The other side of being a tutor

Seems like quite a few folks here are interested to become a full time tutor. Having been in this line for close to 7 yrs, I think I'll have something worthy to contribute to them, so I shall.

I've written extensively about the prospects of being in this business in my past post, so I won't repeat the points already mentioned. Instead, in this post, I shall try to talk about the other aspects of being a self employed, specifically as a tutor.

Here's the bad parts:

1. You don't get paid if you're not working. The relationship between time and money cannot be clearer in this line. I know exactly how much my time is worth and how much a LV bag costs me in terms of hours.


2. You don't get employer's contribution to CPF and you are not forced to contribute to your CPF, though medisave liabilities is still a must by law. This is the biggest bugbear for most people, including me (initially).


3. You don't get paid annual leave, no MC, no bonuses, no company annual dinner and basically whatever represents corporate life. You earn your own bonuses by working harder, and pay your own dinner and take your own unpaid leave.


4. No recognition in terms of corporate ladder. When I go for social gatherings, and people asked me what I do for a living, I get a blank stare after telling them. They will then try to:

a. say something about the job being very good because there's no need to pay tax (rubbish)

b. say something about the job having no cpf (not rubbish)

c. say something about the stability and ask when you are going to get a stable job

People don't know what to tell you after you've told them about your job. Is that a problem for you?


5. Parents/relatives/spouses get nag at you for not finding a stable job, especially if you're a graduate. My parents still can't come to grips with me getting this unstable job, but I think my impenetrable stone face made them give up on asking already. The stress to conform to normality will force a number of you to give up.


6. You're not going to have much of a social life because when others are busy, you're the most free. When others are free, you're the most busy.


7. You begin with a zero income, work your way to a peak income toward the end of the year, then on 1st Jan, you restart again. Again and again. Being a tutor, you always have to work as hard for your pay to be the same as your previous year pay and harder still to increase it. In other words, you're retrenched every year and you have to bounce back in the minimum period of time again.



SO what's the trade-off?


The good thing about the job is that:

1. If you're self-driven and determined, don't mind being aloof and different, able to manage your time well, this is the perfect job for you. Not much politics in this line.


2. You plan your own time. If you don't want to work today and feel like taking a break, go ahead. You're your own boss.


3. You decide how much to earn. The calculation is quite simple:

If you charge $250 per month for one student,

You earn $5k by taking 20 students (3 students a day, inclusive sat/sun)
You earn $10k by taking 40 students (6 students a day)


4. You cannot be retrenched. If you take 30 students, you need to be fired 30 times to be truly fired. There is stability in being unstable all the time.




This line is seriously not for anybody. If you don't like it, don't have the discipline, don't have time management, cannot manage your cash flow, then go and be employed. If you are not interested in mingling with young people and be patient teaching them, you'll tear your hair in every lessons you take, nevermind the money.

But if you are truly interested in this, and is as independent as a cat, then look no further - you cannot find a better job more suited for this type of personality.