Don’t we all agree that the pocket money that students receive is never enough for them? We see a lot of people trying to learn earning money as a student and guess what? There are a lot of part-time jobs that the GenZ calls “side gigs” that help you earn some extra bucks on the side.
The side hustle/ side gig culture is not new and has been in existence for quite a while now. To put this into perspective with some numbers – according to statistical reports, in 2019, around 50 percent of part-time undergraduate students enrolled at a university in the United States worked 35 or more hours per week! This percentage is only going up with time and it doesn’t look like the curve is dipping any time soon.
Why exactly do we see a huge hike though? The answer is simple. The households that these students come from don’t have a boastful financial background. Or they are trying to be financially independent and looking to earn extra money. Or some of them are trying to clear their debts. This is like student loan debts.
Whatever the reason for you to earn some extra money, no matter who you are (a student or not). Here are the top 10 side hustles that can earn you some extra money. Keep in mind that this isn’t an exhaustive list and make sure you choose the one that suits you best.
Content Writing
Do you’ve had a knack for writing? and don’t mind spending an hour or two everyday we have a solution. Content writing should be the number one gig for earning money as students. Get a couple courses on content writing (there are some free resources on YouTube as well). Get a solid understanding of fundamentals. You can get in touch with marketing agencies for internships, develop your skills. This might turn out to be your main gig eventually as well!
Graphic Designing
If you have a knack for creatives, animation and Adobe Photoshop – graphic designing is the perfect sidegig for you. For Photoshop, you wouldn’t need a super powerful machine to render videos like a video editor would – as long as you have a computer with 8 gigs of RAM, a half-decent CPU, and 4 gigs of VRAM – you should be good to go. Again, you can intern with marketing agencies to start with, develop your skills, and perhaps even shift to a product-based company depending on how much you like doing graphic design? The sky is the literal limit.
Web Designing
One of the most popular side-gig in recent times. Every business needs a website, and behind every website is a website designer. You can start out as a web designer, create UI/UX mockups on platforms like Figma and Adobe XD, and eventually move on to being a holistic UX/UX designer. Web development agencies should be your first point of contact, and eventually, when you wish to further bolster your career – perhaps moving upwards to a full-fledged UI/UX agency would be a good idea.
Web Development
If you’re confused about the difference between web design and development – the difference is simple. Web designers create mockups, workflows etc. They define how a website would look and feel like. Whereas web developers take that vision, and code it into a working website. You’d need to be skillful at different programming languages.
If you don’t have the necessary knowledge, start with investing in a course – online or offline, whichever suits you best, and contact web development agencies for an internship. There are many different career paths that you can take – you can choose to be a generalist and go the full-stack route, you can be a specialist in either front-end or back end systems, or switch routes altogether and go the app/web app development route.
Influencer Marketing
If you have a tonne of followers on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, use it to your advantage with Influencer marketing. Beware though, the competition in this field is extremely high. But so is the potential for remuneration that you can earn. If you don’t have hundreds and thousands of followers, as long as you have a few thousand, Social Media agencies would love to have you as a part of their micro-influencer campaign.
If you don’t have a few thousand followers, perhaps offer to help create content for the agencies? We’ve covered content creation in a separate section down below.
Virtual Assistant
If you are good at doing repetitive tasks, CEOs of Mid-sized companies would love to have you. You’ll be scheduling their calendars, answering and drafting emails, handling their social media profiles, etc. The job description would vary from company to company. And you are virtually (pardon the pun) guaranteed to find an organisation that’d be a right fit for you.
Social Media Management
Speaking of managing social media profiles, Social media management is one very important aspect of marketing that can act as a wonderful way for students to earn money in their free time. You’ll need to be a jack of all trades – your caption game and hashtag research needs to be on point, you might need to dabble with a little bit of Canva, and you need to have a modicum of understanding on how the different social media platforms work.
Each and every type of organisation out there, save for a few, non–internet dependent sectors, are actively looking for people to help manage their digital presence, so if this interests you, shoot your shot!
Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing is a very broad term, used to talk about the different methods brands can utilise the internet to market their products. This could be through emails, Whatsapp, through advertisements on social media and search engines, or organic reach on the different platforms. You could choose to be a generalist helping out mid-sized companies and earn a decent wage, but the money really starts flowing in when you’re specialised in a particular stream. As a student looking for a side-gig, you don’t really need to be specialised to earn some money, as long as you understand the basics. If you’re interested, but feel like you need more information, there are plenty of free and paid digital marketing courses available. The free ones offered by Google, Meta and Hubspot would be an ideal starting point.
Print on Demand/ Dropshipping
Now, this is one of the most difficult side-gigs that exist. But the remuneration is so lucrative that it’s definitely worth a mention in this list. You will need to possess a lot of different skills. This includes digital marketing, content writing, website development, and logistics management, if you don’t have the resources to get it outsourced.
The end goal in Print on Demand / Dropshipping is to merely take care of getting customers in your gate, while the order fulfilment will be taken care of by the parent company.
Again there are plenty of courses available that can get you kick-started on Print on Demand/Dropshipping – but be wary, you’ll be required to invest a decent chunk of change before you start seeing real returns.
Content Creation
Creating content on platforms like YouTube and Instagram, as opposed to content writing, will help you monetize your hobby.If you’re someone who’s looking to earn something from your interests, but not really in an immediate need for money, then this is ideal for you. You should be comfortable in front of a camera, be able to fluently talk about the particular topic you’re interested in, know a little bit of video editing, and, most importantly, be passionate about the topic that you’re choosing to create content on. You can then eventually monetize your content with ads, sponsored segments, or even paid partnerships with brands.
Final Word
What did you think of our list? Are you currently earning income with any of these streams? Do let us know your success down in comments. And encourage others to start their journey to be financially independent as well!
Don’t forget that StuCred has your back! Be sure to always refer to our blog for further tips on financing your future.
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