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During college, many students want or need to work in order to pay for college, make ends meet, or just have a bit of day-to-day spending money in their pockets. While there are many jobs for students that require workers to report in person to work, there are also plenty of options for students who want to earn money online from home.
Just like online college, online jobs can offer a flexible schedule that jobs at physical locations cannot.
Also, in today’s world, online jobs for college students may be more stable than “regular” jobs.
With this in mind, we’ve put together this list of the best online jobs for college students (or anyone else) who wish to earn an income from home or wherever there is internet access. These jobs do not require a bachelor’s degree or specific training.
Most skills college students need to handle these jobs are ones they already have or could quickly and easily learn. Even students with no experience can earn extra money online with one or more jobs from home.
Freelance Writer
Every word you read, whether on the internet, in a book, on a label, sign, in a manual, or on this website was written by someone. Freelance writers are in demand to write web content, ads, scripts for videos, web courses to teach others, and much more.
Getting your foot in the door will require you to write or have previously published work that you’ve written available for potential clients to review. If you have nothing to show, go ahead and start a blog and start writing well-researched and edited content for your portfolio.
When you have a healthy set of example articles that you’ve written, you use your best communication skills to reach out to websites and invite them to review your work to see if they would be interested in having you write for them.
You can and should also join writer’s groups on Twitter and Facebook and build relationships with other writers, editors, and bloggers who may also be able to point you to opportunities for paid writing gigs.
Freelance Editor
Hand in hand with freelance writing, freelance editing (or proofreading) is also a good way to make a living online while you are in college.
Online publishers and writers themselves often need editors to edit books, ads, scripts, and anything else that writers write. As with writing, you will need to build a portfolio of your work. You can start out editing papers for friends or articles for the school newspaper or literary magazine to build your portfolio.
Also similar to freelance writing, as a freelance editor, you will need to network online and join groups where you can meet professional editors and hopefully get your foot in the door.
Freelance Graphic Designer
If you have skills in graphic design, you can market these as a freelance graphic designer. Graphic designers make websites look good, and design logos, illustrations, and brochures.
Almost all content for print or online publishing utilizes the work of a graphic designer, making this online job for college students an easy one to find. Great graphic designers are in high demand.
You will need a good understanding of the principles of graphic design and be familiar with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to get started. As we’ve previously mentioned with writing and editing, you’ll also need to put together a portfolio of your best work.
You can build a website to advertise your services, network online, or join a gig site (like Fiverr or Upwork) to find clients to pay you for graphic design work.
Freelance Web Developer
As with every online job for college students we have mentioned so far, a freelance web developer will need a portfolio to get started. We’re sure you can find friends or family who would love a free website so that part is simple.
Most websites today are run on WordPress, so being familiar with all of the ins and outs of WordPress is a must for freelance web developers. Everything on the internet changes quickly, so web developers must stay on top of the latest tech revisions and upgrades to keep websites running smoothly.
To earn an income, you would need to network and show off your portfolio on your own fast, fabulous, and user-friendly website.
Start a Niche Blog or Website
Do you have a passion for travel, cooking, fashion, music, fitness, your kids, or really anything? Sure you do. These things make popular blog topics. Writing about your passion can be an easy way to create popular blog content.
If your family and loved ones are sick of hearing you talk about sports, go ahead and write about it instead. You can then monetize that content with ads (like Google AdSense) and sponsors and get far more from your knowledge than eye rolls from the disinterested.
Writing consistently is key for any blog, so choosing a topic you know a lot about and love to share information about is almost like free money waiting for you to claim. According to WPBeginner.com the most popular blog topics are Fashion, Food, Travel, Music, Lifestyle, Fitness, DIY, Sports, Finance, Politics, Parenting, Business, Personal or Lifestyle, Movies, Cars, News, Pets, and Gaming. As you can see, the field is wide open.
Many bloggers who started out blogging for fun or personal reasons, to track progress, etc., have accidentally found an income from it. Some very successful bloggers have actually made millions of dollars with their blogs. The amazing thing is that they are more than willing to teach you how they did it, and all of this is available for free on the internet.
Online Surveys
Taking online surveys won’t ever make you rich, but you can earn a few dollars per month in your spare time to cover your Starbucks habit. Usually, there is a limit to how many surveys you can complete per day and there are preliminary questions to see which surveys you may qualify to take.
Online surveys usually pay a dollar or two per survey and take a few minutes to complete, but it’s pretty mindless and easy to do. Most survey sites have a minimum payout amount as well, so unless you reach the threshold for payment, you won’t receive the money or gift cards promised.
The good news is that the thresholds are typically very low and easy to achieve for the typical survey taker.
There are also remote job sites that offer money for doing nothing but watching videos. Although these can be legitimate online businesses, the pay is obviously very low for this type of online work.
This is a good online job for college students who don’t have a lot of time for an online business, but still, need a little extra cash or spending money.
Video Captioning
This online job for college students requires good listening and typing skills. It’s very similar to audio transcription, with an extra twist.
People who caption videos transcribe the audio of the videos into text for the bottom of the screen. This may seem very simple, however, they also must make sure the text syncs with the audio of the video, which can be tricky.
Also those same lines, you could also make money by doing voiceovers for videos. On some projects, you might provide the audio and the captions, all in perfect sync.
Video Editing
Having a YouTube channel is a job for some content creators, and it can be very lucrative. But for those who don’t wish to be in front of the camera for all of the internet to see, there is video editing. And it’s not just YouTube, video is the internet’s most popular and profitable form of content.
To become a video editor, you’ll need a firm grasp of the basics of video editing and the software to edit videos. As with all the freelance jobs we have previously discussed, you’ll need to put together a portfolio of your work to show prospective clients.
Teaching English Online
One of the best online jobs for college students is also one of the most rewarding. You can teach English online to people around the world.
Most online English teacher platforms only require fluent English and do not require you to speak another language in order to teach.
One platform, VIPKID, allows you to teach Chinese kids to speak English while working remotely.
In the same vein, students can also earn extra money with tutoring jobs in any subject in which they are proficient.
Many businesses don’t have a solution to market themselves online. Business owners often know nothing about digital marketing through social media or how it can benefit them.
A social media marketer basically enables the business to tap into new streams of revenue and reach more clients through social media engagement. Some social media marketers also fill virtual assistant roles and take care of many online tasks for the companies they work with.
To get started with social media manager marketing as a job, you will need to be an expert on all social media platforms, including the pro features and you will need a firm understanding of the fundamentals of marketing. You can then advertise your services on gig work platforms to attract clients.
How Do Students Get Paid for Working Online?
Many of these online jobs for students are paid via PayPal or by direct deposit to a bank account. Some may offer payment by way of gift cards for popular brands.
These jobs also do not require a lot of money upfront or equipment the typical college student would not have – usually a laptop, a reliable internet connection, and a strong desire to earn cash are all it takes.
With that being said, here are some online business ideas that can bring in extra income for college students or anyone else interested in ways to earn money with a work-at-home job.
This list is in no way exhaustive, as there are many other ways to earn money online, such as data entry jobs, flipping items found at flea markets and thrift stores, and starting a YouTube channel. We’ve focused on the best online jobs to help college students use the skills they have to simply start earning money online right away.
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