While studying, it’s always comforting to have some income. Some go out and get a job in a restaurant or something relevant to their studies, while others they start freelancing.
Freelancing while being a student is perfect; you decide when to work and the amount of work you want to do every day. When you have enough projects or clients, you stop pursuing new clients.
I have collected 12 jobs that students can easily pick up and start with. You control your time and not your manager when working as a freelancer. So let’s get into the first job.
Table of Contents
The Best Freelance Jobs For Students
1. Student Freelance Copywriter
If you enjoy writing and want to earn money while still in school, freelance copywriting can be an excellent option! As a freelance copywriter, you can work from anywhere and any time, as long as you have a computer and an internet connection. This means you can easily fit work around your study schedule.
If you’re pursuing a copywriting career, freelance copywriting can also help you build your writing portfolio while still in school. This is important because it can help you show potential employers or clients what you’re capable of and give you an advantage when applying for future jobs or freelance projects.
In addition, freelance copywriting can be a lucrative way to earn money, especially if you’re good at writing. It can provide a steady stream of income that can help you cover the costs of tuition, books, and other expenses.
Moreover, copywriting involves writing, editing, research, and communication skills, all useful for various careers. By freelancing, you can hone these skills and gain experience working with clients and meeting deadlines. Freelancing also provides opportunities for networking with other professionals in the industry, which can lead to future job opportunities or collaborations.
In short, if you’re interested in writing and want to earn money while still in school, freelance copywriting can be flexible, rewarding, and lucrative!
If you want to start freelance copywriting, you either contact websites yourself and offer your expertise.
Or create a profile at Upwork or Worksome, and begin to apply for the many copywriting jobs.
Lastly, you can become an essay writer. You can apply to become an essay writer for EduBirdie, and then you’re up and running.
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2. Social Media Manager
Becoming a freelance social media manager can be an excellent opportunity for students interested in social media and looking to earn money while studying. Freelance social media management provides a flexible schedule that allows you to work around your study schedule and other commitments.
In addition, freelance social media management is an in-demand skill in today’s digital age that can help you position yourself for future job opportunities. By managing social media accounts for multiple clients, you can develop diverse marketing skills that can be useful for your future career.
As a freelance social media manager, you can also use your creativity to develop content and campaigns for your clients. This can help you build your portfolio and showcase your work to potential clients, which can lead to more opportunities in the future.
Becoming a freelance social media manager can be an excellent way for you as a student to develop your marketing skills, earn money, and position yourself for future job opportunities in the digital age.
To start with social media, I recommend you first work on your social media presence and learn what works and doesn’t. And then, reach out to companies you want to work with, suggest what they can improve and how you can help them improve.
You can also sign up for networks like Worksome and Upwork to apply for freelance social media manager jobs there.
3. Translation work
Translation work is still a very requested skill. Even though we have AI and AI translates texts well. It’s not getting 100% correct translations.
AI lives after the principle of 80% there, and then someone needs to take it home. So if you want to become a translator, don’t be afraid to use or suggest AI to your potential clients.
You should see it as a tool that can speed up your work rate, and then you’ll take the translations the last 20%.
You might see websites suggesting you look for transcription freelance jobs as a freelancer, but here the AI tools are so good now that the transcriptions are 99% correct, and companies need proofreaders more than transcribers. More about proofreaders in number 10.
If you want to get started translating, sign up to be a translator at Easy Translate, Translatebyhumans or Translated.
4. Become an online teacher
If you have a skill already, maybe a language, programming or something third, and you’re a good teacher, then this might be the gig for you.
Being an online teacher is being a freelancer as well. You find a couple of platforms you like, sign up, and then try to pursue some clients.
It’s super easy to start, and you can still manage your time as you schedule your students when it fits you. You can sign up for platforms like Preply, Tutor or Skooli.
You can also create your own course and automate your online teaching. If you want to pursue this, you could sign up for Udemy or Skillshare to publish your course.
5. Voiceover work
If you are a student looking for a flexible and creative freelance job, voiceover work can be an excellent choice. Voiceover work involves recording your voice for various projects, such as audiobooks, commercials, podcasts, and video games. Here are a few reasons why voiceover work is a good idea for students:
Firstly, voiceover work provides flexibility. As a student, you may have a busy schedule with classes, assignments, and other commitments. Voiceover work allows you to work from home and choose your own hours so that you can fit it around your other responsibilities.
Secondly, voiceover work can help you develop your vocal skills. Voiceover requires you to use your voice in various ways, such as tone, pitch, and inflexion. By practising voiceover work, you can develop your vocal range and enhance your communication skills, which can be helpful in any career.
