7 Profitable Side Jobs for University Students
Most university and college students need to make a financial sacrifice during the studies.
Even though workers with a university degreehave higher salaries once they start working, they need to stay disciplined at university.
Scholarships, books, additional courses, and other materials cost a significant amount of money.
One way to save money is to live on a shoestring budget.
The other way is to do side jobs to make some extra cash.
In this article, we’ll present some practical part-time jobs that help students make ends meet.
Table of Contents
1) Travel agent
Tourism as a business branch has been growing in the last few decades.
As a result, there’s a higher demand for travel agents, as well.
University and college students that know a bit about history and geography could expand their budgets doing this job.
Knowing at least one foreign language is an advantage, of course.
Apart from being a handy side hustle for getting some pocket money, it’s a great chance to improve your communication skills and get to know different people from the whole world. It could open other business opportunities, as well.
It’s a season job, meaning that you won’t have tourist groups all year long. For instance, you can do it during summer when there are no lectures at university.
2) Dog walker
According to the NY Post, 27% of New Yorkers have a dog. Since the citizens of the Big Apple are busy people, they need someone to walk and look after their dogs.
On average, dog walkers make $25/hour. Still, these earnings may vary if a family has more than one dog. Also, these numbers differ from city to city, but it’s a handy option for students living in different parts of the world.
Students can squeeze dog-walking activities in their dense schedule. What’s more, you can walk several pets from different households at the same time and make a substantial amount of money.
One hour in the morning, one in the evening, and you’ll be able to afford some fancy things.
3) Call center agent
Every company needs customer support services, that is, every serious company. Most of them outsource those services to third-party businesses.
Those ventures often hire part-time workers, such as students, to perform those activities.
If you live in the US, it’s highly likely that you’ll be working for a customer support company from another part of the world. This means that you’ll probably need to take night shifts from time to time.
If you limit your work hours to a maximum of four hours per night, you can improve your student budget without working your head off.
Foreign exchange students with mother tongues other than English can land even better call center jobs.
4) Hotel receptionist
Hotel managers often hire students to work as hotel receptionists because they’re more responsive, faster, and they can work part-time hours.
Here are the three main prerequisites for becoming a part-time hotel receptionist:
- You need to be able to politely communicate in your native language and in at least one foreign language. If tourists from one single country visit that area a lot, hotel receptionists are expected to know that language, as well.
- You should learn how the hotel in question works.
- You need to know the town and area where the hotel is situated.
Hotel receptionists often work night shifts, so get ready for that part of this job. Always stress out in advance how many hours per night you can commit to that work.
5) Babysitter
Busy parents need someone to look after their children. Daycare centers are here to provide childcare services while parents are at work.
However, some partners have personal and business obligations in the evening. This is a perfect opportunity for students to make some extra money along the way while babysitting kids in the evening.
Families usually need such services on Friday and Saturday evenings This is great for students because most of them have no university obligations at weekends.
Still, be aware that you need to have a lot of patience to stay with kids. Also, get ready for detailed parental supervision because parents are generally sensitive when it comes to kids.
You should get some knowledge beforehand. Read some materials on how to efficiently look after kids or how to become a governess.
Additional two cents: parents lean towards hiring female students rather than their male colleagues for babysitting jobs.
6) Online tutor
Students should offer their knowledge and skills on the Internet. Some things you know from your regular life and things that you learn at university can be monetized online.
For instance, you can become an online language tutor. Various learning platforms offer their services and many of them insist on verbal communication, rather than grammar. This is a nice opportunity for native speakers of English, Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, and other widespread languages.
If you’re good at makeup, cooking or home improvement, upload tutorials to YouTube and the number of followers might astonish you. These are practical activities that people all over the world need to do.
7) Internet seller
Selling things on the Internet is a great side job for students because it doesn’t take a lot of time and it can bring a significant income.
For instance, you can start by selling different things from your home. Books, records, CDs, clothes, toys, and devices you don’t use anymore are only some of the things you can sell on the Web.
You’ll get rid of items you don’t need anymore, you’ll reduce the clutter, and make some money along the way.
If this side job starts off sell, think about buying goods with an intention to sell them and make money.
So, do you homework and find out where to buy and sell things on the Internet to extend your student budget.
If you make an effort to do side jobs as a student, you’ll both improve your budget and learn some skills valuable for life. What’s more, you’ll meet different people and start expanding your business network while still studying.
Together with the money you can put aside or spend at travels, all these are important benefits of doing additional jobs during university.