Secure your first long-term student on preply
Welcome to Tutor Job's Guide for Approved Preply Tutors. We've prepared a detailed step-by-step guide to help you get started on Preply and secure your first long-term students within the first days after being approved.
Application Checklist
To ensure that you submit a successful application, we recommend that you fill it out on your computer rather than your phone.
Preply is currently hiring native English speakers from the UK or the USA. If you're from 1 of these countries but living abroad, you're still eligible. A TEFL teaching certificate (or similar) is required which you can obtain for free through Tutor Job here.
Preply is currently hiring native English speakers from the UK or the USA. If you're from 1 of these countries but living abroad, you're still eligible. A TEFL teaching certificate (or similar) is required which you can obtain for free through Tutor Job here.
- Click this link to start your teaching application.
- When creating your account on Preply use the same email address as on Tutor Job (or let us know at [email protected] if you used a different email).
- Fill in your details in the 'About' section and choose English as a subject taught.
Upload a profile photo. Click here to read the detailed PHOTO guidelines.
In order to guarantee that your photo is good, make sure that:
Common mistakes: selfie, bad quality photo; not professional.
In order to guarantee that your photo is good, make sure that:
- Your head, face and eyes are fully visible (except for religious reasons).
- Your photo is centered and upright
- Your photo is in color, with high resolution, and without filters.
- Your photo has neutral lighting and a tidy background.
- Please, smile and look into the camera.
- Photos containing logos or contact information
- Photos that show animals or people other than the tutor (for legal reasons)
- Photos with borders or frames
- Blurry photos
- Heavily-edited photos
- Photos in black&white
Common mistakes: selfie, bad quality photo; not professional.
Here, you need to fill in the details of your teaching certification and upload your certificate. If you don't have a teaching certificate, but have a degree in English or in Teaching (associate's, bachelor's or master's degrees are all fine), you can check the box at the top, which says "I don't have any teaching certificate yet". In this case, you will need to enter your higher education degree details in the next step. It is important to note that if you neither have a teaching certificate nor a degree in English or Teaching, Preply will not approve your application unless you first get a teaching certificate. In that case, you should first get your free teaching certificate sponsored by Tutor Job before submitting your Preply application. You can get your free teaching certificate by applying here. This is only required if you do not already have a teaching certificate or degree in English or Teaching.
If you have a higher education in Teaching or in English, add it to this point. Associate's, Bachelor's and Master's are all accepted. If you did NOT upload a teaching certificate in the previous step, a higher education teaching degree or a degree in English or in Teaching is required to apply to Preply. If you have a teaching certificate, a degree is not required and you can check the "I don't have a higher education degree" box at the top or fill in details of any other degree you may have that may not be related to English or Teaching.
As you fill out your profile description, use standard capitalization and punctuation (not ALL CAPS), beware of correct grammar usage (grammerly) and write your description in English only.
Preply has a new feature called "Writing Help". This is an AI feature that helps you out by creating an auto generated message based on your information in just a few seconds!
1. Introduce Yourself
Does not need to be too long, 3-4 sentences are enough:
DON'Ts
"Hello and nice to meet you!
I am Emily from New York, United States. I have graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from New York University. I absolutely love tutoring English online, as I really enjoy meeting people from different cultures around the world. I love to travel and read. I also enjoy going to the gym and working out 2-3 times every week."
View more examples here.
2. Teaching Experience
"Armed with a TEFL teaching certificate, I offer a dynamic approach to online English tutoring. My teaching style emphasizes building a strong foundation in grammar and vocabulary, creating a supportive and interactive learning environment that helps students gain confidence in their language skills."
View more examples here.
3. Motivate potential students
"Let's enjoy learning English together! With my experience, we'll have a great time building your language skills. Join me for your first lesson to boost your grammar and vocabulary."
View more examples here.
4. Write a catchy headline
Examples:
Preply has a new feature called "Writing Help". This is an AI feature that helps you out by creating an auto generated message based on your information in just a few seconds!
1. Introduce Yourself
Does not need to be too long, 3-4 sentences are enough:
- Greet the reader (potential students) and introduce yourself in 1 sentences
- Write 1 sentence about why you want to tutor English online
- What is your education and teaching background?
- What are your hobbies and interests?
DON'Ts
- DON'T include private contact information or any links to your personal websites or usernames to your social media
- DON'T mention your last name. For confidentiality reasons, we ask tutors to use their first names or a nickname only.
- DON'T write in the third person (e. g. "Jennifer is an experienced tutor"). Write about yourself in the first person – this is your chance to address potential students directly.
"Hello and nice to meet you!
