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Becoming a private English tutor

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  1. #1

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    Becoming a private English tutor

    I'm thinking about tutoring English privately as a side job to earn some extra income, but I don't have any experiences in tutoring. Does anyone have any resources or advice on how I can become a tutor?

    Also, as I hope to only tutor 1 or 2 students for a few hours a week, I'm thinking of tutoring only within my estate to eliminate travel time. What are the best ways in marketing my services within the estate? I assume they won't let me put up posters or anything like that.

    And what are the going rates for a private English tutor? Does the hourly rate scale depending on the level of the student?


  2. #2

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    are you legally allowed to take on an extra job? if you are on a work visa, you need special permission from immig to allow you to take on part-time work.

    if you are a permanent resident or a dependent, then you are allowed to work any job you like and you will not have a problem.

    i mention this because in my time as a private tutor, some of my students' parents were: immig officers, customs & excise high-ups, police officers etc.

    the best way to find students is word of mouth. you can also put up an ad in the closest supermarket.

    for me, i never charged according to child's "level". you will soon find that some P1 kids have English far superior to kids in P6 etc. i always charged per hour. the ONLY tutors i've ever heard of who charge according to age of the student/level in school are those tutors who actually only help local kids do their homework.

    going rates depend on:
    -your qualifications
    -your experience
    -your ability
    -your location

    anywhere from $300-600/hour.

    kit0828 likes this.

  3. #3

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    There is also the question of how the work is registered for tax purposes in the event that it is either permitted by ImmD or doesn't require such permission.

    I'm not clear on the legal aspects of all this, but it is my understanding that even a local with no restrictions on the right to work, would still have to work as or through a tax-registered entity; i.e. work either through an employer or register his or her own business (such as a sole proprietorship), or get a hawker's licence (not applicable to tutoring, though).

    If I am mistaken on this point, then I hope someone can help to clarify.


  4. #4

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    I thought with a work visa you were allowed a second job so long as you didn't exceed a certain income?


  5. #5

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    no, no, no, no...
    you MUST have permission from hk immigration to take up ANY other paid work.


  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jeskola:
    I thought with a work visa you were allowed a second job so long as you didn't exceed a certain income?
    Carang is correct. A person under an employment visa is subject to its condition of stay, i.e. he/she can only take such as approved by the Director of Immigration.

  7. #7

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    All this being said, though, I suspect that there are a fair few native English speakers providing private tutoring services in Hong Kong without following any of the required legal procedures.

    You do this at your own risk, however, and can't (hereafter) claim you weren't aware of the regulations.


  8. #8

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    many of the tutors i know have:
    1) been here for 7+ years and are PR
    2) have set up a company and have investment visas
    3) are married to locals
    or
    4) have dependent visas

    of course there are some who probably flout the law and the restrictions... to me, it is not worth the risk getting caught. as i said, i had quite a few clients who would most likely have had to "turn me in" if i'd not had the proper legal right to work here in such a capacity.


  9. #9

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    Thanks for the advice everyone. I was born in Hong Kong and I have an HKID so I should be able to tutor without any issues.

    I was browsing some local forums and some tutors were working for as low as $60/hour which surprised me. I don't have any teaching qualifications or experience, but I grew up in Canada and have unrelated Bachelor and Master degrees from Canada and the US. I'm hoping that the combination of being able to speak native Cantonese and English will warrant a decent salary.

    And thanks carang for the suggestion of putting up posters in the local supermarket. I think I will go ahead and do that!


  10. #10

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    local tutors and good native English tutors cannot be compared cost-wise.

    i quit tutoring almost 3 years ago. at that time, i charged minimum $400/hour for 1-1 lessons.


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