The Top 10 Online Jobs for Students

Your fundamental objective as a student is to learn. What better way to learn than by gaining hands-on experience while earning money? Unfortunately, finding a decent-paying part-time job you can balance with your classes, extracurricular activities, and social life might be challenging.

Online jobs might be the perfect alternative, offering independence and flexibility while helping you make money. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that a lot of job responsibilities are able to  be completed from home just as well as they can be done in an office. Online jobs are a great way to prepare you for the professional world while still allowing you to achieve your educational goals and enjoy student life.

This article explores the top 10 online jobs you can participate in as a student to earn a steady income in parallel to your formal education. If you’ve ever wondered how to make some money on the side, this is the perfect article for you.

• Social media manager
• Online tutor
• Virtual assistant
• Freelance writer
• Transcriptionist
• Freelance graphic designer
• Web designer
• Video editor
• Proofreader
• Photo editor

Social media manager

With the number of active social media users having crossed the 4.5 billion mark, it’s no surprise that social media marketing is a skill in high demand.

If you spend hours scrolling social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter and have a creative and relatable side, consider capitalizing on your skills by becoming the digital voice for a small business. The role involves strategizing and creating brand promotions, analyzing engagement, and communicating with potential customers.

Social media management is a fun and exciting job that may provide the balance you need to keep up with your classes and coursework. Becoming a part-time social media manager can help you develop relevant exposure and communication skills you’ll need if you wish to pursue this marketing career full-time after college.

The average social media manager earns anywhere from $14 to $35 per hour.

Online tutor

Tutoring is a convenient and enjoyable option for part-time work. Being a tutor offers many benefits when you’re a student, including flexibility. You also have the opportunity to brush up on your knowledge and skills. Studies have shown you’re actually likely to reinforce your own learning by teaching other students.

Tutoring online also offers you the chance to tutor anyone globally without leaving your dorm room. This eliminates the cost, time, and effort involved in physical travel. Engaging with folks outside your normal environment might also lead you to cultivate an enriching learning environment for yourself and your students. With online learning continuing to transform the education industry, tutoring online can give you a good head start professionally and improve your communication and presentation skills.

Tutoring is a well-paying source of income to help you manage student debt and living expenses. Online tutors earn an average of $19.65 per hour.

Virtual assistant

Being a virtual assistant involves providing targeted help to clients and gives you the freedom to work on your own schedule. As a virtual assistant, you are your own boss, learning every step of the way by offering specialized services.

A virtual assistant job offers great flexibility and gives you space to choose which services you want to provide. Some examples of services provided by virtual assistants include completing data entry, answering customer questions on sites like Amazon and LinkedIn, and making travel arrangements for business owners. If you like any particular aspect of the role, you can start offering a specialty. For example, if you enjoy working with spreadsheets, tell customers you’re especially interested in jobs related to data entry and analysis.

The job will constantly keep you on your toes since you’re often performing new and interesting tasks. Finding clients is nearly effortless with the help of a remote talent platform like Upwork, which has thousands of opportunities.

Learning to be efficient as a virtual assistant can also substantially improve your personal productivity while helping you learn how to do various administrative tasks. Expect to earn anywhere between $10 and 20 per hour as a virtual assistant, depending on your skills and experience.

Freelance writer

Many small businesses aim to grow their customer base through quality content. A role as a freelance writer involves writing website content, blogs, and product briefs. Writing about various topics also helps you extend your knowledge base across a wide range of industries.

If you’re good with the written word and have a penchant for communication, a freelance writing job might be the perfect role for you. Writing generally lets you work on a flexible schedule as long as you meet deadlines and allows you to earn extra cash, paying anywhere between $15 and $40 per hour.

As a freelance writer, you can also work extra hours if you find yourself idle between classes or facing a money crunch. Freelance writer opportunities are practically limitless!

Transcriptionist

Large industries like media, health care, and academia often need transcriptions, for example, turning an audible recording into a written document. The role of a transcriptionist involves transcribing accurate data and providing relevant, high-quality searching and indexing of each recording.

Consider a role as a freelance transcriptionist if you have an affinity for learning and exploring new topics. Paying attention to detail in this role can also help improve your grammar, analytics, and language skills, which are immensely valuable when you’re a student or new graduate.

You are likely to make anywhere between $12 and $22 per hour completing transcription jobs.

Graphic designer

Countless businesses hire graphic designers to appeal to their target audience through compelling visuals. As a result, graphic design has found applications across a range of domains, from traditional billboard advertising to magazine designs and social media campaigns.

As a student, you may find freelance graphic designing to be an incredibly profitable side hustle, especially if you already know how to use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Sketch, and Figma. Even if you aren’t yet an expert, becoming proficient with these tools is relatively easy and can be fun if you have an eye for design and creativity.

Hiring quality graphic designers has become a priority for many companies that want an edge over their competitors. Freelance graphic design could be the perfect creative outlet to de-stress during a busy week of classes.

You will probably make roughly $15 to $35 per hour as a freelance graphic designer.

Web designer

Web design has experienced increasing growth due to the rise of digitalization and technology. Nearly every business is looking to develop a strong online presence—a website is a business’s online storefront, after all.

As a freelance web developer, you’ll have countless possibilities to find clients and websites in need of your services. Additionally, you’ll be exposed to new and innovative ways companies interact with users through their websites. This knowledge will be especially useful if you want to build your own website someday and market your freelance business through it. As you move along the learning curve, web design can pay you handsomely while you enhance your transferable creative and technical skills.

An hourly web design rate ranges from $15 to $30 per hour and is great for those who are well-versed in fundamental design tools, programming languages, visual strategy, or CMS (customer management systems) like WordPress.

Video editor

Video editing is a wonderful way to make extra money for textbooks or midnight snacks. With the number of hours people spend watching videos growing rapidly, when you build your video editing capabilities, you’re building a solid skill for future employment opportunities.

If you’re creative and have solid technical video editing skills and knowledge, consider lending your services to the many well-paying clients waiting for you to share their brand stories. Plan to charge them anywhere between $15 and $30 per hour.

Proofreader

Proofreaders are needed almost everywhere to guarantee that the quality of shared and published content is good. From blog posts and brochures to screenplays and even student essays, proofreaders are required to ensure that there are no grammatical or structural errors in the document.

If constantly pointing out grammatical mistakes and consistency errors while reading comes naturally, consider becoming a freelance proofreader today. This is an extremely enjoyable gig if you are someone who loves reading!

You can earn between $18 and $35 per hour as a proofreader.

Photo editor

Food bloggers, influencers, and fashion models are becoming increasingly prominent figures across social networking sites. As a result, freelance photography, photo editing, and touch-ups have never been more in demand.

If you have an exceptional eye for detail and a great sense of aesthetics, offering photography and image touch-up services can be an ideal source of income. Being proficient in Photoshop will also help you create beautiful and innovative shots for small businesses.

You can expect to work flexible hours while earning as much as $10 to $25 per hour.

Start an online job for a successful career path

In a highly competitive world, pursuing jobs on freelance sites can assist you financially and provide you with invaluable experiences and skills that employers love to see. Offering freelance services online will open up a world full of opportunities fueled by the boundless potential of the internet.

If you’re unsure how freelancing works, try connecting with students and others offering freelance services to find out what their day typically entails.

We also have plenty of tips available on how to stay productive while working from home. Focus on finding a job that matches a client’s needs with your interests, skills, and abilities and get started—all you need is a computer and a strong internet connection. Upwork has plenty of online freelance jobs available to college students and recent graduates.

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