Best Part-time Jobs For College Students

By Jane Hurst

If you are a college student, you likely need to take on a part-time job in order to be able to pay for your education, rent, etc., and to have a bit of extra cash for fun. Unfortunately, in the past the majority of part-time jobs available to college students were low paying positions in take-outs and retail stores. Luckily, times are changing, and if you are creative in your thinking, you can find all kinds of neat ways to earn extra money part time, and you will be earning a lot more than minimum wage. Here are some of our favorite ideas.

• Circulation Clerk – Check with local and school libraries to see if they are in need of a circulation clerk. You don’t need a degree in library studies for this type of work. Your job will entail helping patrons find books, do research, find reference materials, etc. It is helpful if you have a strong background in customer service, as the job mainly involves dealing with the public.
• Online Researcher – As a student, you are used to doing a lot of research. Why not take advantage of your research skills, and earn as much as $37 per hour. Your job will be to research questions that businesses get from their clients, and provide explanations that are easy for anyone to understand. You will need to have excellent research skills, and it helps if you are knowledgeable in certain areas of business.
• Content Editor – This is a relatively easy job, and you can often choose your own rate of pay if you are working as a freelancer. You will be using a style guide to edit content that is going online. You will be checking for things like grammar and spelling, and be expected to offer quick turnaround times. You can earn as much as $40 per hour doing this sort of work on freelancing platforms like Upwork and Freelancer.
• SEO Specialist – Search engine optimization helps a website to rank better in search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. The higher the website ranks, more visitors and money the business has. You can get in on this by becoming a part-time SEO specialist. Your duties will involve managing SEO strategy for others, and earning up to $51 per hour. Students can work remotely for digital agencies like 80 Proof Digital, which is great if you don’t have access to transportation, or if there is not a physical location nearby to work from.
• Guest Service Coordinator – You can earn as much as $21 per hour working as a guest service coordinator. This is a job that requires excellent customer service skills, because that will be the bulk of the work. Many industries hire people for this type of position for additional customer support, clerical support, etc.
• Night Auditor – Hotels hire night auditors to do work that doesn’t get done during regular business hours, and to keep an eye on the reception desk. Because you will be working at night, the rate of pay is automatically going to be higher. In fact, you can earn up to $30 per hour for performing such tasks as bookkeeping, guest relations, paperwork, etc. You will be expected to have computer skills, as well as some basic knowledge of accounting.
• Freelance Writer – Depending on the client and how good of a writer you are, you can potentially enjoy unlimited earnings as a freelance writer. In most cases, freelancers earn a minimum of $20 per hour. You need to have good writing skills, as well as grammar and spelling skills, and be able to work under deadlines. You could end up writing anything from landing pages to e-books and more.

Byline:

Jane Hurst has been working in education for over 5 years as a teacher. She loves sharing her knowledge with students, is fascinated about edtech and loves reading, a lot. Follow Jane on Twitter!