non-profit representative

tutor

recruiting specialist

data manager

data coordinator

BEYOND BASICS

Beyond Basics has a very noble goal in mind - one that they make you aware of as soon as you start. The work you do, and the students you do it with, make it extremely rewarding. It gets you in the door of your school/community, and it gives you some of the best experiences of working as an educator without the overwhelming class sizes or extra time spent grading. 

I was lucky enough to have a fantastic classroom with excellent coworkers and a good school to work with. Not everyone, however, is so lucky. Your mileage will absolutely vary depending on the specific school you work in, and the team you are sent to. 

If you are thinking of becoming a teacher, I would wholeheartedly recommend giving this company a go. It allows you to get your foot in the door with schools and see how things are from the inside, before you potentially spend huge amounts of time and/or money to become fully certified. 

Now, there's a reason that I only gave Beyond Basics 3 stars: The communication within this company is genuinely atrocious. 

Never get used to doing things in one way or another, as I guarantee you the way of doing things will be changed every six months. When you ask questions, be prepared to get conflicting answers from multiple departments within the company. Be prepared to set up new thing after new thing, just to see them canceled or quietly forgotten about without having ever even been used. And, of course, always expect to finally receive a response at the literal last moment. 

After a certain point, it genuinely became comical. It became a joke between coworkers. "Good ol' BB is at it again". It sometimes felt like the various departments of the company hardly ever coordinated, and so all of them are trying to roll things out at once before cancelling half of them. If you aren't capable of laughing about such an issue, do not work here. You will lose your mind.

All of that being said, I do not regret my time with Beyond Basics. Not at all. The pay is actually surprisingly good for the type of work, and as I said before most of the people within the company are genuinely good and try their best. If they could resolve the communication issues and present themselves as a coordinated, united front, they could do even better work. 

I hope they continue to grow and learn. Their mission is a worthwhile one; They just need to become more efficient. 

Beyond Basics is a fun company to work for. You get to work with bright individuals and educate them on the fundamentals of reading. The bonds you build with the students over time reflect a fun, albeit sometimes challenging, process of growth.

However, the company is horribly mismanaged, particularly its finances. They took away professional development opportunities from our tutors in the Benton Harbor area, which severely impacted our income when the school we were working with was not in session either due to inclement weather, holidays, etc. 

Given these instances were not under our control, we were not able to reliably secure a consistent income from this company during those periods of inactivity.

When you are hired, Beyond Basics tells you there is opportunity for summer work, but our Benton Harbor cohort has been temporarily laid off once last year, and the same exact situation is occurring for the upcoming summer. It just does not feel like this company has their employees' best interests at heart, yet they tout a culture of unconditional service for their clientele -- the school districts they have funding for. 

How is it possible for your employees to invest themselves into this pivotal role and simultaneously deprive them of the resources necessary to earn a living, let alone commit to their work as best as they can?

This job sometimes feels more like contract work or as if you were working rotating shifts. If you want a stable job with the opportunity for career advancement, you better be willing to relocate to the Detroit Metro area and shoot for upper management, because the tutors doing the actual work are not this company's priority.

Tutors do not get petty cash or access to a company credit card in order to purchase basic necessities for our students, such as water. When there is a party in order to celebrate an upcoming holiday break, for example, we are not able to provide the students with a fun experience without paying out of pocket for the necessarily materials (food, drinks, entertainment) and not being reimbursed.

Beyond Basics is based on lies. While they claim to help the lowest readers, they in fact only tutor the highest readers. I’ve seen this for myself. It's all about the test scores and numbers for them. It's easiest to see movement with those higher students. So, instead, they leave behind the children who need the most help. How can a child be deemed 'too low' for a literacy program?! Isn't that supposed to be the point? Helping those who need it the most? That's what Beyond Basics claims they do, but it's not true at all.

While they claim they want their employees to share ideas and ways to improve things, they don't at all. They prefer those who don't question anything and just fall in line with everything they say--whether it makes sense or not. Those are their cherished employees. Those who bring up new ideas and/or suggestions are actually viewed as troublemakers. They should really look more closely at those 'cherished employees' because they are the ones who are the most dishonest--milking the clock to get more hours, lying on their timesheets, and barely tutoring their students.

Bottom line--do yourself a favor and do not work for this company. I wouldn't recommend working at Beyond Basics to my worst enemy. You will be sorry and upset when you see how they really run things. It's disgusting and sad that they take advantage of all of these schools, teachers and students to benefit their own selfish needs.

