10 Online Jobs for Students that You Can Turn into a Career or a Business from Home
Online jobs for students can be lucrative, pay well, and set
you on a successful career path… if you choose them well & you’re willing
to do the work.
We live in a wonderful time, where you can get an accredited university degree from home,
and make a living from home. Finding a job you can do online, will give you
great flexibility, so if you’re up for the challenge, we have created this list
of jobs where you can work remotely:
Great Online Jobs For Students That Can Get Your Professional Life Started
The following online jobs are not always easy to get, but
once you find your way, you’ll be able to build long-term skills, that you can
turn into a career or a business.
1. Online Tutor
If you’re doing well in college, it’s easy to think everyone
else is too, but the truth is that many people struggle with passing their
courses. You could make a living by helping them out and teaching them what you
know.
But don’t stop with fellow college students. You can also
teach kids – from elementary school to high school, there are plenty of kids
who could use your help.
Thankfully, with the Internet, you don’t have to be limited
to your local geographic area. You can teach kids and people from all over the
world.
·
Average
US salary: $13-20/hour.
·
Where
to find work: Tutor.com and Wyzant.
2. Search Engine Evaluator
Search engines like Google and Bing rely on user feedback to
update their algorithms in ways that serve people better.
You could be one of the people who fills out feedback forms
and lets them know what they need to do in order to improve.
·
Average
US salary: $12-15/hour.
·
Where
to find work: Leapforce and Lionbridge.
3. Social Media Manager
We all spend a lot of time on social media every day –
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and the list goes on. If you’re used to
getting a lot of likes or comments, or if you’re great at motivating others
through your posts, you might want to consider turning this into a profession.
Social media managers build communities for companies on
social media, engage these communities in conversations (for example, getting a
lot of comments), and encourage them to take some sort of an action (like
reading a blog post, signing up to an email list, or buying a product). Social
media managers also play a vital role in building brand awareness for a
company.
·
Average
US Salary: $62,000/year for employees,
according to Indeed. If you’re a
freelancer, it depends on your marketing and negotiation skills.
·
Where to
find work: The best opportunities in this
field come from networking and pitching companies directly. To get started, try
Googling marketing agencies and see if they need help handling the clients
they’ve already landed.
4. Freelance Writer
Social media managers promote content that builds
relationships and promotes sales for companies. Freelance writers write the
content. There’s a huge need for writers now, as more and more companies want
to build long term trust with their target audiences, and they do that by
providing top quality content.
Great freelance writers stay up to date on marketing trends
and research and know which content types work best when. They’re not only
skilled at conveying complicated ideas, but they know how to do it in a way
that best converts in a particular content format.
Well-fed freelance writers stay out of “content farms” and
bidding sites, where you compete with hundreds of other writers for the same
projects and get the gig if you under-quote yourself enough. To be a well-fed
freelance writer, you need to go out there and market yourself to your target
audience – usually, marketing managers – like any other business owner.
·
Average
US Salary: $61,000/year for employees,
according to Indeed. If you’re a
freelancer, it depends on your marketing and negotiation skills.
·
Where to
find work: The best opportunities in this
field come when you network and proactively pitch to companies, but the Freelance Writers’ Den, a $25/month membership
site, is a great place to start if you’re looking for high paying projects.
5. Resume Writer
Writing resumes may seem simple, but most people often find
it hard to talk themselves up. If you’ve had success getting a lot of interest
from great companies based on your resume, offer your services to others.
You can help them ensure their resumes shine a light on
their accomplishments and the value they have to provide companies, in a way
that speaks to recruiters.
Similarly, you can offer LinkedIn profile writing services,
as many recruiters look for potential employees on this professional social
network.
·
Average
US salary: $15-25/hour.
·
Where to
find work: ResumeEdge.
6. Transcriptionist
Transcriptionists are required to listen to audio
recordings, and write them down. The key here is to be extremely accurate, so
you need to have great attention to details.
This job also requires you to type fast. It works in your
favor: The faster you type, the more you earn per hour.
·
Average
US salary: $15-25/hour.
·
Where to
find work: TranscribeMe and Rev.
7. Freelance Web Designer
Like freelance writers, freelance web designers need to
market their services if they want to make a sustainable living. Websites that
supposedly do the marketing work for you often come with a high price, as
you’ll be expected to work for very cheap, and might end up losing money on the
deals you take on.
To stand out of the crowd when they market themselves
directly to prospective customers, freelance web designers need to prove more
than their ability to design beautiful websites.
While companies care about image, they often care more about
results. Therefore, well-fed freelance web designers are often the ones who
understand what works in user experience and CRO (Conversion Rate
Optimization). They learn how to create websites that drive visitors to
download something or buy a product.
