Carol's story

Transcript (4.24)

Interviewer: What is Kumon to you?

Carol: Kumon to me has become a very big part of my life. I do really enjoy the job. So, Kumon is, well it's my job and part of my life. It takes up a lot of time, but it's flexible and I love it. I really enjoy it. I can't see myself doing anything else for a long, long time.

Interviewer: Okay. So how did you find out about Kumon?

Carol: I was a post mistress and we were about to sell the business and I just fancied working with children. So, I did about two years volunteering at a local primary school, which I really enjoyed. I thought I definitely want to work with children. That's the thing for me. My friend had children doing Kumon at the time, and she said, "They're looking for Instructors. You might be interested." So I looked at the website, thought international company, like the sound of it, and I came along to the open day and I just went from there really. Everything I saw and heard I liked.

Interviewer: Okay. How would you say Kumon fits in with your family life?

Carol: Really well because it's flexible. It's excellent. In fact, the school where my class is, is the school that my children attend now. So they leave the class and come straight to me, stay in class with me, and then we would go home together. But the everyday running of it is completely flexible, so I'll do the work while they're at school and try and keep the weekends free. Then if there are holidays, I'll try to catch up on one or two days and leave some days free for them. As I would with a job, a normal nine to five job, but it's more beneficial to have the flexible hours.

Interviewer: What qualities do you think a Kumon Instructor needs to possess? Or what's vital to be a successful Kumon Instructor?

Carol: Be friendly, friendly towards children. The children need to be able to go to an opening and not be frightened, so to have a nice demeanour around children. Good work ethic. You have to be organised. You have to rearrange time sometimes to fit around it. Not often. You often fit your work around the time, but sometimes there has to be. I'd say that's about it.

Interviewer: What words of advice would you give to somebody who's thinking about becoming a Kumon Instructor?

Carol: Go to the open day, listen to what they have to give you, the advice they give you about the company and what is expected and what you'll gain, and speak to other Instructors. For me, I often have new Instructors ring me to see what I feel is this good for the company and that's good advice. But definitely go to the open day, get information on it, read up on the Internet, and then you won't regret it.

Interviewer: Okay. How did Kumon help you in setting up your study centre and also give you support throughout the running of it?

Carol: They were absolutely brilliant. I opened my centre in March of 2008, and then in May, they needed someone to run another local centre, which had 50 students. They needed someone to take over quite quickly, and they asked me would I step in. It was all so new to me. I thought, well why not? In the deep end, get the experience. So I took on both centres and ran those. I think I ran one of them for eight months, and the experience I gained then, the help they gave me and the support they gave me throughout those eight months was brilliant, because I was thrown in, literally, from having 1 student and then having 51 literally overnight. They were great. They were helping set work and sending up people that needed help. Excellent. Always there on the phone. They're always like that, all of them, throughout the whole. The Kumon people that I've dealt with are great.

Interviewer: Yeah. What other things do you think really make being a Kumon Instructor worthwhile?

Carol: Being an Instructor? To see the children improve. To see them tackle things they wouldn't have before because they've got confidence to do it. Just see them improve in their levels. You hear them come back with reports from teachers and exams that they've increased their levels. They've gone up in class, passed exams. That makes it all worthwhile.

Interviewer: What would you say are the biggest rewards about being a Kumon Instructor?

Carol: The biggest reward is just to see the children improve. To see the children improve. It's not like any other job. I've done many other jobs, but to see them there and to see them come into class and they've got a certificate because they passed tests and you know they've achieved and then they're ready to go on to the next thing. That is definitely, by far, the biggest reward. There's nothing to beat it.