With school starting throughout much of the country, students are saying goodbye to their summer jobs — or their leisure. But those who want to have some spending money while at school might want to consider a few side gigs for students.
Notably, many students know about delivery platforms like DoorDash and GrubHub, and think those might be the logical best choices for flexible school-year work. And that’s not a bad idea for a high school senior. (You must be at least 18.) But if you are in a college town and likely to be delivering to other college students, the editors of SideHusl.com advise against these gigs. Why? Some 40% to 60% of delivery driver pay is from tips. And college students are notoriously rotten tippers.
Instead, the best side gigs for you may be those that get you off campus or that offer decent hourly wages for your time. Here are x side gigs for students that fit the bill.
Take odd jobs
College towns are in a constant state of motion, with people moving in and out of apartments and dorms every six to nine months. That spurs the need for movers, furniture assemblers, cleaners and furniture delivery people.
While there are numerous sites where you can sign up to do any one of those jobs, two sites — Taskrabbit and Airtasker — allow people to sign up to do all sorts of odd jobs. These jobs range from cleaning and organizing to assembling furniture and running errands. However, the way you secure work is different based on the platform.
At Taskrabbit, you sign up and create a profile, saying what you can do and what you charge. You then sit back and wait for someone to contact you. With Airtasker, clients submit requests saying what they want done and what they want to pay for it. You browse these job listings and apply for the ones you want.
Give Plasma
This gig involves allowing somebody to stick a needle in your arm, which is admittedly unpleasant. But the rest of the time, you’re lounging on a comfortable chair, drinking water or juice, and watching movies or reading. Meanwhile, an aphaeresis machine pulls blood out of your veins, separates out the plasma and returns the blood cells back to your arm. Having personally given plasma numerous times for friends going through cancer treatment, I can attest to the fact that the discomfort is minor. And the rewards are great, including knowing that you might be saving someone’s life.
The process takes about an hour for a healthy, well-hydrated adult. And while a few people get cold while giving plasma, there are no other side effects. Meanwhile, companies like CSL Plasma, Biomat and Octapharma Plasma will pay anywhere from $40 to $100 for each donation. You can donate as often as twice a week.
Sell class notes
If you’re a good student who attends every class, you may be able to make money by selling your class notes. Most schools have a “Disability Services” department that regularly enlists good students to take class notes for students who can’t. Pay for these gigs depends on the school and the class and ranges from $50 – $250. But since taking notes is something you’re likely already doing anyway, it’s a pretty easy gig.
Several online sites also pay for class notes too. Study Soup, Nexus Notes and Stuvia offer attractive pay for uploading and selling class notes to other students at your university. Each has a somewhat different pay formula. But you usually get a bonus whenever someone signs up to get access to your notes, plus a payment for each set of notes that sell. Students say they can make $250 to $500 per class, per semester.
Mystery shop
Although many mystery shopping gigs require a lot of work for a relatively small amount of pay, “hospitality” oriented mystery shops offer a compelling perk for starving students: Free food.
EyeSpy is a mystery shopping firm that specializes in hospitality, which means that most “shops” involve eating out or ordering in from nice restaurants. Occasionally, you might be asked to stay at a hotel. The compensation is almost always the food you eat or the free hotel stay. But, since the shops are frequently for two meals at nice restaurants, it can be a way to eat out at places you otherwise couldn’t afford.
The site also reviews takeout delivery services, often paying up to $45 in reimbursements for dinner delivery.
Coach or Tutor
One of the many great things about being in school is that your afternoons are often largely free. If you want to use an hour or two of that daily free time to coach or tutor kids in athletics or academics, several sites can help you find clients. Athletes Untapped, CoachUp and TeachMeTo all allow coaches to set their own rates of pay and determine their own schedules. The sites simply take a commission each time you book a client.
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