New Tutor FAQ’s…. AKA what you didn’t read in the Cambly Tutor Guide

Updated. Sep 28. (we got a few follow up questions  and decided to edit rathar than make a new post 🙂 )

As you’ll already know, if you’re a regular visitor to the camblyland blog, we are a group of Cambly Supertutors that have decided to blog about our time on the Cambly platform to help new and existing tutors and give them advice. Today’s post is just a few of the questions tutors have asked about Cambly. If you have any questions of your own feel free to contact us!! 

Reservations…. My student hasn’t called yet, what do I do?

• You’re obliged to wait 10 mins and Cambly will pay for your time. After that, it’s up to you.  You can take a PH, (you do know you can take a PH up to 30 mins after the hour starts right?), or  you can “go visible” in the hope of getting a student, but that’s like standing outside a school with a banner saying “I’m a teacher” and hoping to get a class. ie, little to no chance! Or, you can close your laptop, and have a break before your next reservation.

What if my student starts calling me after the 10 minute wait period?

• You’re still waiting?! Well you waited as long as you had to and now, you can choose what to do.  You can answer the call and earn some cash or you can refuse the call and ignore that inconsiderate student! You are obliged to only wait ten mins! If you’re in a chat with another student, you can ignore the late reservation and continue your chat, or you can politely end the class and take your late student. The point here is that once the 10 min wait is up, you are under no obligation to that reservation.

If I answer the call after the 10 min wait period, do I still get the $1.70 for having to wait?

• Yes, that is automatically given to you for your initial ten minute wait.  Eg. If your student calls you at minute 20 of a 30 min reservation and you decide to answer, you’ll get the $1.70 and the pay for the last ten minutes.

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I can’t see/hear my student OR they can’t see/hear me

• If there is a connection issue and you’re getting no response from the student, don’t just sit there twiddling your thumbs, texting your granny, updating your facebook profile  or watching youtube cat videos while the clock runs down!  Message the student in the chat box and see if they can contact you that way.  If not, wait a minute or so and see if the connection improves. If it doesn’t, LEAVE THE CLASS (you may think it’s great to just sit there, run down the clock, do nothing and get paid, but its a sure fire way to get the Cambly Police on your tail)   The student’s connection might improve and they may call again, but if they don’t, you’re free to go on your merry way and find another student.

I need to cancel my classes, will I get in trouble?

• Nope, not if you cancel far enough ahead, which is at least 12 hours. If you cancel several reservations at short notice, this will  result in you being restricted to scheduling “regulars only” for 7 days. BUT, all is not lost. If you don’t have a regulars list, or only have a few people on it, go through your past reservations and make all those students regulars!!!  You now have a long list of students that can reserve your time.

How far in advance can I cancel a reservation.

• Any time you like, but less than 12 hrs can have consequences (see above). Of course, things can happen unexpectedly and while Cambly is a mainly automated platform, there is a dedicated “small team” of real life people that will be able to help and advise you if you are having issues and need to make multiple cancellations.

I don’t want to work with kids, why are they calling me and how do I get rid of  them?

• Some tutors prefer not to work with kids. While there is a ‘Cambly Kids’, some parents will let their children use their accounts or just set them up on the cheaper Cambly platform.  So, what to do if you get a child on your PH or reservation and don’t want to teach them?  Cambly does actively promote you not taking a class if you don’t want to. Just politely tell the student you don’t take child classes and ask them to find another tutor. The key word here is “politely”!  Also, it’s helpful if you put something in your bio such as “Adults only” or “No children please”.

I don’t like this student, Can I just disconnect the call?

• Cambly states that you do not have to tutor any student you do not feel comfortable with.  So if you get a student and you don’t want to tutor them you are free to end the call. BUT  do not abruptly end the call (if you do that, you may get a visit from the Cambly Police). Politely tell the student that you are unable to continue for whatever reason, and remind them that they are free to call another tutor, before you courteously say goodbye. Of course if the student is being offensive in any way, end the class straight away. You don’t get paid enough to put up with that crap!

I can’t stand a particular student, what do I do,

• Ah, I feel your pain.  I have this one particular student that hasn’t been rude or obnoxious to me, but honestly, he just creeps me out. So I hid from him.  Remember, there is a huge difference between BAN and HIDE.  if you feel uncomfy, HIDE from the student. But if the student is being gross and making sexual advances towards you, or putting their junk on camera, then you gotta BAN their sorry ass and send them into Cambly oblivion.

Until next time. Alice

“I do wish I hadn’t drunk quite so much!”