In this article:
- Tutor profiles – how do Cambly students find tutors?
- Tutor profile cards – how can I make a great first impression?
- Profile content – how can I make myself stand out?
- Teaching certificates, badges, and testimonials – how can I give students confidence in my teaching?
- The student view – What does my profile look like to students?
🆕 New sections:
Tutor profiles – how do Cambly students find tutors?
The first step in a Cambly student taking a lesson is searching for and finding a tutor that matches their needs and interests. Most students will start their search with quick glances to narrow down their options and then carefully browse tutor profiles until they find a tutor who they are comfortable to chat with.
What students see as they search depends on the level of detail you choose to fill out in your Profile tab. From your teaching style, to your work experience and interesting or unique hobbies, the more you include, the higher your chances of matching with the perfect student for you!
💡Pro Tip: To quickly check if you’ve added all the relevant info you can in your tutor profile, check your history tab to find the “Profile Strength” stat within the “Your Stats” section.
In this article, we’ll cover how to use your profile photo, video, and some basic information to make a great first impression. Then, once you’ve gotten a student interested, we’ll explain how to optimize the rest of your profile so that you can consistently match with students that fit your skill set.
A Note on Privacy: Keep in mind that any information you use in your tutor profile is publicly available online. As you browse through this article, you’ll find more tips on privacy.
Tutor profile cards – how can I make a great first impression?
When a student searches for a tutor on Cambly, the first thing they will typically see is your tutor profile card. Tutor profile cards will typically show the following:
- Display name
- Dialect
- Profile video
- Your percentage of positive reviews
- Your student level preferences
- Languages spoken
- Whether or not you have open lesson times available
- Whether or not you are a Super Tutor
Some of this information is pulled directly from your profile (display names, dialects, profile videos, level preferences, languages spoken) while others are based on your activity on Cambly (percentage of positive reviews, your open lesson times based on your schedule, and your Super Tutor status).
To help make sure you put your best foot forward, here are some tips on how to optimize this content so your tutor profile card makes a great first impression for you!
Display names and dialects
To edit your display name and dialect, navigate to the Edit Basic Info button at the top right corner of your tutor profile tab. From there, you’ll see a pop up with options to make edits.
Choose a display name that strikes a balance between professional and approachable, such as "Sarah - English Tutor" or "Mike - Conversation Coach." Avoid using numbers, casual nicknames, or phrases that might appear unprofessional in certain cultures. The best display names share your role as a tutor while remaining welcoming and easy for students to remember.
🕵️ Privacy Tip: To further protect your privacy, you can use a pseudonym!
For dialects, students often have specific accent goals as they could be preparing for the IELTS exam with British pronunciation, moving to the US, or simply prefer learning from a particular dialect. Choose the option that most accurately reflects your natural speaking accent, as this helps students find the right match for their pronunciation and listening comprehension goals.
Once you select a dialect, a flag will appear on your tutor profile card and profile page which will reflect your choice.
A Note on Date of Birth: Please rest assured that this information is not shown to students. It’s collected only to verify that you're at least 18 years old which is a requirement for all Cambly tutors.
Profile video
Your introduction video is one of the first things students will see and we’ve found that the best videos detail your tutoring experience, show off your personality, and talk about what a class with you would be like. When recording a video, we recommend the following:
- Keep it short (1-2 minutes)
- Record from a sturdy surface to avoid camera shake.
- Speak clearly and enthusiastically.
- Highlight your teaching style, expertise, and personality.
- While scripts can be helpful, be sure to appear natural and speak directly to the camera.
- Remove logos for other companies from your background before recording your video.
🕵️ Privacy Tip: Blur or cover your full name, if it appears in your video, to protect your privacy. While editing your video, please do not include photos of any other person besides yourself, in order to protect their privacy.
Some tutors show off their creativity by adding captions, graphics, photos or music to their videos. Some show their thoughtfulness of all cultures when it comes to dress by ensuring shoulders are covered and avoiding sunglasses as well as clothing with offensive language or images. More dress tips can be found here!
