Long rant-Worked here for nearly 3 years and it's the worst I've ever seen it
I know I said I was going to leave VT a long time ago, but unfortunately the remote job market has slim pickings rn and I honestly can't afford to (been digital nomad since 2023). So here I am ranting because I need a space to vent and see if others are experiencing the same.
Working for VT used to be genuinely lucrative for me. I consistently worked over 55 hours a week, maintained perfect 5-star ratings, and put real effort into providing a great experience for every student. Now I'm lucky if I get 20 hours a week, despite nothing changing about the quality of my work.
The opportunities themselves have completely changed. The last couple of weeks have been filled with what feels like the worst opportunities I've ever seen. Like some have stated in this group, we don't even get notified, and I can't even accept them from my computer they always say no session times available, yet when I use my phone, it works just fine. Almost none of them include incentives anymore, which already makes them less worthwhile. Even worse, some of them don't even seem like they're real students. They'll match with me and then unmatch before I can even send a welcome message. Those opportunities are essentially dead on arrival.
Then there are the reviews. I have consistently had a 5 star rating for nearly 3 years and this last month it went to first a 4.8 then a 4.6. Students can leave negative reviews even when the problems are clearly technical. They don't seem to realize they're rating the tutor and not the platform, or they just don't care because now they have the option to remain anonymous. I always check my ratings after a session and if I see its fallen I unmatch the student immediately with no second chances lol. I've had sessions where the student's device or internet connection prevented us from having a productive meeting. In one case, I even requested a live technical support representative, who joined the session and personally walked the student through troubleshooting steps. Despite doing everything I possibly could, they still left me a bad star rating. The most frustrating part is that I can't even see what was written because the review is hidden. I'm being judged without any transparency or opportunity to understand what happened.
Another issue is the quality of the students being recruited. Many of the opportunities now explicitly state that the student hasn't even decided whether they're going to purchase a package right in the reps notes. If they haven't committed to using the service, why are they being placed on the opportunity board? It creates a pipeline full of low-intent leads that waste tutors' time instead of connecting us with students who actually want help.
On top of that, there have been numerous ghost students. They're added to my schedule, confirm the session, and then never show up. At this point I've stopped waiting around or messaging reminders and simply collect the no-show payment because it's become so common. While I get paid something, I'd much rather have actual tutoring sessions than spend my time blocked off for students who never intended to attend.
Another major issue is the disconnect between what students are being promised and what tutors are actually being paid to provide. We're paid $18 an hour to tutor during scheduled sessions, yet some students come in expecting services that go far beyond tutoring. I've had students expect me to create individualized study plans (as if that's something that was PROMISED to them) and then get mad when I designate the last 10 minutes of the session to creating the plan with them. Or they want me to design lessons, map out long-term academic strategies or coursework completion, or prepare personalized materials outside of session time. Those tasks require significant unpaid work, and that's simply not something I am willing to do for the misery they are paying us.
I've also encountered students who expect me to purchase subscriptions, create accounts, or pay for online services so I can access their study materials. That expectation is unreasonable. If a student is using a particular textbook, study guide, or online resource, they should already have access to it and be able to share the relevant material during our session. I use free versions only, and I'm not willing to download apps or pay subscriptions that they can do themselves if that's what they want to do. They're just as capable of logging in and screen-sharing with me. Tutors should not be expected to spend their own money on subscriptions, digital platforms, get spammed with emails from materials requiring an email login, or have to risk downloading potentially virus infected study resources just to perform their jobs. Yet students seem to be getting promised things that are way outside of my paygrade and go well beyond the crappy ai study materials VT provides the tutors -most of which the subjects I tutor in have little to no materials at all.
The expectations during sessions can also be unrealistic. Some students want me to solve every problem while they watch passively instead of engaging with the material themselves. I've worked with students who struggle with very basic concepts—grown adult college age students who can't answer something as simple as 5 × 2—but instead of building those foundational skills, they just want answers. That's not tutoring. It doesn't help them learn, and it puts tutors in the uncomfortable position of choosing between encouraging real learning or meeting unrealistic expectations that seem to have been set before the student ever arrived. It's also mentally exhausting to sit there and talk to myself and solve problems alone for a whole hour, so I've started dropping those students too. Or clients who only purchase 4 hours and somehow think I'm going to be able to teach them algebra and geometry in those four hours when they don't even know their times tables or can't solve 9+6=15 without help, and don't want to study the materials I send to them outside of their tutoring hours.
I've also been asked to do things that are completely outside the scope of tutoring, such as writing letters for schools or teachers. In some cases, I've agreed because I genuinely wanted to help students. For example, providing documentation that could support a student seeking an IEP or additional educational services. I don't regret helping those students, but those requests illustrate how blurry the boundaries have become. Tutors shouldn't be expected to take on responsibilities that belong to schools, counselors, administrators, or educational specialists.
The most frustrating part is that all of these issues compound each other. Fewer opportunities, lower-quality leads, technical problems outside my control, hidden feedback, ghost students, unrealistic expectations, and requests for tutors to absorb additional unpaid costs all reduce earning potential while making it harder to maintain the metrics that determine future opportunities. It feels like the system is rewarding circumstances rather than performance.
I still care about helping students. That's why I've gone above and beyond countless times, whether it meant staying patient through technical issues, helping students navigate difficult situations, or even taking on requests that weren't technically part of my job because I genuinely wanted to make a difference. But there's a point where constantly being asked to do more while receiving fewer opportunities and less support becomes unsustainable. The quality of my work hasn't declined just the environment around the work has.