Of course, you need some extra money while you’re earning your college degree, but it can be tough to work even a part-time job around your classes and the obligations that come with them, such as labs, researching and writing papers, and studying for tests. Overall, online work may offer the best opportunities for college students – that is, if you can find a gig that matches your skills and offers sufficient pay to make it worth your while. And with the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, you’ll be safer working from your Athens rental housing, or if you’re a Buckeye, your Columbus off-campus apartment.
Below are a few suggestions for would-be at-home workers to get you started. Who knows? You may even dream up some work-at-home schemes of your own that could turn you into an entrepreneur. And the bonus to these endeavors is that if you like the work and pay, it’s something you can continue as a moonlighting gig even after you gain full-time employment.
- Online tutoring. Are you a math, English or science whiz? Your skills could set you up for becoming an online tutor with an average salary of $13-15 an hour. You can offer peer tutoring to other college students or tutor K-12 students in home-school programs. Possibilities also exist for tutoring in music, art, fashion, social media and other areas. Check out sites such as Wyzant or Tutor.com, or find many others online. Ohio University has a tutoring service with online options during the pandemic. Check with them about any potential remote opportunities. Meanwhile, Ohio State University offers free online tutoring to its students.
- Resume writer. Depending on how polished your writing skills are, and how much you study the art and discipline of resume writing, you might make as much as $25 an hour. Check out ResumeEdge and WriterBay but be prepared for fierce competition. It might be best to start out among people you know.
- Blog writing. Pay varies, but if you hit on a good idea, you can make some dough, getting sponsors, partnerships with advertisers, and affiliate marketing. Try to find a topic that will resound with readers, and become an authority. Make sure you post regularly. You’ll need to learn how to launch a blog. Check out Bluehost for starters. If you’re OK with blogging for a content marketing or SEO outfit, that’s always an option as well, though the pay varies wildly. Avoid content farms that pay less than peanuts.
- Transcriptionist. This can be tedious, requiring you to spend long hours listening to audio tapes, and transcribing the recording but you could earn as much as $25 an hour. Are you already studying in the legal or medical field? You’ve got an edge. Look at Transcribeme.com and Tigerfish.com.
There are lots of other possibilities for work that you can perform online from your Athens or Columbus apartment or rental house, from working for a content management site as a writer or editor; as a genealogist; a virtual assistant; a PowerPoint presentation designer; and many other roles. As stated before, the cool thing about starting at-home work as a college student is that it could turn into a profitable professional business once you graduate. And with the economy still depressed as a result of the 2020-21 pandemic, you may need as many irons in the fire as possible.