4 Best Online Jobs For College Students With No Experience
When it comes to online jobs for college students, the best opportunities provide solid pay, flexible hours and the chance to acquire valuable experience.
Of those three criteria, the last one is the most important. The work you do while in college can bolster both your skillset and your resume, helping you be more competitive in the job market (and make more money) upon graduation.
Fortunately, there are plenty of online jobs, and even travel jobs, that check off all three of those boxes.
In this post, we list the best of the bunch and provide specific examples of the top niches within each category.
- Writing and Editing
- Web Design
- Video Production
- Audio and Music Production
#1. Writing And Editing
One of the most flexible types of online work for college students is writing and editing.
No experience is required to get a writing or editing job, they’re open to every major, and you can fit most of them around your busy class schedule.
Writing jobs look good on your resume, too; they show initiative and entrepreneurial drive, and they help you develop skills that’ll further your success in the workplace.
Let’s look at a few online job opportunities in the writing and editing field.
Freelance Writer
Businesses need good writing, but many don’t have time to update their blogs or write marketing materials. So they turn to freelancers for their content needs.
Getting started as a freelance writer can be difficult if you don’t have any experience. Most freelance writers are hired on one website (Upwork), and the competition for work can be fierce. But once you have a couple of satisfied clients under your belt, getting good-paying jobs is fairly easy. This is the strategy one of The Ways To Wealth’s contributors, Jenni Sisson, used to become a highly-paid writer on Upwork with no experience.
Picking a freelance writing niche will make this process even easier, because you can use your existing knowledge to overcome your lack of experience. In other words, you can leverage your major.
For example, if you’re studying business, chances are that you have more topic area knowledge about economics and personal finance than the majority of freelancers in the marketplace — even if you’re only halfway through your bachelor’s degree.
What It Pays
Freelance writing rates depend on the type of writing you perform, the amount of experience you have, and your subject matter expertise. In general, expect to start at around four or five cents per word. Write 5,000 words per week, and you’ll put up to $1,000 a month in your pocket.
If you write for clients in your field of study, you may be able to command higher rates. And as you gain expertise, you can branch out to more advanced writing — such as copywriting — and raise your rates to the equivalent of 15 cents per word or more.
With that in mind, you don’t have to only charge per word. Hourly and project-based pricing are other methods you can use.
If you prefer a more stable source of income, you can work out a retainer deal in which you perform a set amount of work for your client in exchange for a fixed sum of money each month.
What You Need
A common misconception is that you need to be a published writer to land clients. The truth is you don’t need any experience to get started.
What you do need is strong writing skills and a portfolio.
Your portfolio doesn’t have to be client work — you can create a few sample pieces from scratch and show those to prospects. Clients care about the results you can bring them more than they care about whether or not you have bylines. As for material items, you’ll need a computer and an internet connection. A laptop is preferable so that you can work from anywhere.
You might also want to sign up for writing software such as Grammarly and Hemingway App to ensure your pieces are polished.
Five Great Writing Niches
- Articles and blog posts: Businesses need blog and website content to build an audience and drive traffic to their site. Writing blog posts for business is among the more accessible types of freelance writing jobs — it generally involves researching, outlining, writing, and revising articles. Some clients ask you to generate ideas and gather research, while others provide everything so that you only have to write and edit.
- Bios: Whether it’s a musician, an author or a company, your client needs a bio to explain who they are and what they do. Bio writing tends to involve interviews and other methods of learning about your subject, and then crafting a compelling story that aligns with their desired goals. Bio writing can be time-consuming because of the research involved, but it can also be lucrative.
- Podcast show notes: Podcast shows notes are written summaries of a podcast episode that have two purposes: First, they’re meant to persuade readers to listen. Second, they’re posted to the podcast’s website and used to generate organic search traffic. Podcasts take a lot more work to produce than it seems, so podcasters hire freelancers to take care of their show notes.
- Press releases: When a company engages in a significant undertaking — such as opening a new location or launching a product — they need press releases to spread the news to the media. Much of the work involves learning about the company and finding a newsworthy angle. But it’s not all corporate announcements. Musicians send out press releases whenever they drop a new single or album, nonprofits send out press releases about their new initiatives, and so on.
