College students don’t have to choose between earning a degree and gaining job experience. There are many on-campus employment opportunities that allow students to earn money and build valuable skills that employers seek.
Peer tutoring provides high-achieving students additional skills and experiences that enhance their resumes and better prepare them for future employment.
Why Work as a Peer Tutor?
The choice to work as a peer tutor is accompanied by numerous immediate benefits:
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College peer tutoring allows students to remain on the college campus instead of commuting to and from an off-campus job.
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Students working as peer tutors have the added benefit of collaborating with staff. These staff members often become like family-away-from-home for the students since the student now has established professionals who care about them and their success.
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Peer tutors are more likely to persist in their academic studies. By working in close proximity to faculty/staff, classrooms, and the library, these students are more likely to feel part of the campus community.
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In addition to having extra money to help with their college-related expenses, peer tutors often discover they are more satisfied with their college experiences and are better prepared for the future.
What Job Skills Do Tutors Build?
As students progress in their peer tutoring roles, they adopt abilities which enable them to further enhance their skill sets. These skills gained can be applied to everyday life as well as future careers.
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Initiative: Peer tutors become adept at taking charge and seizing the initiative. Moreover, the tutor gains valuable leadership skills through their interactions with the tutee, as they must make a conscious effort to act decisively in matters relating to the student.
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Empathy: Being able to listen to students and level with them, when necessary, is excellent practice for tutors to become more empathetic. Healthy tutor-tutee relationships are born from tutors being able to relate to their students on a deeper, more emotional level.
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Problem Solving: Peer tutors become proficient at solving problems when working with their tutees. For example, tutors often encounter topics that are difficult to explain to students, and they must shift to be able to convey the material to the tutee in a way that will make it easier to comprehend. Adaptability is a key skill for peer tutors.
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Communication: Peer tutors enhance their interpersonal communication skills through their interactions with tutees. Communication is one of the most basic skills everyone must have, especially those who are key in aiding in a student’s academic performance. Establishing and maintaining relationships with tutees is a value-add to an already meaningful on-campus job.
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Self-Awareness: Peer tutors learn to not only gauge where the students are, but they must also analyze themselves as tutors. Peer tutors evaluate their own performance in their work and identify weak points in order to continue making improvements.
How Tutors Can Continue Enhancing their Resumes
Peer tutors who desire to continue bolstering their resumes can seek additional resources to support their skill-building efforts. Students onboarded as Knack peer tutors not only have access to our online peer tutor training modules, which are built in accordance with CRLA’s ITTPC standards, they also have the opportunity to continue honing their talents and abilities with Knack’s Tutor Skills Development Program.
With our Skills Development Program, Knack tutors are able to earn badges following successful completion of training, self-reflections, skills assessments, and a mock interview that transforms peer tutoring into a high-impact, career-readiness experience. This program includes topics like leadership, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and professionalism skills – all of which help peer tutors enhance the transferable skills they are gaining in these meaningful jobs.
One Knack tutor shared with us that serving as a Knack tutor helped him improve his confidence and communications skills. He shares, “Talking to people was great, especially in different avenues, like in-person or remotely. It helped me develop my interpersonal skills and working with a range of people from different backgrounds was valuable. I got to contribute to an actual community, and I even made new friends.”
Want to learn more about how Knack supports our tutors’ skill-building? Visit joinknack.com/partner today.