Thirdly, voiceover work can be a fun and creative outlet. As a voiceover artist, you can bring characters and stories to life and add your personality and flair to each project. This can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for students passionate about performing and storytelling.
To get voiceover jobs, a good place to start is Upwork or Freelancer.com. But there are a bunch of platforms and companies looking for voiceover. Also, for their videos on Instagram and TikTok as well. This could easily be combined with being a social media manager.
6. Virtual Assistant
Being a virtual assistant is something anyone can do with an overview. If you’re an organised person who likes to work with many different types of tasks, then being a virtual assistant is for you.
You’ll be able to work with almost any type of job on the list here but to a lower degree. You won’t need to be an expert, and the expectations for your output are lower than if you have a specific job to cover.
There are tons of companies looking for virtual assistants. In fact, I just hired my first virtual assistant this week as I’m writing this article. And it’s incredible.
If you want to succeed as a virtual assistant, you must stay on top of whatever your clients throw at you.
A great place to start looking for virtual assistant jobs is Upwork.
7. Graphic Designer
Even though we have tools like Canva and Vistacreate, companies are still searching for graphic designers. If you, as a student, are studying graphic design or have a flair for graphic design, this is perfect for you.
Sometimes all you need is Canva, you don’t even need Photoshop, and then you can start your freelance side gig as a graphic designer.
As a graphic designer, you’ll do everything from YouTube thumbnails and Facebook posts to blog post covers and flyers. You can easily do all this using Canva, which is a super simple tool.
To find your first clients, Upwork and Worksome are great places to create a freelance profile and pursue some graphic design jobs.
8. Web designer
Being a web designer can scare some away, but with today’s tools, you shouldn’t worry. Anyone can build websites with tools like Webflow, Framer and Editor X.
Now, it’s about constructing it right and using the correct elements on the websites. This you can quickly learn if you don’t have the skillset already.
As a web designer, you’ll get tasks to build specific pages on a website, maybe design elements and even set up blog posts.
You can work entirely asynchronously for these types of tasks, so you can work whenever suits you.
A great place to get web design jobs is Upwork as well.
9. Video Editor
Now this is a heavy job to take on, as it requires software such as Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere. But there are 2 types of video editing. Short videos such as trailers and teasers, and then there are longer movies like YouTube and ads movies.
The short videos, you can easily use an online video editor such as Invideo of Wave.video. But for the long videos, you’ll need a rather expensive product like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere.
For this type of job, you’ll need to have a portfolio to display the previous videos you’ve edited. You should start a YouTube channel or shoot some videos in your spare time to then edit and showcase.
When you have something to show, you can pursue jobs on Upwork.
10. Proofreader
As mentioned earlier, being a proofreader or an editor for content is still a job many companies and clients are trying to fulfil.
AI can only get the content 80% there and often a lot less than 80%, so they need the human touch to help them take the content to the last part. And for this, they use proofreaders.
They use proofreaders both to check the content the AI has generated, but also to create a common thread in the content.
If you like to proofread and bring content alive, then this is where you’ll thrive.
Again, a great place to start to find jobs as a proofreader is Upwork.
11. Web Developer
If you’re studying web development or a programmer who knows how to code web development, you’re in demand.
I wrote an article on the top 10 freelance jobs in demand, and here web development is number 3 on the list.
Even though we have AI to help our program and a bunch of no-code tools, companies still need web developers for their existing solutions and to patch together the code the AI generates.
One thing is that people can write a prompt to generate some code. They have no idea where that code goes in a project. This is where they need web developers.
Again, Upwork is perfect for web development jobs.
12. Online marketer
The last job on the list is to become an online marketer. If you’re studying marketing, this is an obvious choice for you as you’ll increase your chances of creating a successful career within marketing by showing initiative in freelance marketing.
If you don’t feel like an expert, then don’t worry. You can easily take a freelance job as a marketing assistant and learn this way. Or you can start simple with a simple marketing job you know you can solve and work your way from there.
In your spare time, watch tutorials and test some things yourself to improve your marketing knowledge. And your study will help you improve as well to become a marketing expert.
If you want to start freelancing within marketing, then Upwork is an excellent way of doing so.
What Is The Best Freelance Job For Students?
In my opinion, freelance writing is the best freelance job for students. Writing is a flexible, creative, and in-demand skill that can be applied to various industries and niches.
As a freelance writer, you can work on various projects, from blog posts and articles to copywriting and creative writing.
Writing allows you to work from home or your school, choose your own hours, and take on projects that align with your interests and strengths.
Overall, freelance writing is an excellent way for you to earn money while honing your writing skills and pursuing your passions.
But this is just one of the many jobs, in the end then it’s up to you to decide what job is in fact the best job for you.
If you want to learn more about how to freelance on the side, then I’ve written a guide about this.