Work from home is the new buzzword specially after the outbreak of pandemic called COVID – 2019. If you want to stay alive in this world then the only way is you have to work from home.
This crisis presents college students across America with a great opportunity to find online jobs that can be done from the comfort of their homes or dorm rooms.
Is it even possible to find work from home online jobs for college students?
The answer is yes! In this article, we look at 20 such jobs that are available online.
These jobs are not just for college students but also for rest of the Americans irrespective of their educational qualification. So let us learn about each of them.
20 Best Online Jobs For College Students
1. Blogging
Blogging is one of the most popular online jobs for college students. There is a true potential to earn up to $10,000 per month with blogging in America.
On an average a blogger in USA is earning well over $400 per month, with a little extra effort you can easily make $2500-$3000 per month.
However, over the years blogging has changed and it is not that easy to make money. You’ve heard many times creating great content is very important. But what is great content?
A great content is a content which is objective and doesn’t read like a long story or a novel.
It is to the point. For example, if you are creating a blog about College life then write a post titled “5 Things You Must Need Before Joining a College” or “6 Reasons Not to Join This Particular College” or “10 Tips to Survive Your First Semester”.
Objective content is going to get traffic otherwise no one is going to give a shit about your blog.
Once you are getting enough traffic, you can apply for Google AdSense account. Google AdSense is one of the easiest way to earn money from your blog by displaying Google ads on your website.
You get paid for each click on these Google ads from your site visitors. Normally 3% to 4$ visitors click on your ads and you make $0.5 to $1 for each click.
You can also start selling products and merchandise from your blog.
So choose a niche, jot down 25-30 compelling titles, start writing blog posts one by one, publish them, do some SEO and get paid by Google.
The niche must be close to your hobby. You can check this MoneyConnexion tutorial that helps you in starting your blog.
2. Vlogger/YouTuber
The only difference between a blogger and Vlogger is in former you create text content and in latter one, you create visual content.
You create exceptional, informative, entertaining and very engaging videos and share it with people around the world through YouTube.
If you love coming on to the camera and have a pleasant personality then you can become a YouTuber. A YouTuber is basically an artist.
Whether you are creating a serious educational content or prank videos or unbiased product reviews your every piece of work is an art.
If you want to beat the competition in your niche you have to create content which is unique each time. You also have to improve your storytelling techniques to engage your audience.
Getting more and more views, likes and new subscribers every day is going to set you apart from your competitors.
You must know the basics of video production and editing before becoming a YouTuber.
You are paid by the Google depending upon the niche of your channel and number of views your videos receive. You have to be patient here because initially, money is not that great.
On average YouTubers are earning $100-$1000 per month in the USA. With some experience and time, you can earn up to $3000-$20000 per month.
So if you think, this is an excellent idea for you, then you can start your YouTube channel here.
3. Freelance Writing
If you find blogging a little bit hard then you can become a freelance writer. A freelance writer doesn’t have to be a great renowned writer.
He/she just need to have good grammatical skills and passion for writing.
Here you will write content for websites, blogs, news sites etc. You will get paid for each word you write.
Usually, a 1000 words article can pay you anything between $5 – $50 depending upon your experience.
The best part of freelance writing is there is no dearth of freelance writer around the world.
Finding a freelance writing job wouldn’t be any difficult. You can visit Upwork and find various writing projects.
Initially, you may have to work hard to establish yourself but later you won’t have any difficulty finding clients. An average freelance writer is earning $25,000 – $45,000 annually in America.
4. Proofreading and Copyediting
If you want to do something easier than writing then you can go for reading and editing content.
Publishing houses, websites, bloggers, e-journals etc need proofreaders and copyeditors to read and edit articles and other documents.
You must have a great command over the language to perform your work efficiently. You will be required to correct the documents for spelling and grammatical errors. That’s it.
If you are able to establish yourself in this business and get clients then you can easily earn $25,000 – $35,000 annually.
5. Mystery Shopper
Freelance writers who love writing honest reviews of various products like grocery items and tech gadgets that they bought either offline or online can become a mystery shopper.
Mystery shopper shops online and offline on the behalf of research companies, watchdog organizations to gather specific information about the products and services of a company.
