Your parents and high school teachers have convinced you to get your college degree. It will make you more marketable to employers once you graduate, or so they said. You’ve heard it one too many times, “No one can survive or compete in this economy without a bachelor’s degree.” Well, what about those long 4 years of being completely broke? Did your mentors mention how terrible that would be? Does it seem like the only employment options you have during your college career are waitressing/bartending at a restaurant? Or maybe working at the nearest fast food hub?
Compromising your weekends and dealing with tons of drunken college students at 3 am may not sound like your cup of tea. There are other options you can pursue to increase your cash flow as a student. These options will likely be more enjoyable, and all idealistic notions aside, will probably make you more marketable to employers in the future!
Freelance Writing
Freelance writing can give you the opportunity to make extra cash on your own terms. You can receive assignments when you are available to write them. Publications usually pay by the word, so there will be no ambiguity about your pay and work. Try to find a journal or publication that hires freelancers based on your area of interest or college major. For example, if you are majoring in petroleum or chemical engineering, you could freelance for an oil and gas publication. Many of the renowned journals and publications hire students/ recent college graduates who are able to grasp technical industry terms and business deals. If you are interested in politics or economics, you can also freelance for a web-based or print publication. Contact the human resources manager or the managing editor of the publication. Have writing samples ready to send over, as this is an important part of the selection process. Let them know your interests as well as your willingness to write on a regular basis. This temporary job will be a great addition to your resume, and in the meantime you could learn a lot of about your field of interest.
Work/Study Program at your University
If you qualify for financial aid, your university admissions office may have laid out options for a work and study program. This dual initiative usually gives students the chance to work in administrative university positions while pursuing their college degrees. If you didn’t qualify for financial aid, it may be a good idea to visit with your university’s financial aid office. Ask them if you could still be placed in one of these programs. Although the work may be purely administrative, you could get some good experience before you step into the actual workforce!
Research Assistant
Professors get large grants for their research projects and faculty initiatives. While writing their funding proposals to organizations and universities, they usually allocate funds for student assistants in their budgets. If there is a particular subject you are interested in, ask a professor if you can work as their research assistant. Although professors usually seek out graduate students, they may be willing to make exceptions if they see your dedication and initiative. Check out academic department websites and faculty specialties to target particular projects. You will usually get paid by the hour for your hard work!
This guest contribution was submitted by Pamelia Brown, who specializes in writing about associates degree. Questions and comments can be sent to: pamelia.brown@gmail.com.
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I’d have to disagree. Freelancing is now saturated with people who’s domestic average income per capita is $3/hr or less. Plus most of the people who hire freelancers are newbies and don’t know a good investment from a bad one so I’ve found it difficult to explain to people that a $3 article is going to be really low quality.
Research assistants have to know what they are doing. Professors need to know that they won’t be wasting time or precious grant money on someone to laze around and do nothing. The only reason why Profs look for graduate students is because they’ve already proven themselves worthy to the particular subject of interest.
Work/Study on the other hand is really good because basically every college student is borrowing to pay for tuition and it’s easiest to get a job here. The only thing these people need is a friendly, least likely to chop their coworkers into bits and eat them, type of attitude.
Yes, id have to agree with that as well!
True on that one; i’ve been doing freelancing and some people no how to suck extra hours out of you the quick way; getting you to work more and more!
Awesome post, Dino! These are some great ways to make extra money while in college. I wish I had started my affiliate marketing back when I was in college. I would be a lot wealthier today if I had.
Hi Dino,
Glad to come back to your site, as usual find valuable info this time also !! Making money online during studying, is really good start of the career.. Freelancing and working as research assistant is a wonderful idea and even you can try as a part time faculty in any of the schools too…
Regards
Navya.
These are all good ways for students to make money, but I think that there’s a lot of competition for these jobs.
When I was in college, I sold office equipment on eBay. I’d go to local auctions (government surplus or bankruptcy) to get my products.
Me and my roommate actually started doing it when we still lived in the dorms and while that’s far from an ideal situation, it can be done and while you won’t get rich doing it, you can earn decent money doing it.
Just thought I’d throw in another suggestion for the entrepreneurial students reading your blog
I’m a college student and I work part-time as a freelance writer. I can say it is a really good income opportunity for students especially if you have passion in writing.
If you have the right skills for the right opportunity, there are a lot of Web-based part-time, contractual, or freelance jobs available for college students looking for another source of income. The key is finding a gig that fits your skills and schedule, and committing to it.