Caveat Emptor: Due Diligence Checklist for Students Hiring a Tutor or Coach

Everyone needs help at different junctures of their lives and careers. Maybe you are a college or law student looking for a tutor to help you do better in your classes, or you are preparing to take the LSAT or bar exam. Perhaps you are considering hiring a career coach – someone to brainstorm a strategy for career advancement or help you find your next opportunity.

A tutor or career coach is an investment in yourself, and as billionaire investor Warren Buffet said, “Ultimately, there’s one investment that supersedes all others: Invest in yourself.” Before you place your trust in a tutor or coach, however, you should undertake the appropriate research and diligence to make the most of your investment.

Hire A+ People Splashy websites, impressive bios, awards, recognition, speaking engagements, and an Instagram account with great photos may all be good signs and can be part of the equation when looking for a tutor or coach. You should, however, be careful that you don’t fall for good marketing. Your mindset should be hiring the person who has the right substantive skills for the exact goal you’re trying to achieve. You also want to find someone with the right bedside manner to complement your learning needs.

Prepare The first step in your process should be determining precisely what you are trying to accomplish so you can come up with a plan for hiring the right individual. What’s your end goal? Do you want to get straight As? Do you need to get a certain LSAT score to get into your dream school? Does your career coach need to have an in-depth knowledge of the politics or interviewing process at law firms, government, or corporate legal departments to help you succeed?

Develop a clear set of criteria and write them down. Consider how you will assess a potential coach for your particular needs, and how you’ll ensure they have the skills you require and a style with which you’re comfortable.

Research and Assess Impeccable research is one of the most important skills of great lawyers. So even if you are almost certain of hiring someone as your tutor or coach, it’s advisable to hit pause and do further research. You may ultimately decide that it would be better to go another direction or it might bolster your confidence about the choice you made.

When looking for a coach or tutor, start by reviewing the individual’s website, LinkedIn profile, and any other materials you can find, with the backdrop of your specific goals. For example, their profile may say they are a “sought after” and “prominent” speaker – that might be impressive – but take away the adjectives and ask yourself if and how that’s relevant to your specific goals. For what are you hiring them? Read their bios and assess their accomplishments based on what you are trying to accomplish.

Next, contact potential tutors and coaches to set up a consult to assess if they are a good fit for your needs. It’s a good sign if an individual is willing to talk even for 10-15 minutes or a company at least has a money-back-guarantee policy before you are expected to commit. It shows they want to make sure it’s the right fit for you both and that they have a long-term view about your business relationship.

Before your consult, put together a list of questions to help you assess the following four areas:

1. The prospective tutor or coach’s credentials: Have they walked the path that you are trying to undertake, and if yes, how well?

If you are aiming to get a specific score on an exam, how high did your prospective coach score? If you need coaching to prepare for on-campus interviews to get a summer position at a large law firm, how well did your prospective coach do when they were in your shoes? Have they worked for a large law firm themselves? Of course, you may ultimately decide, based on all the factors, that someone who scored in the 80th percentile may be a better tutor for you than the individual who scored in the 95th percentile, or decide to hire the coach who was not successful at their own on-campus interviews but learned how to improve. Having the data, however, is crucial to making an informed decision.

2. Connections: Is it helpful if your tutor or coach is well connected?

Not only do your prospective tutor or coach’s connections reflect his or her immersion in that specific field but they may also open doors to otherwise unavailable opportunities. For example, one career coach may only help you with preparing for an interview, whereas another coach may also make referrals to contacts to help you further prepare or even secure new interviews.

3. Process: How will the coaching dynamic work?

How often will you meet? Will you meet in person or remotely via video or phone? Will you have email access between tutoring or coaching sessions? Is the coaching one-on-one or will you be part of a group? If the latter, given that two students from the same school with similar grades and backgrounds will have unique strengths and needs, how does the coach ensure that each individual’s needs are met? In summary, find out exactly what you are signing up for, and if the process is a good fit for your learning style.

4. Bedside manner: Is your coach’s specific style a good fit to maximize your learning?

Do you just need to learn the material or is it important for you to really click with your coach? Do you want someone “by the book” or someone who might call you out and show you “tough love” when it’s needed? Is it important for you to have someone in your corner who goes above and beyond the scope of the tutoring or coaching relationship and provide extra advice and support when you feel defeated? It may not be easy to assess someone’s bedside manner by just asking questions, so reflect on your gut feeling after talking with someone – how did you feel right after speaking with them? Empowered or overwhelmed? Did you feel like you would have good working chemistry with them? Did the conversation flow easily? Does it just “feel right?”

Consider Asking for References Unless your tutor or coach was referred to you by someone you trust, you should consider contacting a few references if time allows. When speaking with their reference, ask specific questions to assess the criteria discussed above, find out if they still keep in touch, what they liked most about working with your prospective tutor or coach, and if they would modify anything.

Compare If time allows, interview two or more tutors or coaches before making a choice. It is ultimately your career at stake and hiring the wrong person at the right time might mean you won’t have the result you hoped for and the time will have passed – the interview will be over, you will have taken the test. Sometimes you can repeat the process, but sometimes not, so it pays to know that you at least did your due diligence. In other words, caveat emptor, i.e., “let the buyer beware!”