What makes a great interview?
Before we let tutors go live on Spires, we need to see that you can deliver an online class professionally, effectively, and efficiently first.
As such, your interview will be a short 10-15 minute class, on a subject or topic of your choosing, delivered to a member of our Spires team.
Interview Checklist:
We do not want to see tutors simply talking through a PowerPoint presentation, and it should not be a generic introduction or a general talk about your field, nor should it be a lecture.
Tutoring is not the same as lecturing or classroom teaching. It revolves around 1:1 interaction, which is personal and should be tailored to the learner's needs.
Qualities of a good tutoring session:
Building rapport and gaining the respect and attention of your students requires a more proactive and interactive approach to teaching. Emotional intelligence is as important as raw intelligence in tutoring!
Tutoring is all about being knowledgeable, positive, proactive, likeable, approachable, and competent.
What we don't look for:
Lack of professionalism when bidding, delivering, and communicating with students. Leads to complaints, refunds, and unnecessary administrative burdens for all involved.
Entering into private arrangements to keep the platform fee for yourself will be met with consequences and a breach of the Spires License.
See our house rules for more info.
Preparing for your interview
Your interview tutorial will be conducted online using Lessonspace (guide), a digital whiteboard integrated into the Spires. There’s no need to create a Lessonspace account—you can explore and test the platform using the demo classroom provided.
Please note this is for testing only, adding resources to be used in the interview will ot be saved.
To help you prepare, we strongly recommend the following steps:
1. Familiarise yourself with the Spires dashboard & Lessonspace. A general guide and video on how to tutor online can be found here: How to Tutor Online. This includes how to access the classroom and use Lessonspace effectively.
2. Test the Platform Before Your Interview
You can test the classroom environment in advance by going to the ‘Classes’ tab, clicking ‘Open Classroom’, and then selecting ‘Test Classroom’.
3. Use of Tools During the Interview
• For quantitative subjects (e.g., Maths, Science, Economics, Computer Science), we expect the use of an online whiteboard (such as Lessonspace or Bitpaper) and a digital pen to demonstrate equations and diagrams effectively.
• For qualitative subjects, tools such as Google Docs, screen sharing, and other collaborative platforms are encouraged.
4. Starting Your Interview
More information on how to begin your interview at the scheduled time can be found here: Starting your Spires Interview.
Finally, please ensure you’ve reviewed the rest of the tutor guide before your interview. Familiarity with the platform and preparation go a long way in making a strong first impression.
Cancel or reschedule your interview
Cancellations must be made with a minimum of 48 hours' notice and only in the case of an emergency. Only one cancellation/rescheduling request is allowed inside the notice period. Further cancellations will result in your application being terminated.
Why?
We use the interviews to assess a tutor's ability, but also as a test of professionalism and dedication to the profession - we want to know how you would behave with a student. The quickest way to generate complaints is to miss your scheduled classes with a student, which is why we take cancellations so seriously.
Please only book your interview if you are fully equipped and ready to proceed with the interview, otherwise, you are preventing us from interviewing someone else. This is your chance to get to know the team and to learn more about how Spires works, and how you can be introduced to students all over the world.