If you have questions about teaching or want to learn more about what's involved in working with us, we recommend that you read through the Stick Shift Instructor Basics, FAQ, Quiz. We wrote this based on all of the questions and concerns that we've received from about 3000 applicant instructors since we started in 2018. Of course, if you have additional questions or concerns, we're happy to talk 1 on 1 with you.
If you need to redo the onboarding materials (Contract, New Instructor Onboarding Info and Quiz, and the Driving Record Check), click here.
To sign all of the onboarding documents, click here.
To complete a driving record check, also knowns as an MVR, click here.
Need a refresher on anything we covered during your onboarding? The link below presents all of the information that we shared during the onboarding quiz, but we've removed all of the questions so that you can just read the info.
To re-read the onboarding quiz information, click this link
To see a list of the required instructor paperwork with samples of valid forms, click here.
Long story short: Call, text and email your customer to confirm where to meet and then text us once you've talked with your customer. New instructors (0-5 lessons) must get this done within 24 hours of the lesson notification or else they'll be offboarded. To read our full guidelines on what to do when you receive an order, click here.
Long story short: If you can't teach a lesson, contact the customer to try to find an alternate schedule. If you cancel or turn down the lesson without trying to reschedule, you'll be offboarded. For more detail, please read our guidelines here
To fill out the direct deposit authorization, Click here.
To fill out a new W9, click here.
For those with a registered business who use an EIN for taxes, click the following link. NOTE: Most people do NOT use this option. If you don't have an EIN or don't know what it is, please do NOT use this form. For an EIN W9: click here.
NOTE: If this is your first time doing direct deposit, there are two steps to changing your direct deposit settings.
1) Fill out the direct deposit authorization form below
2) Send us an email letting us know you updated your direct deposit information.
To fill out the direct deposit authorization, Click here.
We created this curriculum to help protect your clutch from excessive wear and tear. The longer your clutch lasts, the longer you'll want to stay active as an instructor. So, it's a win-win. That said, it is not required. If you have a method of teaching that has worked well for you with friends and family, you can teach however you want. As long as you give the customer all the time they paid for, you ask the customer for feedback throughout the lesson, and you teach in a location that meets the insurance requirements, you should be good. Click here to open the Stick Shift Curriculum.
New instructors sometimes have questions and concerns about Level 3 lessons, so we wrote up an FAQ and answer doc. To be clear, you can teach the Level 3 using any car. You don't need a sports car to teach level 3. We don't support instructors not teaching level 3. If you don't want to teach it, please let us know and we can offboard you.
Click here to open the Level 3 FAQ doc.
When we get complaints from customers, the number one complaint we receive is that there's a long delay between when they put in their order and when they hear from their instructor. So, to incentivize good customer service, we give more lessons to instructors who are quick about confirming orders and communicating with customers. If you're slow about confirming orders or communicating with us or with customers, we'll put you lower on the list and you'll get fewer customers. To see how you're doing relative to other instructors, we send out a report once per month letting you know your average order confirmation speed. If you have any questions about this, click here to open the Order Confirmation FAQs.
Want to talk with other instructors or ask a question? Head over to our Facebook group and chat it up! Note that it's a private group, so you'll need to request access. Click here to visit the Facebook Group.
You can do a variety of things with your calendar, including the following:
1) Change your Regular, Weekly Availability. To start out, we put in whatever availability you indicated when you signed up. Going forward, you can change your availability by logging into Acuity.
2) Sync your SSDA calendar with your Google, iCal, or other calendars
3) Download the Acuity App.
4) Block off your calendar for an extended period (i.e. a vacation)
To find the instructions for managing your calendar of availability, Click here to view the Acuity Calendar Guide page.
Within 30 days of your first lesson, you need to have your car inspected. Note that while various US states do annual safety inspections, state safety inspections do not meet the requirements of our insurance company. You must complete one of the two inspection options that we provide to you. To access the car inspection forms or do an online car inspection, click here.
When we get complaints from customers, poor quality teaching location is the #2 complaint topic. Often times, the instructor chooses a location that is too small and too busy. So, we put together a guide for how to find a suitable location. Also, you can submit to us your teaching location information that we will then share with your customers when discussing sales. To get guidance and help with finding a suitable teaching location near to you as well as to submit your default teaching location information, click here.
If you need to contact us, please first consider what your topic is about before contacting us.
If you need help with an order (confirming, canceling, rescheduling, etc...) or you have a concern about a specific customer, please send us a text message. Texts messages are routed to our sales team and they will quickly jump on your message to help you out with your order. Please do NOT send us a text if you have an administrative concern, like something about tax forms or contracts. The sales team does not know how to help you with administrative concerns. Emailing the instructor support team will be your best option if you need help with an administrative topic that is not related to a customer or an order.
For help with your lessons and customers (rescheduling, canceling, etc...), please text us at 617-514-0445
For all other matters, please email us at instructors@StickShiftDrivingAcademy.com