I am Emily from New York, United States. I have graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from New York University. I absolutely love tutoring English online, as I really enjoy meeting people from different cultures around the world. I love to travel and read. I also enjoy going to the gym and working out 2-3 times every week."
View more examples here.
2. Teaching Experience
- Describe in detail your teaching experience and what methods will you use with your students
- Mention what the main focus of your lessons could be (improving grammar, business conversation, day-to-day communication, correcting pronunciation, discussing different topics in English etc.)
- Mention if you can teach kids as well as adults, or only adult
"Armed with a TEFL teaching certificate, I offer a dynamic approach to online English tutoring. My teaching style emphasizes building a strong foundation in grammar and vocabulary, creating a supportive and interactive learning environment that helps students gain confidence in their language skills."
View more examples here.
3. Motivate potential students
- Mention why students should choose you to be their tutor here
- Add a "Call-To-Action" inviting students to book a lesson with you, or to message with any questions
"Let's enjoy learning English together! With my experience, we'll have a great time building your language skills. Join me for your first lesson to boost your grammar and vocabulary."
View more examples here.
4. Write a catchy headline
Examples:
- Build your future: I will make you fluent in English with personalized lessons
- Native English speaker from New York University
- High-Level Business English/Standard American English Accent
Disclaimer: Make sure you read the following points carefully, as your video is the most important part of your profile and recording an inadequate video is the number 1 reason for applications to get rejected.
Remember potential students will watch your video to get an idea of what it is like to chat with you, so make it friendly and give them a taste of your personality. (The video is not a job interview!)
Click here to read the detailed VIDEO Guidelines.
DOs
DON'Ts
Content:
GREETING
You can view some examples of videos recently submitted by approved tutors here.
Remember potential students will watch your video to get an idea of what it is like to chat with you, so make it friendly and give them a taste of your personality. (The video is not a job interview!)
Click here to read the detailed VIDEO Guidelines.
DOs
- You have to appear in the video - slideshows or presentations will NOT be accepted
- Record in horizontal mode and at eye level
- While the strict limit for your video is between 30 seconds to 2 minutes long, we strongly suggest keeping your video length between 60 to 90 seconds.
- Introduce yourself to students only in English
- Use a neutral, tidy background and make sure you have good lighting.
- Focus on clear (slow) speech, remember you are talking to students who are learning English as a foreign language.
- Smile and be friendly. This will make your potential students feel welcomed! Your classes are fun and upbeat? Make sure your video shows that
DON'Ts
- DON'T read off of a script! Preply has criticized several times that videos sounded too scripted. Instead, try to talk freely, naturally.
- DON'T record a shaky video! Make sure you set your device up on a steady surface.
- DON'T record your video in a noisy space so make sure there is no background noise or music.
- NO background noise
- DON'T include your personal information - it is prohibited to advertise your personal websites, social media accounts, or contact information.
- DON'T mention your last name in order to protect your privacy.
- DON'T include logos of other companies or photos of other people when editing your video
Content:
GREETING
- Give a warm and simple welcome.
- : What is your name (Don't use your Last name and don't share any personal information)? Where are you from? You do not need to speak other languages but if you do, mention it here.
- example - "Hi there! Welcome to Cambly! I am Tutor…"
- Here you can share a bit about yourself: Include information to make yourself more relatable to potential students. Talk a little more about what you enjoy specifically and how you like to have fun or relax.
- What do you do in your free time? Are you a family person? Do you cook? Do you have pets? Are you passionate about any hobbies?
- Talk about relevant life and work experiences in this section! Have you ever taken care of someone of any age, participated in any community events, did you teach someone a neat little skill, or maybe you learned a new skill yourself?
- you need a strong call to action at the end. Some sort of enticing invitation that invites potential students to book with you right away!
- example - "I can't wait to meet you and help build on your English learning journey together! See you soon, bye!"
You can view some examples of videos recently submitted by approved tutors here.
We recommend initially setting as much availability as possible so that you can secure your first lessons and reviews as soon as possible. You can later change your availability anytime with a few simple clicks.
Begin with a higher hourly rate, preferably between $20-$22, after being approved on Preply. If you don't receive student inquiries within the first few days, consider lowering your price to $10-$15 per hour to attract your initial students. One compelling reason for students to choose you, even at a higher rate, is your certification as a tutor from the US or the UK. This, coupled with your competitive pricing, enhances your profile's appeal. Once you secure your first regular student, adjust your rate to $15 and incrementally increase it by $1-$2 for every 2 or 3 new regular students, gradually reaching $22 per hour or even higher. This strategic approach has proven successful for tutors aiming to charge $30 per hour within a few months of tutoring multiple regular students.
Become an online tutor today and start working on your own terms.