They just want to assess how well a company is serving to their end-users. Hence they need mystery shoppers to find out for them.
If you love going to Walmart Store or eating in McDonald’s or Chiptole then this job is perfect for you.
You will be asked to perform basic tasks like questioning about the quality of the product, how good it is, how is the service there, employee behaviour, pricing etc.
You collect all the data, write your experience in a 1000+ word long article and send it to the company that hired you.
For writing one such report you can earn $50 – $500 depending upon the company you are writing for.
In the USA alone there are 2 million mystery shoppers. Not all of them are making huge money but still, students can make money with it.
Although mystery shopping is a bit for the more experienced writer but can be done online.
6. Data Entry Work
If you are really not into writing then you can go for small data entry work. However, data entry work pays a lot less than freelance writing.
A typical data entry jobs may include basic typing, converting image into text, copy & paste work, filling excel spreadsheet, Captcha Solving, video captioning etc.
You are paid depending upon the data entry work you are choosing. As an example, converting image file into text format is more profitable than Captcha solving.
Video captioning pays you even more. So it depends!
Usually, a data entry work like converting an image file into text can pay you $5 – $10 per project. Each project will have dozens of images that you have to convert.
Overall an average data entry worker can earn $300 – $500 per month.
7. Amazon mTurk
Amazon mTurk is also like a data entry work but it is for more people with a more professional approach. Here in the USA and elsewhere you have to qualify for the job.
The selection process is quite rigorous and it is highly likely that you might get rejected by the Requesters/Clients.
Those who qualify have to complete various data entry tasks also known as HITS (Human Intelligence Tasks) per day. There are 3 basic types of HITs.
- Basic Data Entry Work likes filling Captchas, copy & paste work, converting image file into text etc.
- Surveys
- Transcription Jobs
For each HIT you earn $.01 – $1 depending upon the work. Experienced members know how to qualify for HITs that pays more. On average an experienced mTurker in USA is earning $1000 – $3000 per month.
8. Transcriptionists
To be honest, here Transcriptionist jobs are not for a college student who is looking to make some extra bucks on a part-time basis. Transcriptionist jobs are just not another type of data entry work.
Here you have to listen to videos/audios and convert into a word document. You must already be familiar with certain medical and legal jargons.
Some beforehand training and experience are required to become a transcriptionist. However, the money is really great because you can earn up to $75,000 – $85,000 annually.
9. Fiverr Gigs
If you are really not into data entry work then the other great way to earn online is Fiverr Gigs. The great thing about Fiverr Gigs is almost everyone of you can find a job that suits you the most.
At Fiverr there is something for everybody. Whether you want to design a logo, create a web page, write an article, edit a video, fix a software bug you can find all kinds of a job there.
You get paid anything $5 – $100 depending upon the Gig and the client you are working for.
If you have the necessary skills then for a college student earning $500 – $2500 per month on part-time basis wouldn’t be difficult.
10. Online Surveys
Online surveys which I am mentioning here are not simple form filling tasks.
Each survey can take anything between 10 mins to 20 mins to complete. And before you join a survey company you have to qualify for the job.
Per survey, you can earn $2 – $20 depending upon your experience and relationship with the company. You will be surprised to know there are people in USA who are working full time taking surveys online.
If want to do on part-time basis then you have to be very serious. Earning $300 – $600 per month is quite possible. Most of the survey companies are scam so be careful!
11. Online Tutoring/Teaching ESL
You won’t believe online tutoring offers a great way to make money online on a part-time basis.
People all around the world want to learn English, especially who are living in Asian countries like China, Japan, India etc.
They want to learn the language online from a person whose first language is English.
Hence, students in America have a great opportunity to teach English online to people all over the world through Skype.
For an hour-long session, you can make $20 – $30 depending upon the company you are working with. You don’t have to travel or go out because everything is arranged online.
There is an opportunity to earn $1000 – $2500 monthly if you take it seriously. However, you have to search for a tutoring company online.
12. Digital Marketing Jobs
Digital Marketing is a new phenomenon not just in USA but around the world. Students who are learning digital marketing can offer their services online and make extra bucks.
