A successful tutor will need the right expertise to work with your student, but it’s even more important that they are the right personality fit. Working one-on-one, even for only an hour at a time, requires intense personal attention. If your student doesn’t like the way someone explains things, or finds them “too easy,” or doesn’t get along with them in some way, then whatever knowledge there is to impart will be poorly received.

Tutoring is an investment of both time and money. With the exception of things like test prep or high school and college admissions tutoring, it can be a long time before you see consistent student improvement. Tutoring can boost confidence, build knowledge, and provide useful strategies for studying and test-taking, but it is not a substitute for the classroom.