Pros: Ease of payments and lesson scheduling
Cons: little opportunity for jobs
Position: Tutor (2013 - present)
Teach Me 2 is the best tutoring agency in Cape Town. I have never had a Teach Me 2 client cancel a lesson just before the lesson was due to start, or upon arrival (this is common with other companies). Their management is so good at communicating with clients, that you will not have to worry about how you are getting paid, or when your lessons are scheduled for. Their online system that manages all the advertising, lesson feedback, payment history, tutor ratings and history, and job opportunities is first class. In comparison to BrightSparkz, this system works better (with the exception of logging lessons online, BrightSparkz does everthing by e-mail). It is also automated with SMS notifications so that you can apply for jobs and communicate with your lesson manager via SMS. The system of feedback to clients is reasonable and easy. You will only have to submit one feedback form per month (and even then, if you do not have much to say and do not submit it, they do not hold back on your renumeration) but this is a good practice anyway to keep track of what has been done in the lessons.
The main area that Teach Me 2 can improve on is with providing tutor training. When I started out as a tutor, I had little experience with tutoring - only good academics. Tutoring is more than knowing how to do well in an exam. None of the other tutoring agencies do this, but it would really be a good addition to the services that Teach Me 2 currently offers. Secondly, I found it difficult to actually get a job for the first two years after signing up as a tutor (that is why I used BrightSparkz in the past), but seeing as I was competing against so many thousands of tutors who had already signed up, that is to be expected. The best tutor needs to get the job. After doing jobs with Teach Me 2, the clients rate you as a tutor. That experience (in hours) and rating which appears on your public profile is (in my opinion) key for getting more jobs. Thirdly, I gave 'job culture' a rating of 2/5 because I have never actually met anybody that works in the Teach Me 2 office (except for once bumping into one of them in while socializing). The interview process was done via recorded video messages on the internet. Lastly, I only actually read the Terms of Agency contract while typing this up - when I registered as a tutor I think I only needed to check a check box to say that I agree to the terms. I think the terms and policies are important to read, so the agency could make them more apparent when getting the tutors on board.
From the perspective of a customer, the tutor you will receive will be good quality because of the screening and interview process that potential tutors go through upon applying as a tutor. SMS notifications and timeous e-mails help to communicate what is happening.
