The student is the youngest of three children, and the only boy. He is intelligent, articulate, creative, and has a sophisticated range of interests outside school. His two sisters are much older and are now away most of the time pursuing their university education in the UK, and this has left him rather isolated at home.

His parents have the means to afford the boy whatever he wants. Being both the only son and the youngest child has meant that he has become more than a little spoiled. This has resulted in having a strong sense of entitlement and poor self-discipline that his father now wishes to curb without lessening the boy’s spirit and boundless energy, through “the iron hands of a good Tutor.” The student’s mother does not agree with her husband on this matter and encourages the behaviours that his father would like to modify. Unfortunately, the father has little control over the situation at home, and so his son continues to evolve inappropriately.

He is enrolled in the local international school, and is currently following the PYP IB program. The school has a small class size, and he is managing, but struggles with the basics in English and in his own language. His willingness to accept mediocrity does not fit well with the family’s values as a whole.

Along with a desire to steer him more purposefully in the direction of making good decisions and understanding the consequences of his poor decisions, his parents are keen that he should develop a strong desire for excellence in whatever he undertakes. Currently, his circle of friends outside school is restricted to the family’s drivers and security staff and their families, and while this has resulted in knowing a great deal about cars at a superficial level, it does not offer the kind of intellectual stimulus and academic advancement that parents naturally wish to encourage.

He likes to play football, and especially enjoys Universal Fight Club. He has many friends at school and enjoys arranging social opportunities. He enjoys competition, and is motivated by the desire to be the best. If exploited properly, this provides an excellent springboard for developing excellence. His parents would like him to take on more mature sports, perhaps including aikido, rowing (sculling), tennis, squash, and rugby in due course, to build responsibility and teamwork.

His first language is Azeri, and he also speaks some Russian and Turkish. He has been studying English for the last two years, and he already has an excellent grasp of the spoken language. He is a keen writer, but needs to develop longer sentences and proper structure. He also needs to be encouraged to read, to improve both his spoken and his written language skills. His mathematics also requires regular practice.

The Tutor’s role exists on a number of levels — helping with his home and schoolwork and offering an enhancement to what he learns at school. The Tutor will work after school with him three days a week and all day at weekends.

The focus of the after school work will be to ensure, first of all, that everything is completed and prepared for school and that all projects and tests are fully prepared and understood. In particular, he needs extra help with his English reading and writing. To facilitate this and make sure that after school work is correctly targeted, the Tutor will collect him from school once a week and liaise directly with the boy’s class teacher to ensure that the lines of communication between home and school are clear and open. His mother is very supportive at this level, and wants him to practice his maths, reading and writing every day. His mother also feels that her son needs to learn good etiquette and manners, such as dressing appropriately and using cutlery properly.

Of equal importance, and the underlying purpose of the role of Tutor, is the need to develop in him a love of learning and a striving for excellence, combined with the traditional qualities of self-discipline, commitment, effort, reward, value of money, and consequences of actions and decisions. The hope is that an engaging Tutor who establishes a friendly and productive relationship with the boy will be able to provide an alternative perspective, a different set of standards of behaviour, to those he has become accustomed to. If this relationship develops as intended, it is hoped the boy will want to emulate some of the qualities of his Tutor/Mentor. But the Tutor should be under no illusions here — this is a challenging role requiring a candidate who has immense reserves of inner strength and confidence and who wishes to take the time and invest the emotional energy in what will be a slow and, at times, uncomfortable journey. If only a small part of the hoped-for improvement materialises it will at least be a step in the right direction and an improvement on what the outcome will be if the boy continues to develop unsuitable behaviours unchecked.

The long-term goal is that he should develop a desire to explore. He has the resources to excel in whichever interest he may wish to pursue. It is clear from his love of cars and engineering in general that he has an inquisitive and curious mind but that his circumstances, while affording considerable material acquisition and access, do not currently provide him the platform for growth in other respects. It will be the Tutor’s responsibility to alter this situation, and he or she will have more or less unlimited resources at his or her disposal with which to achieve this goal. For example, he is better at racing his car than the rest of his class at school, but this does not represent any real competition. If the Tutor were to set up a radio control car-racing club in the area, the student’s father would provide the resources for building a proper facility and promoting the club with a view to attracting real-world competition. This is just one small example of the extent to which the Tutor would be able, with the student, to aim at excellence on a world stage that exploits his interests and qualities.

