How to Become an ACT Tutor?

Question

I like tutoring and I tutor English well. I would like to know what kind of training would I need to be an ACT tutor? I took the ACT test years ago, and forgot my score. I was wondering if I took it again and succeeded, would that help show them I am qualified?

Answer 1

Most ACT tutoring companies require that their tutors take an ACT self-test to qualify for hire (the company that I work for requires that you receive a composite score of at least 28, and they won't have you tutor any student that has a guarantee score that's higher than your composite). Take a self-test online before you apply so that you can give them an estimate of your score when you apply - you don't want to waste time applying if your score isn't great.



If you're already tutoring, having that on your resume will help. They'll also ask for references, so including a reference that you have tutored for will be important. Most ACT tutors have other experience teaching or tutoring (many in my company have their teacher's certificate - I have worked in school districts as a substitute before, and run my own private piano studio).



Most companies provide training and have a set series of curricula that you work through with students, so the actual tutoring part of ACT prep is pretty easy as long as you are good enough at each of the sections. The difficult part is working with students who aren't academically prepared for college who are killing themselves trying to get 20s and 21s on the ACT, and who won't listen when you recommend that they look into community college courses as a way to get acclimated to college level academics. The parents can also be a pain, since ACT performance is so highly associated with college acceptance, and they sometimes think that their ACT tutor is a guarantee that their student will get into the college of their choice. I've gotten calls from angry parents whose students exceeded my guaranteed score increase, just because their student didn't get into the Ivy league school they wanted.