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According to a study conducted by Georgetown University’s Center on Education, an estimated 70 percent of college students work while attending school. Of course, maintaining employment during the demanding college years is no easy feat, particularly for fields that require traditional, 9 to 5 hours; many times, these employers give little flexibility in terms of shift changes with some only offering full-time, salaried positions that might not be conducive to school schedules.
Luckily for students, though, there are a vast array of jobs that offer night and weekend hours to eligible candidates. Because we feel that students shouldn’t have to search far and wide for a decent wage, we’ve compiled a list of the 25 best jobs for college students. Each and every one of the following positions offers the support that students need to help keep them afloat through graduation day.
1. Nanny
Nanny jobs are popular with college students because they offer plenty of flexibility. Depending on the age of the children, some nannies only need to work afternoons, while others looking after babies are lucky enough to work on their term papers during nap times. As an added bonus, some families are willing to exchange room and board for childcare services, which can be a huge plus for students attending school in high-rent cities.
Duties:
- Homework help for school-age children
- Performing household chores
- Meal preparation
- Looking after the health of the children
- Taking children on playdates
- School drop-off/pick-up
Hourly Pay: Pay for nanny jobs can vary greatly depending on the area in which you work. To get a better idea of your city’s average rates, plug your personal data into the Care.com Babysitting Rates Calculator.
Many college students are able to build a cushion by putting on a headset and working at a call center. Because it’s the mission of many companies to get their customers to answer the phone, most require employees to have free evening and weekend availability, a schedule to which most college students can easily commit. Though this job could fit well for any student who speaks clearly and is not afraid to make a sales pitch, companies often seek out candidates who are bilingual or possess previous sales experience.
Duties:
- Managing inbound/outbound calls
- Reading from a pre-determined script
- Selling products/asking for donations
- Inputting customer data
- Researching customer issues
Hourly Pay: According to Payscale, the median pay for call center representatives is $13.28/hour.
The 21st-century answer to the personal assistant is the virtual assistant, an admin-savvy associate who helps busy professionals with daily tasks, scheduling, appointment setting, IT, research, and more. This is a fitting job for any college student who is organized, a whiz on the computer, and, preferably, possesses previous administrative experience. To sweeten the deal, all work can be performed remotely and, in some cases, at any time of the day.
Duties:
- Creating and maintaining schedules
- Booking travel reservations
- Conducting research
- Managing financial information
- IT, website, and social media support
Hourly Pay: The average pay for a virtual assistant is $15.64/hour.
Those seeking variety and ultimate flexibility need look no further than Wonolo, our on-demand solution that puts you in touch with companies in need of extra help. The industries include general labor, warehouse operations, deliveries, merchandising, events, administration, and more. Once your profile is approved, all you need to do is accept the jobs that work for you, and you’re ready to start making money. To learn more about how you can get started, visit our ‘find work’ page.
Duties:
- varies depending on your skillset
Hourly Pay: Varies depending on skillset and location
No, you don’t need to know how to operate a forklift to nab a warehousing job–though, it can help you make more cash if you do! With the e-commerce industry experiencing an unprecedented surge, more and more warehouses are working around the clock to best their already-speedy fulfillment rates. What makes warehousing such a great industry for college students is that many facilities continue operations on nights and weekends, and ultra-busy peaks typically align themselves perfectly with holiday breaks, allowing for even extra cash flow when school isn’t in session.
Duties:
- Order picking
- Sorting and packing
- Heavy machinery operation
- Administrative work
- Inventory control
- Quality control
Hourly Pay: The average pay for a warehouse associate ranges from about $10 to $18 per hour.
Are you a pet lover in need of some extra cash? If so, become a dog walker and/or pet sitter. Sites like Rover offer on-demand employment options that fit with even the most offbeat schedules. And, those who are willing and able to host doggy daycares and overnight pet sits can end up making twice the amount of money as dog walkers. Of course, your income could be even higher if you have experience working with nontraditional pets, such as farm animals, reptiles, and horses.
Duties:
- Dog walking
- Pet cleanup
- Administering medicine
- Emergency vet visits
- Pet transport
Hourly Pay: The average pay for dog walking and/or pet sitting is $15-40/hour depending on location and duties performed.
Waiting tables to get through college may sound like a cliche, but there’s a reason why serving, bartending, slinging espresso drinks, and washing dishes are such popular jobs among students. In addition to the flexibility, many food service workers reap the benefits of extra income in the form of tips, especially during the peak holiday seasons when school is not session.
Duties:
- Taking orders
- Serving food
- Making drinks
- Handling cash and credit cards
- Light food preparation
Hourly Pay: Hourly pay for food service workers varies depending on the state, but most make minimum wage base pay plus tips.
