The job market these days has a lot more to offer college students and even those that have been out of college for years. You no longer have to even leave the house to find a well-paying job. The normal “fields” of work have been expanded as well.
Many people are making one “career” choice, while also doing one or more “side hustles” to help them make ends meet. Whether you intend only to work one job, or you prefer the variety of numerous smaller gigs, there are plenty of well-paying online jobs for college students available in the world of the internet – you just need to know where to look.
Where are the Best Online Jobs for College Students?
When it comes to looking for work online, you need to know exactly where to look. Some job-hunting sites are great for finding remote work and telecommute jobs. Others are horrible and rarely have anything legit. Your days of job searching on Monster are long gone.
What are the Best Online Jobs for College Students?
What makes a job the “best” job? While high pay may be a factor for some, others may want to simply do something that makes them feel like they've helped people, made a difference in the world, or something completely different.
The following list of jobs all have the potential to pay well, but they also allow you the freedom of working from home and possibly even being your own boss. Here are some of the best online jobs for college students—many of them don't even require you have that college degree!
1. Freelance Writing
You're in college, so it's likely you're busy writing term papers often. Why not get paid to do some writing while you're at it? You just have to have a knack for good grammar (and a talent for doing your own editing) to make it in this business. You don't even have to be working toward any kind of English or Journalism degree to qualify.
Pay varies with freelance writing, and you'll want to have a PayPal payment account set up (a lot of online gigs use PayPal or other online payment options instead of direct deposit). You may be paid by project, by word, or you could get paid hourly – it all depends on whom you're working for.
If you start your own writing business, you can choose how you want to get paid. There are low-pay, high-volume writing jobs that can bring in a couple thousand dollars a month. There are also high paying options – like journalism jobs – where you can make $50+ an hour
Get started by searching for writing jobs – but make sure you have some writing samples and a resume tailored to writing as a career. If you're starting your own writing business, come up with a business plan and design a business website before you start reaching out to potential clients.
2. Social Media Manager
Social media is a must-have for businesses, but not all businesses have time to post something on numerous social media sites a day. Sure, some apps help with that, but nothing beats the personal style of an actual human being posting and responding on social media. Plus, with the popularity of memes, shared posts, and videos – there are just some things an app can't do as well as an actual person.
If you are great at getting likes and followers on your social media accounts, and you tend to find that people love to share the things you post, a career as a social media manager may be the ideal job for you to look into. You don't have to have a computer degree or a writing degree, just proof that you can make a social media page popular.
Since you will be the voice of the companies you work for, you need to remain professional online at all times. You need to have a plan: How often you'll post, which sites fit the demographics of the business you're working for, and what you'll post. The pay for working as a social media manager varies, but you can easily make anywhere from $20 to $40 an hour just messing around on social media all day!
3. Editor/Proofreader
If you have a talent for the English language and you like to correct other people's mistakes, being an Editor could be the answer to your dreams. There are all kinds of editorial and proofreading jobs that you can do through the world of the internet
You can work as an editor for businesses, helping them with document editing and manual proofreading. You can be an article editor, working for individual writers or content companies. You can also work as a book editor, which allows you to read a lot of books and get paid for it.
Pay for this type of work is similar to that of freelance writing – it varies and can be hourly, by page, or by project. It's not too difficult to start your own editing or proofreading business either, which makes this an ideal career idea for college students that have an entrepreneurial spirit.
4. Data Entry
If you're a speedy typist and you are good with spreadsheets, data entry is an easy online gig to pick up. You can do data entry for medical companies, warehouses, and you can even do research projects that are referred to as “data entry,” but basically just have you collecting links or doing minor research.
Data entry pays more than minimum wage, and it's steady work, but it maxes out around $16-$17 an hour.
5. Transcriptionist
If you're a fast typist and you don't mind listening to audio files all day and typing out what you hear, you could become a transcriptionist. You don't normally need much experience to get the gig, and you can often set your own workload amounts and hours.
For $15 to $25 an hour, you're going to experience a lot of repetition. This isn't a job that will allow you to binge watch your favorite shows on Netflix either – you need to pay attention to what you're listening to so that you're properly transcribing the audio you're assigned.
6. Virtual Assisting
Virtual assistants are like personal secretaries that work from home. You'll be responding to emails, taking calls, scheduling appointments, and more. Instead of working in an office, you do it in your home – you could be the virtual assistant for someone that lives in California while you're in New York.
You won't have the freedom of setting your own schedule as you do with the other options on this list – you'll basically be working a 9 to 5 job. However, you can make around $20 an hour by putting your excellent communication skills to work.
What You Need to Get Started
Online jobs for college students require many of the same things as any other job – you want to have a resume, and maybe some references. You may need to have samples of your work or a portfolio, and you definitely need a working computer and high-speed internet that is reliable. You also need the drive to work from home and some pretty skilled abilities in time management.