The 8 Best Side Hustles for College Students

Are you in college? Great! Then that must mean you’re aware of how incredibly tight a student’s budget is, right? Between all the school fees, transportation fares, and food trips, there must have been plenty of times when your daily allowance just wasn’t enough. So, to relieve financial instability, it’s completely normal to look for the best side hustles for college students like you.

Now, you might be thinking it’s impossible to balance your studies, extra-curricular activities, personal time, and side gig all at the same time … but it is. You just have to find the part-time job that will suit your needs and schedule the most.

To help you with that, here’s a list of side hustles that you can try while in college:

1. Service Crew for Food Establishments

Let’s start off with a classic. Becoming a service crew for food establishments is one of the best part-time jobs for college students. Not only are you getting paid for the time you’ll put into work but it will also help you develop valuable skills that you can use later in life.

The salary you can expect as a part-time service crew depends largely on the size of the food business itself. But, if you’re going to be crewing for a fast-food company, you can expect an average monthly part-time salary of around ₱8,225.

2. Sell Baked Goodies

Do you have a knack for baking? Then use it to make more money! Baking delicious treats and selling them will not just help you generate extra income but you'll also get the chance to practice your entrepreneurship skills.

Some of the things that you can bake and sell include:

• Cookies
• Pies
• Cupcakes
• Macarons
• Cakes

When doing a part-time baking business, keep in mind to bake in small batches first so you don't waste ingredients in case not all of them get sold.  Your menu should also be limited to the goodies that you 100% know how to make. A good first impression could go a long way especially when you're just starting your business!

Selling your baked goodies shouldn’t be a problem as well. You can do meetups with your customers or have them be delivered online via apps such as Grab and Lalamove.

3. Part-Time Freelance Photography

Up next on our list of best side hustles for college students is starting a part-time photography business. This could be a great venture if you love photography and you have the proper skills (plus equipment if possible) to take excellent pictures.

As a part-time freelance photographer, you must first build a portfolio to entice clients. You can take pictures of gorgeous outdoor spots or even ask your loved ones to pose as models for a quick shoot. Once you’ve gathered a set of photos that you’re proud of, then you can start advertising yourself to people, including those with who you go to school.

As for the salary, it depends on you. That's right, you're pretty much in control of not just how much you would like to get paid but also the number of hours that you would spend working.

4. Teaching English Online

Filipinos are known to be great at using the English language. If you think you have a good understanding of the English language then turn it into a side gig by applying as an online English teacher. There are several companies like 51Talk, Tutoroo, and TeacherOn that are constantly looking for people to teach English through their respective platforms. 

The salary you can expect as a part-time online English teacher depends on your knowledge, experience, the company you’re signed to, and the number of hours you’re going to spend teaching your students. But typically, an hourly rate of an online English tutor ranges from 100 to 600 per hour.

5. Babysitting

Yes, babysitting jobs aren’t that common here compared to western countries but they exist! In fact, full-time babysitters in the country earn around ₱9,473 per month. Hourly-rate-wise, nannies are looking at a ₱62 to ₱92 wage.

You could start a babysitting business by asking your family and friends who are always busy if they would like you to take care of their kids while they’re gone, in exchange for a salary of course. Alternatively, you can also post your services online to find potential clients.

6. Work as a Call Center Agent

If you can speak English clearly and with a neutral accent then this is for you. Different call center companies such as iQor and Stark Asia allow college students to become part-timers so they could earn money when they’re not studying.

The tasks that you can expect to take on should you ever work as a part-time call center agent are listed below:

• Handling inbound and outbound calls
• Promptly replying to chats and emails sent not just by the customers, but also your supervisors

The salary of an entry-level call center agent in the country stands at around ₱85.60 per hour. This means you’ll be getting about ₱342.40 per 4-hour shift.

7. Sell your Pre-Loved Items

If you’ve been spending time scrolling through your Facebook timeline and Instagram explore page then you must have already crossed successful shops that sell personally-owned pre-loved items. Well, good news, even college students like you could do that too!

Take out all of the clothes and items from your closet that you do not want to use anymore then put them all in one place. Next, check each piece to make sure that they still have good quality. After that, take a bunch of pictures of the items that you want to sell. And finally, set up a shop page on your preferred social media platform and upload your products.

Once you have your online shop sorted out then you can start advertising your pre-loved goodies. Just remember though that the amount of pay you’ll get from this will of course depend on the prices that you’ll assign to your items.

And if you’re successful with your first batch of pre-loved products, then you can start buying second-hand clothes in bulk and then sell them through your store as well.  Take note that this side hustle idea will require most, if not all, of your free time in the beginning. But once everything is set and you start earning, then you can hire people to take over the operations so you can divert your attention back to schoolwork.

8. Online Freelance Jobs

Doing online freelance jobs is another great way to generate income while you're in college. Freelance jobs can be short-term or long-term, plenty of them can also be done part-time, making them perfect for your already-hectic schedule.

There are also different kinds of online freelance work that you can do depending on the skills you have. This includes:

• Data Entry
• Web Design
• Graphic Design
• Transcription
• Social media Management
• Marketing
• Admin Staff
• Virtual Assistant
• Accounting
• Content Writing

… and so much more!

Becoming a freelancer is also among the high-paying side hustles for college students in the Philippines. Although the salary will depend on your skills and the kind of task you’re doing, a newbie's starting pay is about $3 to $4 per hour. That is higher than the usual rate you'll get with other part-time jobs!

Some of the best places you could look into if you want to start doing online freelance jobs are Upwork, OnlineJobs.Ph, VirtualStaff.Ph, LinkedIn, and even those Facebook groups of freelancers.

Final Words

These are eight of the best side hustles for college students that you can try. Want more? Read the following for additional ideas on how to make extra money while in college:

• Sell food and drinks
• Become a barista
• Draw paintings and create artsy projects
• Become a Shopee or Lazada seller
• Apply as a translator
• Answer online surveys
• Take up odd jobs
• Sign up as a Grab or Food Panda rider

 

Interested in reading more posts about studies and career? Then check out our articles section because we frequently publish blogs talking about important topics concerning students and fresh graduates like you.