The Best Freelance Jobs for Students

Freelance jobs are the new way of making use of extra time as a student. Part-time jobs such as content writing, audio transcriptions, and creating YouTube videos can help you pay for that tuition fee or fund your lifestyle. Working on building your freelance portfolio also gives you the opportunity to turn them into side hustles as you transition into the job market.

Why Freelance Jobs?

Flexibility

Most freelance jobs are part-time and paid hourly. You have the freedom to choose the most convenient time for you to work. Depending on your schedule, you can choose to work a couple of hours a day or on weekends, depending on your schedule.

They are also remote with little to no video calls from employers, as long as work is delivered within the scheduled timeline and to their satisfaction.

Builds on skills and Hobbies

If you have a skill or hobby you want to develop in, freelance jobs are a great way for you to work on those skills. For instance, you have a passion for drawing and believe that there is a category of people that would be interested in your artwork, take on commissioned work through websites such as Skillshare. Based on feedback from your clients, you will be able to polish your skills, become a pro, and charge even higher rates.

Extra money for personal needs

With a tough economy, a number of people have ventured into side hustles to pay bills and make investments. After college, finding a job that is willing to pay your worth is not an easy process. Make that extra money from the basic skills acquired so far to enable your smooth transition into the job market.

Top 9 Freelance Jobs for Students

If you talk to any established freelancer, they will tell you that they did not start as a pro and were not fully committed to the hustle. However, over time, they have established niches that pay them just enough and still allow them to indulge in other activities apart from work; something that a 9-5 job cannot guarantee.

So here are the top freelancing jobs that have found popularity and market base in today’s business world. With these, you will not only grow your skills but also understand the business dynamics around your chosen niche.

Audio and video transcription

Every business is looking for ways to expand its client base. Most of the time, they achieve this by translating their product descriptions and video/website content into other universal languages for inclusivity.

So, if you are bi-lingual or multi-lingual with good sentence construction skills, transcription jobs are for you. All you have to do is sign up to a translation website such as Auris AI and help them polish up on autogenerated client transcripts based on the languages provided.

Proofreading

Proofreading jobs require top-notch grammar. Be able to pick out those grammatical mistakes and poor sentence construction from articles or blogs written by non-English speakers. There are lots of proofreading jobs on Upwork, Fiverr, and other freelancing websites.

Freelance writer

In freelance writing, you can either major in website content or academic research. Website content is mainly blog posts, ad copies, and email newsletters. These will require just a little bit of creativity and market research to deliver what the target audience would love to read.

Academic writing on the other hand involves writing/helping fellow students to research and write assignments, theses, or reports at a small fee. All these writing gigs are available on Upwork, Fiverr, and other freelancing websites.

Website developer

You are a tech-savvy student hoping to make some extra cash from your software development skills. Partner with business owners to help them build user-friendly websites that makes it easy for a visitor to navigate.

As an amateur website developer, you will not make less than  $5000 for a basic website.

Social media manager

Most students are good at keeping up with trends and can easily manage social media handles. Instead of being on social media for fun, you can turn it into a side hustle opportunity. Your work will majorly involve managing social platforms for established and start-up companies that have no time to keep tabs on what is happening online.

Graphic designer

Make money by creating eye-catching visuals for billboards and social media advertisements. Tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Sketch, etc makes it easier for beginner graphic designer to perfect their skills and create compelling graphic images/illustrations that any business would love to purchase for their marketing needs.

Online tutor

Are you a pro or have commendable skills in handling topics related to a particular niche such as fashion? Sign up on platforms such as skillshare and enroll as a tutor. With your skills, you can help other fashion enthusiasts know a thing or two about the latest fashion trends at a small fee. Better still, you can assemble your own e-books on a favorite niche and market them on Amazon.

Content creator

Starting a youtube channel requires dedication and constant improvement in content presentation. But once people identify with your niche and are subscribed to your channel, you will be monetized at 1k subscribers. You can even make more by partnering with and marketing products for other brands on your channel.

Video editor

We have just talked about starting a Youtube channel, but there are also a number of established YouTubers whose content is of low quality regardless of the number of edits done. Video editing is a skill on its own and you can easily make money by cold pitching to such kinds of Youtubers directly or bidding for video editing jobs on Upwork.

Becoming a successful freelancer

There are lot of opportunities online if you know where to look. However, working as a freelancer in the long term is not easy as it comes with its own set of challenges. Getting more freelancer experience while you have the flexibiliy and headspace to plan will give you a headstart to establish your career and overcome these challenges..