This is a very rewarding job with having the ability to work with children on the elementary level or on the high school level. Raises and hourly pay is decent for entry level or a retiree. You can move up in the company easily. Alot of Program Managers do not have enough experience, training, or leadership qualifications to be placed in the school environment especially during a global pandemic. They favor employees that are “yes men/women” and “house…..” mentality. If you have an opinion or see how students you work with learn differently then their “ guaranteed 3 grade level climb in reading in just 6 weeks of tutoring “ they alter the tests results to look like the students are improving, when many aren’t or didn’t need the program in the first place. If you make your job about the kids, don’t trust/get close to any of the other employees, you will be safe and have a job. Constant turnover of staff for many reasons, they are always hiring and if you have an associates degree or higher and know how to read at atleast a 4th grade level, you will get hired. Doesn’t matter if you have people skills, care about the students, or want to make a difference in your community, or see changes in the company needed for the betterment of the students. Just show up, you’re guaranteed a temporary job until they hirer 60 more people within the next week of you starting. They make sure to let you know you are replaceable. 

Students -the best part of working at BB. I quite liked most of my colleagues as well. The pay and hours were decent, although the first couple years there we had no PTO or paid holidays. No 401 or health insurance, either. 

The hardest part about working for Beyond Basics was the management. They didn’t communicate with each other at the main office and so the employees often got different answers from different people at the office. The turn around was extremely high, too. Schedules changed at the last minute, hours were cut at the last minute. The program constantly was changing to cater to the assessment tests that the student took to enter the program and exit it. The data we needed to log was constantly changing- my last year there, we received notice of program changes to the curriculum three times. As in, right in the middle of students who had already started the program. Management was not open to hearing suggestions. Management would also have you go to different schools (without any notice) to fill in for others.
Summer had only part time work available, so be aware of that beforehand. 
During my last year of working for them, we did receive PTO and paid holidays. But not paid when school breaks were going on- Christmas, midwinter, spring breaks all unpaid. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Being able to work with the kids.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
There is absolutely no organization within the main office that’s located downstate. There is a huge lack of communication, the training is awful, and for 3 wks during training they only pay you $10.33 an hour. The other thing that is inappropriate/unprofessional is that they’ll close up shop completely at a school with no prior notice and no explanation no matter if you still have kids working the program. I do not recommend this employer at all. Move forward at your own financial risk.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
This question should only apply if you’re working at their main office in the Detroit area. Because if you’re out in the field tutoring then your work environment would be in any school setting, which is perfectly fine. It’s their office management that needs training!

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I was very fortunate to have been able to work in a private Christian school. The students were great and willing to learn.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working with the kids, watching them progress and grow confidence, that part is amazing. Hands down best part of any job I’ve ever had and most fulfilling. HOWEVER the company is horrible. Absolutely no organization, no communication, deep separation between “home office” and the actual on the ground tutors and employees actually working in the schools. The schools would get frustrated with the disorganization and lack of communication, many ended our program due to this, despite the amazing results. Company needs an entire overall to full succeed. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Everything besides the actual tutoring of the kids.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
No communication, extremely disorganized, sometimes are not paid on time, employees on the ground are not listened to or cared for by upper management.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Flying blind hoping the information you’re giving is accurate and won’t change weekly.

I was so excited to work for such an amazing non profit to help children.  What I walked into was a team of some incredible people, but unfortunately, there were a few that only wanted to make it difficult for others to succeed.  It was not a collaborative culture.  It was also an HR person's nightmare.  
Two people in particular were toxic and unprofessional. They should be removed from the organization and replaced with collaborative minded professionals.
The founder had a kind heart, however, was not very forthcoming with staff and was VERY difficult to work with.  I would NEVER encourage
anyone to work with Beyond Basics unless major changes happen to create a better work culture with higher values when it comes to how to treat the team.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Low standards, thereby allowing just about anyone to qualify for a tutoring position.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Where to begin: late notice for work assignments, indifferent and reclusive management, lack of supplies/equipment, ever-changing procedures, zero guidance on dealing with students' psychological issues, etc., etc.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is stifling and unencouraging. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
After driving a 50-minute commute: wait for student(s) who may or may not show up, try to engage a student who doesn't want to be there (reading/writing support) in the first place, get interrupted by other students acting out, maybe get 15/50 minutes of actual work done with said student, rinse and repeat during the next class period.

This organization is a fun place to work, but management is top-heavy and employees are treated like they are replaceable. There is high turnover, which is the only way to get ahead in this organization (if you don't quit, you can replace someone who does). 

Ideas and ingenuity are frowned upon, and the leaders take credit for the work of the employees. Often, hard work is sabotaged with little to no notice. 

Oftentimes metrics take precedence over the students they are purported to serve. It is more important to look good for volunteers than to help the students that need the most help.

I do not recommend working here if you take pride in your work and want to be a valued part of the corporation.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Non-profit representative 27 salaries reported	$28.06 per hour
Tutor 9 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Recruiting specialist 1 salary reported	$55,000 per year
Data manager 3 salaries reported	$71,586 per year
Data coordinator 2 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour

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