·
Average
US Salary: $61,000/year for employees,
according to Indeed. If you’re a
freelancer, it depends on your marketing and negotiation skills.
·
Where to
find work: The best opportunities in this
field come from networking and pitching to companies directly. To get started,
try Googling marketing agencies and see if they need help handling the clients
they’ve already landed.
8. Micro-Freelancing At Fiverr
Fiverr is the world’s largest marketplace for digital
services, where you can offer almost anything, from graphics & design,
digital marketing, writing & translation, video & animation, music
& audio, programming & tech, advertising, business, fun &
lifestyle. This is the place to make money out of your creativity and
profession.
·
Average
US salary: Starting at $5/gig.
·
Where to
find work: Fiverr.com.
9. Virtual Recruiter
Recruiters post jobs online and look for potential employees
on LinkedIn. They read LinkedIn profiles they find and resumes that get sent to
them, and decide who could be a good candidate.
They often conduct the initial phone interview, then pass
the best ones to the relevant manager at the company to continue the screening
process.
Recruiters used to only work offline, but things have
changed, and now you can do this job from home.
·
Average
US salary: $20-30/hour.
·
Where to
find work: SimplyHired and CareerBuilder.
10. Become An Online Influencer
Do you have a hobby, a passion, or an interesting life? Are
you knowledgeable about something many people struggle with?
If so, you might want to start a blog, a podcast, a vlog, or
be active on one of the major social media networks. Sometimes it could take
years to build a big enough, engaged enough, audience, but if you’re already
used to sharing with people online, and have an audience that trusts you, it
might be worth treating it as a business.
As your audience grows, you’ll be able to sell them services
(like coaching or consulting) and products, but you’ll also be able to make a
living by recommending other people’s products – and getting sponsorship or a commission in return.
·
Average
US Salary: It changes from one person to
another. According to this guide, you can
charge $5-10 to post something on Instagram for every 1,000 followers you have.
In other words, if you have 30,000 followers, you can charge $150-300 for every
sponsored post you publish.
·
Where to
find work: There are a lot of ways to
connect with brands once you’ve built an audience. For example, if you already
have a large following, you could apply to join influencer talent and marketing
agencies, like Viral Nation, or
platforms like Whalar, who connect
Instagram influencers with relevant brands.
Coronavirus Pandemic: A New Opportunity
As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, companies have moved
their daily work to online. However, there are still many businesses that have
closed and thousands of workers
that have lost their jobs. This is the sad truth of 2020. However,
if you have a computer and an internet connection, there are endless new
opportunities that you may not even know about! Countless individuals have
taken to the online world in search of their next career.
While stuck at home during
the pandemic, you can start working a remote
job from the comfort of your own home. Here are 5 examples to
get you inspired:
1.
Teach
English: VIPKid, Qkids and Magic Ears all recruit native English
speakers to teach online English classes to young kids in China. If you already
have a degree in teaching, UoPeople offers a Masters of Education degree to
help you propel your career in this field.
2.
Edit
Content: If you have experience in
quality analysis and checking for content errors, Reedsy is always looking for talented
individuals for editing written works.
3.
Virtual Assistant: If you are an organized and motivated individual, try
finding an online assistant job. Through Boldly or Belay, you can start doing pretty much
anything from scheduling meetings and conferences to social media and website
work.
4.
Professional
Services: If you’re more acclimated to
the professional side of things, then take a look at sites like FreeUp, SkipTheDrive, Remote and Working Not Working.
There you’ll be able to find content, web development, marketing, design and
other jobs.
Additionally, many other companies are searching for
workers. According to FlexJobs,
these companies are posting job listings for online positions:
·
Adobe
·
Aetna
·
Amazon
·
Dell
·
GitHub
·
ICF
·
Philips
·
Upwork
·
Okta
Whatever career path you decide to choose, ensure that your
CV and cover letter is tailored to each specific application. Additionally, be
sure to highlight your skills that would make for a successful remote employee
(such as independence, time management, responsibility, and communication).
To advance your job opportunities further, you can also use
your time at home to study a tuition-free degree with UoPeople. Check out
our online degree programs and see what
interests you.
Now More Than Ever: Online Jobs For Students Are Everywhere
As far as “work from home” jobs are concerned, we live in
the best time there ever was. More and more companies allow people to work from
home if the only tools these employees need are a computer and an Internet
connection.
The careers above are just a few great examples. People also
work from home as virtual assistants, translators, data entry professionals,
customer service representatives and salespeople.
If your job can be done on a computer and you want to work
from home, don’t be shy. Ask your employer if it’s possible, even part-time.
