Paper tutor is an online platform that allows students and home-based teachers to interact through virtual classrooms. The website has been in existence since 1998. It is one of the oldest online educational portal.
Paper tutors have grown to employ more than 3000 home-based workers. They have also worked with educational centers, the United States military, and other employee benefit programs.
The website has received various accolades for its lengthy stay in the market before technology improvement.
However, there have been complaints about the pay of paper tutors. One is required to work a minimum of 5 hours a week to be able to maintain their account activity. However, you’re likely to miss out on good offers if you access the website during off-peak hours.
High-peak hours are also a disadvantage since most of the tasks are assigned to equipped and experienced tutors. What do you do as paper tutors?
It’s pretty simple; the header says it all—a website where tutors offer their services to students.
The Signup Process of Paper Tutor
The signup process takes close to 3 weeks. The time is lengthy due to the strict rules and values that the company upholds.
- The process entails completing an application. They usually have open slots that they post through this link.
- After choosing your preferred position, fill in your name, email, and other relevant spaces marked with the red asterisk. You can also apply using your LinkedIn account. Make sure it is well polished and lists most of the skills you feel confident about.
- Expect exams for subjects and areas that you have applied for. They want transparency and also lure customers with quality tutoring. The exams are usually between 2-3 hours long. You are allowed to prepare and provide time that can be days if required.
- The process includes mock tutoring sessions. The website also does a background check to ensure they have the right candidate for the job.
All these steps still don’t guarantee a chance. You will be placed on a waiting list for the subjects you selected to have more than enough tutors.
Are there any special requirements for working at Paper Tutor?
Some of the requirements to work as paper tutors include the following:
- You must be residing either in the United States or Canada. You are allowed to work remotely from where you reside.
- Also, having social security and social insurance numbers is essential.
- Your degree should be from an accredited US or Canadian institution.
- You also need an educational background in sciences, mathematics, and English.
- Also, you should be available for 5hrs a week of tutoring. This excludes the wait time between sessions.
Other Requirements Include
- A good laptop with excellent internet speeds. A minimum of 4 GB RAM and 1.8 GHz processor for your PC.
- It would help if you also had Microsoft tools, including PowerPoint, word, and excel.
- You’re required to have a comfortable headset with a working microphone.
- The surrounding should be quiet with few to no distractions.
Starting work at Paper Tutor (Best hours to work & probationary period)
Tutoring is one of the flexible jobs you can choose to work within your schedule. However, you must be available between 4 pm and 8 pm to make a decent income from paper tutors. You can work more than 30 hours a week, but the minimum is 5 hours a week.
Once incorporated into the platform, you will start through a probationary period that later advances to tutor one to the highest tier. While on probation, you will face the challenge of acquiring students to tutor. Plus, the earnings are below average in the probationary period as well.
I think all these requirements will prevent a lot of people from successfully working on the platform, but it helps them keep the quality in check. If you want a platform with much less restrictions, try Cambly. It only offers English tutoring but has a very simple signup process.
How much can I earn working with Paper Tutors?
Pay at paper tutors varies depending on several factors. It can be as low as $1 per hour due to prep time, wait time, and exams, or it can go as high as $15 per hour, including bonuses.
At the start, you will have to count the exams and wait times, resulting in the pay of about $2-$3 per hour. However, this is not a temporary pay scale.
Completion of the probation period earns you about $5.50 per hour. This is for your downtime during tutoring sessions. This is a unique and good opportunity that the company pays for downtime. Most online-based tutoring services lack such an element.
They pay through direct bank deposits because they insist on Canadian and United States-based residents.
While Paper Tutor has it’s advantages like trust, flexibility of virtual classrooms and timely payments, some disadvantages prevent me from recommending it to anyone:
- Low pay, as reported by some tutors
- Frustrating first few months
- Pay is not suitable for people from the US/Canada. You can earn more working service jobs like waiting tables or flippin’ burgers. Don’t tell me teaching a subject is worth less than that.