Some of the popular digital marketing jobs are content creation, link building, on page SEO, social media marketing etc. You can find clients on Fiverr or Upwork where Digital Marketing Agencies are looking for digital marketers to perform various tasks.
For doing tasks like link building or on page SEO for part-time basis you can earn $300 – $500 monthly.
13. SEO Consultant
Although a SEO executive falls under Digital marketing jobs but a consultant is bit different than an executive. A consultant has years of experience and deals with clients at a higher level.
I mentioned this job in the list because I’ve seen many young successful SEO consultants in this country. They operate from their home and consult companies, businesses, individuals etc all across the world.
A SEO consultant helps them to rank their website/blog on the first page of Google Search Result. They get paid for doing this.
A SEO consultant with an experience of 2 – 3 years can earn $45,000 – $75,000 annually.
14. Amazon Seller
Selling online on behalf of Amazon can be a very lucrative business. If your blog (first online job in the list) is successful and getting loads of traffic each day then you can leverage it to sell merchandize from Amazon.
You earn commission between 8% – 30% on selling products like apparels, gadgets, books, home appliances, furniture etc.
However first you have to register your business, list the products and start selling through your blog. You don’t have to worry about shipments because you can tie up with Amazon for a monthly fee.
I know being in college it is bit difficult to operate this business. So if you can’t then you can totally let it pass.
15. Selling Photography and Art
I think I should have mentioned this a lot earlier in this article as this is one of the easy and interesting online jobs for college students. You can use your selfie taking skills to make money online.
You can take professional looking photos from your smartphone (possibly an iPhone) and sell them on websites like Shutterstock, Fotolia, iStock Photo etc for $.25 – $30 per photo.
You don’t even have to buy a camera because iPhone camera is powerful enough to do the job. However, taking professional photos isn’t like taking selfies. If you want your photos to be sold online then they must be taken professionally otherwise no one will buy them.
A dozen of photos in a week can make you $500 – $1000 per month.
16. Software, Website & App Tester
Testing a software, a website or an app is also a great way to make money online. Although testing jobs are not readily available in the market because they are few in number but still they can pay you a handsome amount of money.
Testers are hired by companies to check their software or website which are still in beta or developmental phase. Testers give them feedbacks like bugs in the software, site loading speed, navigation, User Interface etc.
However you have to have some experience with the job. You are paid for per website or software you test. You can earn $10 – $20 for each successful test.
17. Online Researcher
Online researcher job actually complements what you are doing at college. If your college studies involve a lot of Research then you can use this skill to make extra money without diverting your attention.
A website called Wonder hires researchers to provide most accurate answers to their clients. You will collect all the information and give the most well researched answers to your clients.
Wonder’s top researchers are making well over $35 an hour. So earning $2500 – $3000 per doing online research is no biggie.
18. Virtual Assistant
A virtual assistant can be an employee or a freelancer who assists clients online via VOIP services like Skype.
Virtual Assistant’s job includes scheduling, organizing, designing and planning daily chores of her/his clients.
In USA virtual assistants who work full time are earning $30,000 – $45,000 per month.
19. CrowdFunding
I’m pretty sure that you already know about Crowdfunding. Crowdfunding helps individuals all around the world to raise money for a particular cause.
You got to convince people to donate money for the cause you are promoting. You need a story, basically, a strong narrative that can persuade people to further your cause.
The cause can be anything like climate change, political cause, religious cause, humanitarian cause etc. There is no limit how much money you can raise, even up to $1 million.
20. Stock Trading
Right now stock market is very volatile and this volatility can be your friend. DOW and S & P are going up & down 5% daily. You have a great opportunity to make money online with buying and selling stocks.
If you watch markets daily with a deep interest then stock trading is for you. Earning potential is great here. You can easily make $50,000 to $100,000 in profits each year.
However if don’t know about the markets then stay away.
So these were 20 online jobs for college students across USA.
The best part of these jobs is they can be done online staying in your home or dorm room. Moreover, these jobs do NOT need any large capital to get started. At best $300 – $500 for internet connection and a laptop.
You just have to choose anyone of them which suits you the most. Not all jobs mentioned in the list is for you.
