After three years, I'm too depressed and frustrated to continue - Current Tutor Tutor.com Employee Review

1.0
Jan 22, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Flexible hours -- everyone loves that. Some students are a real joy! Most students are at least respectful and civil. Tech support and general support usually respond quickly, although they aren't always allowed to respond helpfully :\

Cons

Terrible pay. After almost three years, I'm earning a whopping $10/hr. Given the level of expertise they require and the amount of effort they expect, it's disheartening to know that I could earn more at Starbuck's. A few students are abusive. There is no recourse against them. As many others have mentioned, bad mentors. I began with a good mentor and was then switched to a bad one. I now realize how rare that good mentor was -- my current mentor is much closer to typical. If anyone reading this thinks that other reviews mentioning bad mentors must be from people who deserved the bad feedback, I urge you to think again. My current mentor has leveled two outright fabrications against me, and on many other occasions has misunderstood simple things because she just wasn't paying attention. She also seems to have arithmetic problems; she once claimed that my average rating was an unacceptable 3.0 for a time period in which it was actually a respectable 4.5. Oh, and you're required to maintain a rating of 4.2 in order to remain employed. That means that the student who thought you were both helpful and nice, who left you a 4-star rating to show that you're better than average, actually harmed you in the eyes of Tutor.com. It also means that a spiteful student or even a prankster can leave a 1-star rating from which it may take weeks to recover. There is no way to remove bogus ratings. In their FAQ, Tutor.com says they "cannot" remove them. Think about that. It happens so often that it's in their FAQ. Tutors are prevented from communicating with other tutors. Maybe they're afraid we'll unionize or something. Most of the "helpful advice for tutors" is rather obviously designed to benefit Tutor.com, the company, rather than tutors or students. It seems amusing at first, but it quickly becomes rather insulting (do they think we're all fools?), and eventually it's just depressing.

Explore other reviews about Tutor.com

5.0
Nov 3, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Reliable tutoring job that's available online. Easy to use system for the tutor.

Cons

They have a long onboarding process and a lot of links to keep in mind.

1.0
Jan 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The students are usually nice. Work from home.

Cons

There is no appreciation of employees. They give badges instead of raises. Don't be fooled by the $22 per hour posts. They do not pay that much for most tutoring. Most work is under $20/hr. The job that pays $22/hr is horrible according to most tutors. There is twice as much unpaid work involved compared with regular tutoring. This is not a job that pays a living wage. If you think you can stick out a low wage for a few years and then get a better wage from them, think again. They never give raises. The piddly 50 cents in January is not a raise. It is simply based on the minimum wage going up. It's an insult. If you think you can gain experience and then move on to another job think again. They don't give recommendations either. I hate working for this company. They have repeatedly tried (unsuccessfully) to get me to work without pay for things like training and meetings when they only pay min. wage even when they do pay. If they had their way, they would send all jobs to India, but their contract with the DOD is holding them back. This company is owned by the Chinese. Don't expect fair wages. I have to work more than 40 hours a week to get paid for 25 of them. Work-from-home jobs do not pay well, so keep that in mind when you are thinking about the benefits of working at home.

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