Home health aides are the unsung heroes of the healthcare industry, providing home-based support to folks who might not be willing to stay in or pay for a traditional nursing home setting. Depending on the nature of the patient, most home health aides do not need a nursing certificate–only current CPR and first aid training, along with specialized education, usually provided by the hiring company. The job also offers plenty of flexibility in the form of weekend and evening hours.
Duties:
- Providing in-home care
- Light meal preparation
- Transporting patients to doctors appointments
- Giving updates to family and caretakers throughout the day
Pay: According to Zip Recruiter, home health aides make roughly $24,458 annually.
According to Business News Daily, the most commonly-held jobs by American college students are sales associate positions. Similar to food service workers, sales associates enjoy flexibility in terms of scheduling and shift coverage, which can come in handy during particularly stressful school weeks. Additionally, many seasonal sales associate jobs open up during peak holiday months, a plus for students who need to make extra money while on break.
Duties:
- Handling cash and credit cards
- Upselling and making sales
- Organizing store inventory
- Store cleanup
Hourly Pay: Sales associate positions frequently start at state minimum wage rates.
10. Tutor
Not every college student has the knowledge or wherewithal to tutor, but the ones who do benefit from one of the highest hourly rates on this list. Tutoring jobs can be found in a variety of places, in peer tutoring programs at the university, at private firms, or even remotely, in online formats. Whichever platform the tutor uses, they are sure to find plenty of autonomy and gratification from this part-time job.
Duties:
- Subject tutoring
- Test preparation
- Essay coaching
Hourly Pay: Tutors make anywhere from $30 to $85 (and sometimes more!), depending on experience and client needs.
Companies hiring administrative assistants may not offer the same level of flexibility as restaurants or retail stores, but they do provide professional office environments that can give college students a real edge as they head into the real world. This makes administrative jobs a great fit for students who are interested in pursuing careers that require administrative skills, like accounting, office management, and HR.
Duties:
- Answering phones
- Data entry
- Recordkeeping
- Contact maintenance
- Scheduling
Hourly Pay: Administrative assistants make an average of $13/hour.
12. Gym Receptionist
Gyms open their doors early and shut them late, with many even staying open 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. These hours make for a great scheduling opportunity for college students who might be in school for a traditional 9-5 day. To sweeten the deal, most gyms offer free or deep discounts to employees, which can save strapped-for-cash students valuable dough each month.
Duties:
- Signing up new members
- Giving gym tours
- Cleaning equipment
- Checking in guests
- Performing recordkeeping tasks
Hourly Pay: On average, gym receptionists make $12.40/hour.
13. Hotel Front Desk Receptionist
College students majoring in hospitality need look no further than hotel front desk receptionist positions. Similar to gym receptionist jobs, hotel receptionist positions offer the potential of 24-hour scheduling that can fit well within the work days of any college student. As a bonus, graveyard shifts often feature plenty of downtime, which can translate to quiet study time for students working through the night.
Duties:
- Greeting and checking in/checking out hotel guests
- Answering any questions and record any complaints
- Communicating with maintenance and room service
- Completing basic bookkeeping and cashiering processes
- Operating computer programs
- Answering phones
Hourly Pay: Most hotel front desk receptionists make an average of $10.28/hour.
14. Lifeguard
Full-time students in search of summer employment options would benefit from looking into local lifeguarding positions. There are a plenty of different employers who take on summer lifeguards, from beaches to hotels to community swim centers, and more. Note: most employers require lifeguards to be certified through the Red Cross prior to submitting an application.
Duties:
- Closing/opening swimming facility
- Monitoring swimming area for safety concerns
- Monitoring weather reports for unsafe conditions
- Overseeing swim parties
Hourly Pay: On average, pool lifeguards make $9.16/hour. Entry-level ocean lifeguards can make up to $16/hour.
Companies love to hire young, college-age employees to run their social media accounts because–let’s face it–college-age people are already on social media a lot these days. Many times these are part-time, hourly positions that offer work that can be performed remotely, like social media campaign scheduling, customer service tasks, image uploads, and research.
Duties:
- Assisting social media management
- SEO optimization
- Blogging
- Communication management
- Post scheduling
- Customer engagement
Hourly Pay: On average, social media assistants make $16/hour.
16. Rideshare Driver
Driving for a ridesharing app, like Uber or Lyft, is an excellent option for college students, as the job offers 24/7 hours, with pay typically being at its highest on evenings and weekends. Currently, the largest apps have drivers on the road in less than a week, making for near-instant employment. Note: Most cities require rideshare drivers to be at least 21 years of age.
Duties:
- Picking up and dropping off riders
- Reporting issues to the ridesharing app
- Maintaining a clean and hospitable environment for riders
Hourly Pay: Pay can vary greatly depending on the city, tips received, and the hours driven. It is estimated that Lyft drivers make roughly $17.50/hour, while Uber drivers make around $15/hour.
