Become a Tutor

As a tutor you will help students build the skills required to master the course content and the learning process, which includes both cognitive and metacognitive processes.

• You act as a coach to help students map out their learning goals, place greater value on their learning, and improve their motivation as they progress toward successful outcomes.
• This also helps you, as the tutor, refine your own skills and build new ones through semesterly trainings, engagement in best tutoring practices, and other professional development opportunities throughout the semester.

If this sounds interesting, please review the details below on the position. You can also stop by the MLC in room 7.64 NB to pick up a Become a Tutor brochure.

Why be a Language Tutor?

• Help Others
  • Most of our tutors will tell you that this is one of the best jobs on campus because of the satisfaction they derive from helping others learn. They find that there is nothing quite like the thrill of seeing the light bulb go on when a student over-comes challenges with their course material.
• Develop Marketable Skills
  • Being a tutor helps you develop a variety of skills that employers find highly desirable. These include communication, interpersonal, organizational, leadership, time-management, ethics, and the ability to work in groups and help others learn. Good tutors can also receive excellent references and letters of recommendation from the center supervisor when applying for scholarships, internships, graduate pro-grams, and other employment opportunities.
• Achieve National Certification
  • Our tutors receive paid training that prepares them to achieve national tutor certification, which looks great on a resume!
• A Convenient Schedule
  • Your schedule will fit your availability. We have flexible hours throughout the week and work with you to find the best fit.

What does a Language Tutor Do?

• Tutors work directly with John Jay students in small-group 60-minute tutoring sessions. They also conduct workshops with larger groups or work with students in specialized programs on a one-on-one basis. They help students master course content, and assist students in develop-ing the skills and strategies needed to become active independent successful learners. Tutors work a consistent schedule between 5 and 20 hours per week in-person & online (when appli-cable) Monday-Friday. New tutors may be lim-ited to no more than 10-12 hours per week in their first semester.

What if I don’t know how to tutor?

• Although previous tutoring experience is help-ful, most of our tutors have never tutored be-fore. They are selected on the basis of academic achievement, language proficiency, interperson-al and communication skills, and personal qual-ities such as responsibility, integrity, and con-cern for others. We provide comprehensive training for new tutors, and ongoing profession-al development to help tutors fully develop their skills and abilities.

Duties include: *(but are not limited to)*

• Work with EAB Navigate
• Promote center services & resources
• Participate in staff trainings & professional de-velopments
• Adhere to provided work schedule
• Update MLC’s social media & ePortfolio re-sources
• Submit timesheets & other documents on-time
• Front Desk Responsibilities
• Serve as communication bridge for MLC as part of positive customer service duties
• Assist w/ Duolingo, language learning re-sources, and online platforms
• Assist w/ placement exam practices and proce-dures

What are the qualifications?

• Communicate at 200 level or higher: natively,
  or an A/A– in the course, & through the
  placement exam assessment
• Overall GPA of at least 3.0
• Dependable, punctual, and self-motivated
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, &
  customer service skills
• Work at least 5 hours per week
  consistently throughout the semester
• Available to attend trainings, staff
  meetings, and professional developments
• Ability to work in-person, hybrid or online/
  remote schedule when applicable
• Skilled with online platforms such as Zoom &
  Microsoft Teams
• Familiar with Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Adobe,
  and willing to learn new software
• Preferred current Graduate students who meet
  the above criteria

How do I get paid?

• Tutors are paid by the college as College Assis-tants. Although tutoring is appointment-based, peer tutors are paid according to their weekly work schedules whether there are appointments sched-uled or not. Time not filled by appointments is generally spent taking walk-ins, visiting classes, reviewing course content, completing training ac-tivities, helping out with clerical/administrative tasks, etc.

How do I apply?

• To apply to become a language tutor, you must submit the following documents:
  • MLC Tutor Application
  •  Resume w/ minimum two references
  •  At least one Recommendation Letter
  •  Transcript(s) of all language coursework
    (if applicable)
  •  Complete an MLC Language Placement Exam

What courses can I tutor?

• You can tutor any course on the following list in which you have demonstrated proficiency in.
  • Arabic
  •  ASL
  •  Chinese
  •  French
  •  German
  •  Italian
  •  Japanese
  •  Portuguese
  •  Spanish

Ready to apply? If the information above and in the brochure sounds interesting and you want to a part of a team who support student success, please complete the google form in the link below. 

Submit an application

All required documents to apply:

• MLC Tutor Application
• Resume w/ minimum two references
• At least one Recommendation Letter (academic or professional)
• Transcript(s) of all language coursework, if applicable. (unofficial copies are fine)
• Complete the MLC Placement Exam

Process after submitting materials:

All submitted materials will be reviewed prior to contacting applicants. If qualified, applicants will receive an email to schedule a formal interview and to schedule a date to complete a language placement exam. Interviews will typically take place prior to a new semester starting; however, this is subject to change based on the department's & center's language support requirements. 

Please Note: Hiring procedures are subject to funding, resources, and language support requirements. Also, to apply for the Fall, fully completed applications must be submitted before August. To apply for the Spring, fully completed applications must be submitted before the end of the Fall semester.

Thank You,
MLC