As a part of their work tutors commonly have to deal with the problem of fraudulent client requests. According to our experience the most common type of fraud is the “Nigerian Fraud” technique. This type of fraud involves the student’s farther who is conveniently a rich business person living in Nigeria (or Australia, Canada, UK, etc.). His son is going to visit your town in a few weeks. The son is new to the U.S. so he needs help with English. The rich business person offers you a very generous hourly rate ($50-$150) and you’re looking forward to this opportunity. The Nigerian business person sends a Western Union wire transfer for $3,000; he emails you a copy. more…

How do you know if you are taking the right steps to becoming a productive and effective tutor? Your skills may be honed to the level of Ph.D, MA, or BA certification but just because you have the knowledge doesn’t always mean that you can communicate it to someone. Many of the smartest people aren’t necessarily the most effective tutors or teachers. There are many other skills that must be addressed outside of your professional field of study. Some of these include social and communication skills which are extremely important when maintaining effective tutoring practices. These skills are not easily acquired and can make or break progress in tutoring sessions. more…