17. Cleaner
Whether working in homes, offices, schools, or restaurants, cleaning jobs offer plenty of flexibility in the form of early and/or late work hours, with some employers offering long stretches of time off during the day. Typically cleaners are able to set their own schedule and particularly entrepreneurial ones might even see a freelance business opportunity in this low-overhead service.
Duties:
- Cleaning all required interior/exterior areas
- Re-stocking
- Dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, mopping
- Laundry services
- Hard cleaning in bathrooms and kitchens
Hourly Pay: On average, cleaners make $10.49/hour.
18. Bank Teller
College students attending school either at night or online who are looking to build a more traditional schedule would benefit from bank teller positions. Bank teller jobs are particularly valuable to finance, accounting, business, and marketing students hoping to one day use their degrees to work at financial institutions. This entry-level job can give these students a serious leg-up as they prepare to enter the job market upon graduation.
Duties:
- Providing account services to customers
- Handling money and confidential information
- Opening/closing customer bank account
- Following all security protocol
- Basic recordkeeping
Hourly Pay: On average, bank tellers make roughly $12/hour.
19. Brand Ambassador
Brand ambassadors work for a variety of organizations, including sports teams, restaurants, hospitality firms, beverage makers, food makers, nightclubs, and more. Typically, these brands look for outgoing, good-looking young people who are willing to educate the public on a specific product. Hours usually consist of weekends and evenings.
Duties:
- Hand out products
- Engage with the public
- Monitor customer feedback
- Set-up/break down company booths
- Build rapport with clients
- Travel to each location
Hourly Pay: Most brand ambassadors make roughly $17/hour.
20. House Painter
College students who possess previous painting experience can land jobs as local house painters, either working solo or for companies. Once hired, most house painters can set their own schedules and the independent ones can even set their own rates. Note: Both employers and customers will check references, so any aspiring workers must ensure that they provide adequate proof of their painting skills when applying.
Duties:
- Painting required interior/exterior areas
- Providing prep and cleanup
- Purchasing paint and other necessary products
- Communicating with the customer about desired results
Hourly Pay: On average, painters make $15.80 per hour.
21. Tour Guide
It’s common to see students providing tours on campus, but city tour guide jobs are also fitting choices for college students in need of cash and flexible schedules. This is a particularly apt position for students majoring in theatre arts, history, or English who have a passion for the area and a knack for storytelling. As an added bonus, most tour guides reap the reward of cash tips at the conclusion of the tours.
Duties:
- Educating the public on the history of the city
- Answering questions
- Researching targeted topics
- Minor bookkeeping
- Driving (in some cases)
Hourly Pay: Tour guides make roughly $13/hour.
22. Resident Advisor
College students in need of free room and board and extra cash should consider applying to their school’s resident advisor program. Resident advisors, or RAs, live in the dormitories alongside students and offer support to residents and the university in the form of security and rule enforcement. They also work in a variety of clerical roles that support the management of the living quarters, such as bookkeeping, answering phones, and giving tours.
Duties:
- Aiding students in move-in/move-out procedures
- Dorm rule enforcement
- Building security
- Clerical tasks
- Event planning
Hourly Pay: Resident advisor programs vary from school to school. Check with your university to get their relevant pay details.
Interpreter/translator jobs are great fits for college students who are fully bilingual. Translators typically work exclusively with written text, with many companies and clients offering fully remote options. Interpreters are often required to work in-person at a variety of different venues, including schools, courthouses, and even medical facilities. Both offer flexible, part-time schedules and are especially opportune for language or linguistics students.
Duties:
- Converting concepts from one language to another
- Translating documents
- Compiling information about the translation/interpretation into reports
- Conducting research on assigned topics
Hourly Pay: Pay for translators and interpreters can vary greatly depending on demand, the language, and any secondary education the worker might carry. For a more in-depth look at salaries for translators and interpreters, take a look at Translation Rules’ research.
Gyms are always on the lookout for talented fitness instructors with plenty of early morning and late evening availability for their clients. High-energy college students are great fits for these positions, especially ones that already hold personal training certifications, play collegiate sports, or are majoring in corresponding fields, such as kinesiology, dance, or physical therapy.
Duties:
- Holding sessions tailored to each client’s fitness goals
- Teaching group classes
- Conducting fitness audits for clients
- Providing diet and health information to clients
Hourly Pay: The average pay for fitness instructors is $19.79/hour.
Students in search of a fully-remote position need look no further than the online data entry field. These clerical jobs can be performed at any time of the day or night, from the comfort of a dorm room and generally only require a rudimentary knowledge of data entry and data preservation. Note: some companies require typing and IT troubleshooting tests as part of their application processes.
Duties:
- Verifying data
- Updating existing data
- Completing daily reports
- Sorting and organizing data by category
- Gathering data directly from customers (in some cases)
Hourly Pay: On average, data entry clerks make $12.68/hour.
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