Student level preferences
This section refers to the type of student you feel most comfortable and effective teaching. There are five options:
- True beginner - learners don't speak any English, or have memorized a few words and phrases.
- Beginner - learners can talk about simple topics, but need help from others to keep a conversation going.
- Intermediate - learners can start and keep up conversations about familiar topics, and can express opinions.
- Upper intermediate - learners can express thoughts, feelings, and opinions without preparation.
- Advanced - Learners can have in-depth conversations about complex and sometimes abstract topics.
While it might be tempting to select all five options to maximize your list of potential students, it’s important to be realistic about your strengths as matching with the right student level can lead to better lessons. For example, true beginners might require more visual aids and slower speech, while advanced students need help with nuanced grammar and cultural context.
💡Pro Tip: If you’re unsure where to start, select the options that you feel most comfortable with. And as you meet with more and more students, keep in mind that you can go back and change this at any time!
Languages spoken
Many beginner students prefer tutors who speak their native language to help explain concepts or clarify mistakes. This is especially valuable for true beginners who might feel overwhelmed trying to learn entirely in English.
Select all languages you have familiarity with and your level in each as even basic familiarity with a student's native language can make lessons more effective and help students feel more comfortable during their learning journey.
Profile content – how can I make myself stand out?
So far, we’ve focused on how to make a great first impression with your tutor profile card using information from your tutor profile. But what about the profile itself? When you’ve gathered enough interest for the student, how can you seal the deal and get them to book with you?
Spending just 10 to 15 minutes updating your profile and filling out all of the fields can set you up for years of success as the more information you include, the better your profile can match you with students who you are most likely to have success with based on any common interests and/or areas of expertise that align with their learning goals.
In this section we’ll cover the following sections of the tutor profile so that you can let your strengths shine through and maintain a full book of business:
- Profile photos
- Student preferences
- Introduction
- About me
- Interests
- 🆕 Expertise
- Teaching style
- 🆕 Language skills
- Test familiarity
- Industry familiarity
- Teaching certificates
- Education
- Work Experience
Profile photos
Use a clear, high-quality headshot where you look directly at the camera and smile for your profile photo. Tutors with smiling profile pictures tend to attract more students! Here’s some tips you can consider using when choosing a photo:
- Frame your photo to include only your full face and the top of your shoulders.
- Ensure the shot contains no other individuals or full-body views.
- If able, use a professional, friendly headshot.
- Ensure good lighting and a clear, high-resolution image.
- Avoid blurry or pixelated pictures.
- For your privacy, use a different picture for your profile rather than what you use on your personal social media accounts.
💡Pro Tip: A picture is worth a thousand words and is a great way to capture attention – quick glances included!
Student preferences
This section allows you to let students know if you are actively looking for new students or if you currently have a full schedule. Choose "Open to new students" if you're actively looking to grow your student base and take on new students, or select "Focusing on current students right now" if you want to prioritize your existing students and aren't seeking new matches at the moment. You can update this setting anytime!
💡Pro Tip: Even if you aren’t actively looking, keeping your profile up to date ensures that if you do have more room in your schedule, you can quickly fill it with more students!
Introduction
Write a friendly, genuine introduction that gives students a quick snapshot of who you are and gets them excited to learn with you. Focus on your overall teaching approach and what kind of learning experience you provide while keeping in mind that you'll have dedicated sections later to detail your specific expertise, background, and qualifications. Think of this as your elevator pitch that captures your personality and teaching style in a way that makes students want to book a lesson with you.
About me
This section allows you to expand more on your introduction and is where students can get to know the real you beyond your teaching qualifications. Mentioning things like your love of cooking, travel experiences, or what motivated you to become a tutor can help show interested students that you can build a genuine connection with them– on top of the expertise you’ll provide during lessons.
Interests
Whether it's cooking, gardening, extreme sports or anime, this field allows you to share anything that interests you. Taking time to add your interests will help match students with similar interests to your profile, opening up the door for more interesting conversation! You can select as many existing interests as you'd like.