- Scripts: Most freelance scriptwriting jobs involve writing video sales letters (VSLs) and YouTube scripts. VSLs are videos that pitch a product or service — wander down any online sales funnel, and you’ll see one. These can pay quite well because they drive sales for the client. YouTube scripts may pay less, but there’s a lot of work available.
Resource: Tips and strategies for getting your first client on Upwork.
Blogging
Blogging provides less upfront earnings than freelance writing but much more scalability, because you can write a post today and continue making money off of it forever. As a blogger, you own everything you produce and you can exploit many different types of revenue streams.
And on top of that, it allows you to build authority and credibility within a niche, which can help you advance in your career field.
What It Pays
When you start your blog, you probably won’t make any money for a number of months. However, once you start building momentum, it can be a significant source of income — and since it doesn’t require your day-to-day involvement, it can be considered passive income.
Many blogs earn six figures per year or more, although it depends on your skills in digital marketing, your motivation, the niche you choose and the monetization strategies (like affiliate marketing or creating online courses) that you pursue.
In general, it’s not unreasonable to shoot for earning $1,000 to $2,000 per month with a moderately successful blog that you work on for 10 to 20 hours per week.
What You Need
The first thing you need is a concept. There are millions of blogs covering every niche imaginable, and if you want to stand out you have to bring something unique to the table. So choose a niche and then think about how you can offer a slightly different perspective on that topic than everything else in the marketplace.
The second thing you need is the blog itself. Fortunately, starting a blog is cheap and easy. You’ll need a web hosting account and a domain name, and you’ll need to spend a few minutes learning how to use WordPress, the main blogging platform. If you want to learn more, sign up for my 100% free email course titled “How to Make Your First $1,000 Blogging.” It had 14 lessons that go over everything I’ve touched on here, as well as more advanced strategies that you can employ once your blog is established.
Editing
Like writing, editing has multiple specialties and niches that you can choose from.
- Blogs: Blogs hire editors to work with freelance writers. You’ll be in charge of providing feedback on each draft, helping the writers align the post with the blog’s tone, and improving the flow of the writing itself.
- Postgraduate dissertations: The dissertation is perhaps the most critical component in attaining a graduate degree, so grad students spare no expense to ensure theirs is polished. Editing grad student dissertations is a great way to build connections in your field and gain a sneak peek at what you’d experience if you were to pursue graduate studies.
- Creative writers: This can be a great option if you’re studying English, creative writing, or a similar discipline. You’ll help your clients revise their poetry and fiction, providing not only edits but also critiques and narrative feedback,
What It Pays
As a beginning editor, you can expect to earn $25 to $35 per hour. However, you can earn significantly more than that if you build specialized skills. For example, editors with SEO (search engine optimization) knowledge routinely earn $50+ per hour, because they know how to increase the value of the content they’re working on.
What You Need
Editors must have tremendous attention to detail as well as an excellent grasp of the English language. You may consider brushing up by grabbing a book or two on grammar, writing, word choice and the mechanics of different types of writing. You’ll also need strong organizational skills, as different clients will have different goals, tones of voice, etc.
Proofreading
Are you an English major, or do you just love to read? If so, you’ll be happy to know that you can make good money by proofreading everything from books to blogs.
While editors are tasked with making structural changes that improve the flow and readability of the text, proofreaders have a simpler (though no less important) job; they meticulously scour a project for grammar, punctuation and layout errors (and fix the ones they find).
What It Pays
Proofreading is less skill-intensive than editing, so it pays less. Most entry-level proofreaders will earn between $10 and $20 per hour, while those with more experience can land in the $20 to $30 range.
What You Need
An obsessive attention to detail. As a proofreader, your job is to catch things that other people have missed and ensure that the project is perfect and ready for publication.
#2. Web Design, Development And Maintenance
Websites are nearly mandatory for business success today, making web design, development and maintenance services a lucrative online gig for students.
It sounds intimidating, but the truth is that many potential clients have relatively low expectations — primarily small businesses without a website. These businesses would rather shell out good money to have a website built for them than allocate valuable time learning how to build a website themselves.
And for these types of projects, you typically won’t need to build a website from scratch. Clients will pay you to set them up with a WordPress blog or a Shopify store, which are essentially turn-key solutions — all you have to do is customize the design to their specifications.
What It Pays
When working on one-off tasks, entry-level web developers can earn $20 per hour or more, with rates quickly increasing as your skills improve (you could reach $70 or more per hour while you’re still in school). These types of projects might include fixing parts of a website that are broken and making design customizations.
