews, though the company issued a response saying: ‘We will remove tutors who do not meet those exacting standards of quality. We pay tutors for any work they have completed within policies laid out in the tutor agreement.’

Conclusion – Is TutorMe Worth It?

Though you only have a 4% chance of being accepted, if the pay is enough for your circumstances, then it may still be worth chancing an application to TutorMe as their form is relatively short, there is no interview or demo to do, and you have a choice of over 300 subjects to teach. They are not, however, a good fit for those requiring quick or consistent work, due to the amount of time it takes them to review candidates and the frantic scramble to claim lessons ahead of rival tutors.

You can apply to TutorMe here.

A full list of other online teaching companies can be found here.