💡Pro Tip: Don't see what you're interested in listed? Select "Other" and add as much as you'd like.
Teaching style
Do you prefer working with beginners? Are you kind and patient, scholarly and knowledgeable, or fun and gregarious? Your teaching style gives you the opportunity to provide details of what students can expect from you in a lesson.
🆕 Language skills
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Students come to Cambly for various reasons, oftentimes with specific areas of English they want to improve. To help new students discover tutors who align with their precise learning goals, we made it easy for you to list the language skills you are confident in teaching. You can now highlight the language skill(s) areas you specialize in, such as accent reduction, English for business or pronunciation, which helps facilitate better matches. Students can then use this information to narrow their search to find a tutor who aligns with their precise learning goal. |
Test familiarity
Are you adept at helping students study for certain English tests? Some Cambly students are looking to prepare for an upcoming English exam and searching for a tutor who can help them reach their desired score. Use this profile field to let students know what English proficiency tests you can help them prepare for, such as IELTS or TOEFL.
Industry familiarity
Some Cambly students are looking to improve their English for the industry they work in, and are looking for tutors who have experience in specific industries. Sharing any industry familiarity or expertise you can offer will enable matching students to your profile, allowing for a better fit for students along their learning journey.
🆕 Expertise
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To give you even more ways to show off your strengths, we’ve added a new section: Expertise. Whether it's your ability to teach business presentations, your experience with IELTS prep, or your expertise in academic writing, highlighting what sets you apart from other tutors can help match you with the types of students you most enjoy working with and where you can deliver the best results. |
💡Pro Tip: We recommend choosing the three areas where you're strongest and most confident teaching, as these will be prominently featured on your profile and can help students more quickly understand what areas they can really improve on when booking a lesson with you.
Education & Work Experience
Feel free to share all relevant experience you have that would make you a great Cambly tutor! Keep in mind that no degree or teaching experience is required, but if you have any other experience that could be helpful, include it.
Courses
Cambly Courses are structured English lessons that empower tutors to teach great, pre-prepared lessons without needing to do lesson prep. Courses are optional for students and allow them to choose between having conversation-style lessons or covering prepared lessons.
If you feel confident and comfortable in teaching a course from the Cambly Library, you can add the course to "My Courses." Cambly will promote you to students enrolled in these courses.
Teaching certificates, badges, and testimonials – how can I give students confidence in my teaching?
Teaching Certificates
While optional, teaching certificates can give students extra confidence in your abilities, especially those looking for more structured or formal learning approaches.
🕵️ Privacy Tip: Please note that the exact certificate you upload will not be visible to students in order to protect tutors' privacy.
Testimonials
Testimonials are a great way to showcase the positive feedback students have left you in order to attract new students. A tutor can choose up to 4 testimonials to feature on their profile at one time. For more information about Testimonials, please follow this link!
Badges
Cambly prompts students to leave compliments after taking a lesson with you. Once you've received a specific compliment enough times, you will receive a special badge. A tutor can choose up to 3 badges to feature on their profile at one time. For more information about Compliment Badges, please check out this help center article.
The student view – What does my profile look like to students?
If you're interested in seeing what students see when they view your profile, you can can follow these steps (please note: this is only for Cambly profiles, Cambly Kids profiles have not received this update just yet but we will let you know when they do!):
1. Click on your Profile Tab
2. The url will display https://www.cambly.com/en/tutor/tutors/{your tutor name or ID here}.
3. To see your tutor profile from your student view, simply change the word “tutor” to “student” as shown below: https://www.cambly.com/en/student/tutors/{your tutor name or ID here}
4. Click "enter". Your tutor profile from the student's view will load.
Important note: there will likely be no boxes indicating matches at the top of your profile when looking at your tutor profile from your student view. This is because your student profile likely hasn’t subscribed and completed student goals and interests. These boxes indicating matches are customized to the student profile, and will vary by student.