What to charge for tutoring services?

[maxxpower71]

I wanted to ask the members what they think is a fair price to charge for tutoring service for the FE exam Electrical and PE exam - Power. A brief credentials include passing the FE and PE both on the first try and having the minimum experience requirements for the PE.

One of the biggest problems I have noticed and heard from other engineers is they do not have the time to study, especially if they have a family, working full time, and it has been a while since theyve open any electrical books outside of their specific electrical field.

With the right material and one on one explanation of basic theory that is included in the exam, I do believe anyone with an engineering degree can pass.

My plan for the PE is 12 hours of class session to go over the material, notes which I will provide. Workshops, free of charge, to go over problems and theories students do not fully understand or still need help in, within a reasonable limit (still TBD any tips appreciated) but enough to make sure they are understanding the material.

FE exam same as PE but 16 hours of class session and free workshops.

PE - $100 dollars an hour for 12 hours = $1,200

FE - $75 dollars an hour for 16 hours = $1,200

Let me know if you guys think this is too much or too little and any other ideas you guys might have.

Thanks.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

I think you are going to need more credentials than just having passed the exams and working in industry for 3-5 years. That just means that you are a minimally competent engineer that is good at taking tests. In order to be effective in offering tutoring or a preparation class, you need to be a good teacher that is able to adapt the material to the different learning styles of your pupils. What worked for you may not work for everybody, and how you are able to absorb the material will not work for everybody. So your notes may not even help others pass the exam.

 

[maxxpower71]

Thanks for the comment.

The only credentials I can add for tutoring services is I have tutored friends and family members for math (Algebra - Calculus), SAT Math, GMAT Math but never charged. They included a variety of range from those who are not good in math to those who are.

I do agree with you I am a minimally competent professional engineer, which is a selling point I want to use, you dont need years and years of experience to pass. I am here to go over only what is on the exam based on the specifications and yes I will not know all the material 100% but I will work with the student to try to get the most out of them. Which is one of the problems I see with group classes.

In group classes with professors with 20 years of experience, they cannot get to all students and zone in on their weakness. So my goal is to make sure my student does understand the material.

I also want to include methods of taking the test. For example, in some of the theory questions, even if you have no idea about the subject you can eliminate some by how it is worded and help your chances of guessing.

Please keep these comments coming, they are very helpful.

 

[jbachoua]

Make a guarantee to pass or their money back...

Thanks for the comment.
The only credentials I can add for tutoring services is I have tutored friends and family members for math (Algebra - Calculus), SAT Math, GMAT Math but never charged. They included a variety of range from those who are not good in math to those who are.

I do agree with you I am a minimally competent professional engineer, which is a selling point I want to use, you dont need years and years of experience to pass. I am here to go over only what is on the exam based on the specifications and yes I will not know all the material 100% but I will work with the student to try to get the most out of them. Which is one of the problems I see with group classes.

In group classes with professors with 20 years of experience, they cannot get to all students and zone in on their weakness. So my goal is to make sure my student does understand the material.

I also want to include methods of taking the test. For example, in some of the theory questions, even if you have no idea about the subject you can eliminate some by how it is worded and help your chances of guessing.

Please keep these comments coming, they are very helpful.

 

[maxxpower71]

Thats a good idea, very strong marketing tool. But starting off I dont think I can do. I mean I wont be losing money since this is a one on one and no overhead to pay for but I will be losing time.

I havent seen other tutoring or preparation classes offer that, theyve offered a free repeat of the class, which again, I will be losing time since its a one on one compared to a class full of people.

I dont think they refund the money because no one wants to give money back and also I believe its more of an incentive for the student to study harder. A scenario, someone can take the class, not study as hard, fail the exam. Next exam comes around they study harder with the their old notes and pass.

Including some kind of guarantee or free incentive if they didnt pass is a good idea. Maybe I can offer some free hours to go over a couple of topics. Thanks for the idea jbachoua. Please keep the comments coming.

 

[benbo]

I think it is tough to find significant clientele. Where do you live? What is your market like? How many people actually take the PE or FE where you live? What is your competition and what do they charge? What is the pass rate like in your area? How many people take a class?

You may have to lower your prices or offer a guarantee until you can build up a track record.

I was disabled for a while, and to see if I could go back to work I took an SAT tutoring job with a group called Ivy West. I also did a little freelance tutoring before I took that job. I found that I couldn't get people to pay even half as much for basically the same service when I did it on my own. It was all the power of the track record of the organization. Plus, a company is less likely to pay for a private tutor than something like Testmasters.

 

[maxxpower71]

If its as hard as you say benbo, I think I might have to include that guarantee at first. I am doing this as a side job with one or two people at a time, so I am not looking for a big clientele.

But yes, developing a track record for something I want to charge is what it might take. Contacting companies is a good idea but definitely would need that track record.

I am located in Miami, FL so I can reach people Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach county, a large enough market. Do you know where I can find how many people take the exam and pass in my area?

Thanks for the input.

 

[benbo]

I am located in Miami, FL so I can reach people Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach county, a large enough market. Do you know where I can find how many people take the exam and pass in my area?
Thanks for the input.

You might find it on the state board website, but you probably don't need to know the exact numbers. Since you live in a fairly large metropolitan areas it is possibly worth your while to try. I was thinking that in some states there are so few people taking the test that finding a client would be next to impossible, and I wouldn't even bother trying.

I still think it will be tough to find initial clients, but get a couple through with passing scores and it will improve by word of mouth.

 

[IlPadrino]

Too expensive... though I'm not suggesting you're not worth $100/hr. Money back guarantee might not be a good idea with such small numbers (1).