The dual nature of this role is especially challenging. On the one hand it is about serious education, and it is essential the opportunities be taken to develop knowledge of all academic subjects, especially mathematics and the sciences through explorations and games. On the other hand is the possible change of outlook in the boy, which will be far from quick and certainly not straightforward. His mother does not agree there is a need to change the boy in any significant way. Many of his behaviours, especially his rudeness to domestic staff and his ability to acquire possessions without restraint, are learned from if not encouraged by his mother.

The successful applicant will likely be an experienced educator who has a background or a keen interest in mechanical engineering. Applications from engineers who relate well to young people but who do not have formal teaching experience will also be considered. Since exam preparation will become part of the remit as the boy gets older, it would be helpful if the applicant has an excellent academic track record himself or herself, whichever path they followed. It would be a considerable advantage if the Tutor were also a keen constructor or designer of one or more of the vehicles that interest the student — cars, planes, boats, submarines, tanks etc.

The student has, as already mentioned, both a huge amount of energy and access to superb resources. This means that the Tutor will need to be disciplined and firm, to establish patterns that encourage wanted behaviours and discourage the unwanted. The boy’s father is aware of the role that parenting has played in getting to this point, and is looking for support from a capable Tutor to help him to develop more rigour and higher standards of decorum in his son. The boy’s mother, on the other hand, does not feel that there is a problem to address at all, except with his schoolwork and public manners, and she is likely to resist any stringent disciplinary actions against her son that either her husband or the Tutor may wish to impose.

This means that the Tutor will need to be extremely diplomatic, tactful, patient, and calm at all times. The student can be extremely manipulative, and at times downright offensive to the domestic staff and drivers. He is expert at playing adults against one another and at getting his own way. In any event, like most children, he responds better to carrot than to stick. The challenge is to find carrots whose potency is not undermined by the family’s buying power.

The key to the success of this role lies with the Tutor being able to establish an excellent relationship with the student, one in which the boy values the company of and praise from the Tutor, and therefore changes his behaviour in order to maximise these rewards. If he likes the Tutor and wants to please him or her, then it is probable that he will reduce the extent to which his actions cause the Tutor displeasure.

It is possible that the boy’s mother will join in some of the classes with her son, especially in English, and so the Tutor will also need to be comfortable in this role. The family have several dogs, both large and small, so it is essential that the Tutor is comfortable around animals.

The Tutor will work with the student after school and at weekends, 5 days a week. This means that the Tutor will take his or her weekend off during weekdays. The exact days these will be are not known at this stage.

Typically, he gets home from school around 3pm; 12.30pm on school ’planning’ days. The Tutor should be at the boy’s home when he gets home from school. He or she will work/play with him until dinner time. The precise nature of the assignment of the Tutor’s time will be fine-tuned once the position starts.

Although the general plan is to follow a regular pattern, the Tutor should expect frequent changes, often with little or no notice. This will require great patience and flexibility, since planned activities may need to be cancelled or rearranged. It is also possible that the Tutor may be asked to swap off-days at short notice, although the Client will keep such occasions to a minimum.

If the Tutor is asked to accompany the Client when they travel, he or she will have their full expenses covered by the Client.

Furnished accommodation with Internet will be provided for the Tutor.

A car, or a car and driver will also be provided for the Tutor, as he or she prefers.

The Client will provide any meals that occur during tutoring time.

The Client holds a high profile, senior position in a major company, and this means that it is particularly important that the Tutor does not behave in a way that might embarrass or in any other way bring him or herself, the Client, or the Company into disrepute. This may mean that the Tutor’s private life may be subject to unusually high levels of observation.

The Client will be responsible for organising appropriate visas for the Tutor.

Few local people speak English, so it would be an advantage if the Tutor already has, or is willing to learn quickly, some Azeri or Russian. This will be particularly helpful in building a relationship with the student’s bodyguard, driver, and house staff.

If sufficient notice is not available for teachers under contract, TI may be able to offer assistance in negotiating termination.