But providing full website solutions is the more lucrative option. Many clients on Upwork will pay $1,000 or more for a simple but working blog or e-commerce site. And if you know what you’re doing, that can work out to a very attractive hourly rate.
What You Need
You can get started in web design and development with little to no coding knowledge. Knowledge of WordPress, Wix or other platforms will be sufficient for building simple websites for small business clients.
Learning coding languages like HTML and CSS allows you to charge more, though. Consider signing up for a class in one of the languages mentioned above if you aren’t already studying computer science or a related field.
A great way to demonstrate your potential to clients is by creating your own website and making it look good. This provides a way for clients to contact you, but they can also observe your web design/development talents first-hand.
Three Great Web Development Niches
- Unbounce: This is a web-based application for building landing pages that is very popular with small business owners. Add copywriting and design skills to your repertoire and you’ll be able to generate much more revenue for your clients — and boost your rates accordingly.
- Shopify: Used by small and medium-sized businesses to sell products online. Many clients will pay you not only for the initial setup of the site, but also for ongoing site maintenance, like adding products.
- WordPress: The most popular blogging platform has, in recent years, also become the most popular platform for building general websites. Aside from creating the web pages and content, a successful WordPress developer should know how to pick themes and plugins that fit the client’s goals. Knowing CSS helps you further customize client sites.
#3. Video Production
Photography and film students can leverage their skills and knowledge into a video production role. Video is one of the most popular forms of content on the internet, so there’s plenty of opportunity here.
What It Pays
According to Upwork, video editors can start anywhere between $20 and $45 per hour. That’s substantial money for a college student pursuing an artistic endeavor. As you sharpen your skills, you can push that number even higher.
If you’re interested in pursuing this work further, see if there’s a film club on campus. Joining them will help you improve your abilities and build connections.
What You Need
First and foremost, you’ll need to know the basics of video production and editing. Being artistic, detail-oriented, and having a knack for storytelling will also be helpful.
Of course, you also need video editing software. Adobe Premiere Pro is the go-to solution, and while it’s expensive, you may have free or discounted access to the Adobe Creative Suite through your college or university.
A video portfolio will help you land clients. Photography and videography majors can likely leverage past coursework. If you aren’t in one of these majors, you can create some samples from scratch. As with writing, clients care more about what you can do than your qualifications or past clients.
Five Great Video Production Niches
- Book trailers: There has been an explosion in self-published e-books in recent years, and most authors who are serious about marketing their work create video trailers to try and drum up attention. Your job here is to create a video that builds hype and leads to sales.
- Lyric videos: Up-and-coming musicians don’t always have the budget for a true music video. Lyric videos enable them to add a visual element to their music at a lower price.
- Short-form video editing: A strong trend is repurposing long-form videos an influencer may create on YouTube for platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts.
- Subtitles and captions: Subtitles are essential for videos that will be shared on social media, but few people know how to add them, how to make them look good, and — most importantly — how to make them line up with the audio track. There’s tremendous demand in this niche, although the pay can be relatively low.
- Video editing: Video editors need to understand technical details like lighting, coloration, framing, cuts and types of shots and angles. You’ll also need access to quality video editing software, like Adobe’s Premiere Pro and/or Apple’s Final Cut Pro.
- Whiteboards: Whiteboard videos involve drawing images on a whiteboard to accompany the video’s narration. Educational organizations and YouTube channels commonly use these, but businesses also make them for marketing purposes. This is a great niche if you’re talented at drawing and/or digital animation.
#4. Audio And Music Production
As recently as the turn of the century, the overwhelming majority of professional audio production took place in multi-million-dollar recording studios, and producers needed to know how to leverage massive soundboards and other highly technical equipment. But today, all you need is a MacBook, some relatively inexpensive software, a little bit of equipment and a little bit of know-how.
You can easily do this work from your dorm room, your parents’ house, or wherever you happen to be. And if you’re talented, the pay can be quite good.
What It Pays
How much you can earn depends on the type of work you perform. When doing basic audio editing — like eliminating background noise, boosting audio volume, or adjusting sound quality — you can expect to earn between $20 and $40 per hour. For more specialized one-off projects — like recording song demos — the price typically falls into the $75 to $150 range for beginners.