Pros
The hours are flexible and you can theoretically work whenever you want - it is open 24 hours a day. You work from home, so all you need is a PC (Macs don't work on their systems). The corporate staff is extremely supportive and encouraging. There are lots of options for awards, and they take the opportunity in nearly every newsletter to tell you how valuable you are and what your work is doing to help improve the lives of students. You don't have to have any certain degree to do it. You can even be a college student. You do have to pass a subject competency test, but I found those pretty easy. The majority of the students I worked with were terrific. They knew they needed help and were so grateful to get it. If you do well and have a good mentor, you can move up the pay scale and have other opportunities pretty quickly.
Cons
Because the work is based on student demand, the hours tend to be very seasonal. It is very difficult to find even a few hours a week during winter breaks and summer. Also, the experience you have with a mentor or supervisor completely depends on that person. Some people will have great experiences because their mentors are great, but others will have terrible ones because their mentors are just checking the block and not helping the tutor understand what is required. The hours are seasonal, and it is nearly impossible to ever come close to 20 hours a week. Five hours is about the max you can schedule in a week, and the rest of the time you are sitting around waiting for students. There are strict requirements for the process and how to tutor. You have to be willing to conform to how they teach, and there are often time limits that seem nearly impossible to keep to. The pay is low.
