Tutor cash helps make ends meet

Sacramento BeeJuly 3, 2009

Irina Galchemko, who lost a cell phone sales job, has turned to Russian language tutoring for students such as Tony Wallace. Federal job statistics say 9 million people are doing part-time work for economic reasons as full-time jobs disappear.

"Vsyo boodet harasho." It doesn't translate into a solution for California's economic woes, but teaching Russian is helping one Citrus Heights resident survive the recession.

Irina Galchemko, an Uzbekistan immigrant who lost her cell phone sales job over a year ago, teaches "not just language but also culture" to her students, whom she meets at local bookstores and coffee shops.

Picking up $25 an hour for her tutoring work, Galchemko is among a growing number of out-of-work or under-worked Americans turning to part-time jobs to make ends meet.

The number working part time for economic reasons in June was 9 million, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since the start of the recession, that number has increased by 4.4 million.

Career specialists tout tutoring as a way to fill the pay gap after a layoff and bide time until a job surfaces.

"Not only does it help bring in some income, but it can increase self-esteem during a period when a lack of confidence in one's abilities can be an issue," said Davis-based career counselor Andrea Weiss, who has recommended tutoring to laid-off teachers, writers, even scientists.

And for college students or graduates facing a bleak job market, tutoring can be a fallback position.

At the career center of California State University, Sacramento, program manager Eva Gabbe said she often suggests tutoring to students as an extra source of income. "It does work," said Gabbe.

Galchemko, who said she holds a linguistics and literature degree from her native country, typically earns $600 a month tutoring in reading, writing and speaking Russian.

But "it's not predictable," she said, noting that summer is the slowest time. Currently, she has four students, ranging from high school students to older adults.

Galchemko, who advertises herself as "extremely patient, easy to work with and my teaching methods have proven the best," has plenty of company in the online tutoring market.

More than 500 ads for "lessons & tutoring" such skills as viola, swing dancing, computer skills and SAT prepping were posted on the Sacramento Craigslist last week. (The company did not return calls or e-mails about those postings.) Other ads from tutors are in the Yellow Pages, on college job boards or tacked onto telephone poles.

Even some with jobs see tutoring as a source of extra income. High school special education teacher Rishi Lal is one.

"I would love to be in India right now," said Lal, who usually spends his summers traveling. But as an untenured teacher and new homeowner in Sacramento, Lal figures he needs $2,000 in additional income this summer.

A week ago, Lal posted a Craigslist ad, offering his services as a tutor for California's high school exit exam.

So far, no one's signed up, but Lal hopes to pull in five or six clients to get him through the summer.

"It's difficult," he said. "I have a mortgage to pay."

Rocklin resident Tom Hall, who holds lifetime teaching credentials in science and real estate, turned to tutoring 18 months ago, when a heart ailment required months of recovery.

It's proved successful, though business has slowed substantially, largely due to the economy, he believes.

"A lot of parents are really sweating right now," said Hall, who charges $35 an hour for his chemistry sessions.

With so much competition from tutors in K-12 subject areas, some are carving out their own niches.

After being laid off from a medical insurance company in December, Kristen Santos of El Dorado Hills has been helping teens prepare for their written driver's license test.

The idea was sparked when she went to renew her own license and saw the lineup of nervous teens waiting to take their DMV exam.

"A lot of parents don't have time to tutor their kids, so they're grateful," said Santos, who charges $30 for a three-hour session that walks teens through California's rules of the road.

"My No. 1 goal is to work out of my home, for myself, full time," said Santos, who might start music appreciation classes, a bread/pasta company for those with special diets and even a line of pet treats for animals with specific ailments.

It's a similar route that other laid-off workers contemplate. About 25 percent might start their own business, according to a CareerBuilder survey earlier this year.

Veterans like Joseph "J the Guitar Teacher" Phillips a music instructor since 2002 offer proof that lessons can be a livable trade.

Phillips wouldn't disclose his guitar-teaching income but jokes he's "not robbing liquor stores or selling crack to make up the difference."

It's income he knows can be precarious. Phillips recently lost two students whose parents had either their jobs or their salaries cut, but he's not lowering his monthly $325 rate.

"It's hard both students were making progress," he said. "But you've got to look at (your) self-interest, too."

Amid the economy's woes, it might be worth keeping that Russian phrase in mind, "Vsyo boodet harasho."

Translation: "Everything's gonna be all right."

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