Believe it or not, summer can be a really difficult time for college students to get a job. Why? As many employers consider the time frame the student can work in (2-3 months) and then reject student candidates.
Why hire a student when there is someone who would stay longer? Hell, it takes 1-2 months just to train someone well – by the time we’re done training they’re gone.
But college students shouldn’t give up – especially this summer as job shortages hit the country. There are many opportunities for college students to make money during the summer. Here are 15 college student money making ideas that can be implemented over the summer even if they don’t get a “real” job.
1. Search the Internet
Are you looking for things on the internet? Do you want to get paid for it? There are two main companies that will pay you for online tasks like browsing the internet. The more tasks you do, the more you get paid. Even better, both companies offer bonuses just for signing up.
Swagbucks is a website where you can earn self-service points to do various online tasks like taking surveys, watching videos, and using their search engine. If you use their search engine, after several searches you will get SB points, typically 10-15 SB. You can withdraw your self-service points from the 500 point mark.
Sign up for Swagbucks through THIS LINK and you can earn a $ 5 bonus!
Another possibility is Inbox dollars. Similar to Swagbucks, they offer cash bonuses for Internet searches or online shopping. Just for signing up with THIS LINK you can earn a $ 5 bonus!
2. Become an online teacher
This has become one of my favorite new ways to make money online – especially for college students. There are now several companies that allow you to teach online. In particular, these companies allow college students (and those with college degrees) to teach English online.
If you are good at English and would feel confident teaching English online, Check out VIP Kid and teach English online for a good hourly rate.
Another similar program is QKid – where you can teach English online in small groups. You only have to be currently enrolled at the university.
Finally there is SagABCthat can earn you anywhere from $ 16 to $ 20 an hour of online tuition!
3. Sell things on eBay or Amazon
Selling stuff on eBay was one of the first ways I ever made money online. I used to sell everything old in my house. Soon I started selling on Amazon too, just focusing on music, movies, and books.
Selling on eBay eventually became a very big side business for me, making me about $ 3,000 a year – just part-time.
Start selling on Amazon here.
Start selling on eBay here.
Check out Etsy if you want to sell things that you make.
4. Complete online surveys
Believe it or not, there are companies out there that will pay you to take online surveys. The reason? They just want your opinion. All you have to do is register and these companies will contact you when they have a survey that fits your profile. Typically these are online market research surveys for big brands.
Some of the most popular online survey sites are:
- Poll Junkie – Earn money and rewards for sharing your thoughts and opinions.
- Swagbucks polls – Swagbucks now has its own polls section, and you can get $ 5 just for signing up.
- Opinion outpost – Earn money by completing surveys.
- Points club – Earn points for completing surveys, which you can redeem for gift cards. Get 2,000 points when you sign up using this link.
5. Do small online tasks on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk
Amazon’s Mechanical Turk is a great way to make money. The gigs on this site pay incredibly low amounts – usually less than a nickel. They take seconds, however, and you can typically make around $ 6 an hour if you stick with it.
I’ve put together a complete guide on how to maximize your amount of money using tools and forums. Check it out here: How To Make Money With Amazons MTurk.
6. Deliver food by car or even bike
Another of my favorite college student ways to make money in the summer is by delivering food. The great thing is that you just pick up and drop off the food and you don’t have to have people in your car! If you don’t have a car, you can even deliver food and make money on a bike or scooter.
Two of my favorite apps for delivery are Door dash and Instacart.
Both apps allow you to deliver on your own terms. You take an order, receive the food, deliver it, and get paid. It’s a great way to get paid on your own terms. Check out our full Door Dash review here.
Start with Door slam here.
Start here with Instacart.
7. Drive to Uber or Lyft
If you’re home in the summer and have a car, you can make money just by driving people around. All you need is a car and some free time. This could net you hundreds a week if you’re in an area where ride-on-demand is popular. Plus, you never know how many fun people you might meet.
You can easily sign up for Uber and start driving people around as a sideline. You will do what you put in it. Harry at The Ride Share Guy has lots of great resources to get you started.
We also found that Lyft has many incentives to get drivers to sign up. Make sure you Check out Lyft and see if they have great deals.
8. Deliver groceries and more!
Instacart is an on-demand delivery service where you get paid to deliver groceries and groceries. That’s not bad.
With Instacart you deliver in your time. You can deliver groceries, restaurant orders, and more! This is a great summer gig for students because you do it on your free time – download the app, sign up, and only take deliveries when you are able.
So for flexibility this summer, this is a great option! Sign up and deliver today with Instacart >>
9. Join Agent Anything and do random tasks
Agent Anything is a site that outsources tasks but is more geared towards students. People post projects on the site and you can make offers on how much you’re willing to pay to help. Most of the gigs on the site make between $ 20 and $ 100, but some make more. However, they are usually pretty quick and easy jobs.
Think of this as a different version of Task Rabbit, but one that focuses on young adults.
10. Babysitter or house sitter
Babysitting and house sitting are two great ways to make money while at home over the summer vacation. Both don’t require a long term commitment, and either of them can make you good money.
Start by asking friends, family, and neighbors if they need someone to help them. If it doesn’t, you can always consider posting on a website like Care.com and looking for work there. Finding work through friends and family is usually easier, but searching the Internet opens up more possibilities.
11. Become a dog walker
Another great way to make money, especially if you love animals, is to become a dog handler. In many cities, people are looking for individuals to take their dogs and pets for walks. Even in the suburbs, people are looking for others to spend time with their pets – especially when the owners have busy schedules.
Again, the best way to find work is to talk to friends and neighbors, but there are online services that can help too. You can search for dog dating jobs on Care.com and Rover.
12. Start a summer moving service
Another great way to make extra cash over the summer is with a moving service. This job is even better if you can get 1-2 friends to join you.
The best way to search for gigs is to post on Craigslist as a moving company. People will contact you and you can negotiate the price. Keep in mind that you will likely have to rent a U-Haul truck, pay for the gas, and spend a lot of time on each customer. Price yourself accordingly.
13. Do house painting or home improvement
You can also look for chores or home improvement. Many people start doing home improvement searches as soon as summer comes, and if you are ready to do some manual labor this could be a great way to make money.
There are a few ways to do this: 1) Do the work yourself from start to finish by contacting individuals and closing deals. 2) You can join a company that you’re affiliated with, you do the selling and painting, but they provide the infrastructure, billing, supplies, and more. 3) You go and work for a company as a summer or temporary worker.
A good place to start is Handy, an app that connects job seekers with those who need them.
14. Take a medical survey
This is one of our favorite unique ways to make money, and it can turn in hundreds or even thousands of dollars in your time. With time on your side for the summer, you might be a good candidate for a medical school. Check your local schools or hospitals and see if they have information about any studies you can take part in. The higher paying studies are the ones that require overnight stays.
15. Get paid to be someone’s friend
If you want to go out and do a fun activity – like having dinner or watching a movie – but don’t have anyone to do it with, you can join a service like Rentafriend.com that can get you paid to to become a friend of someone for a period of time. This is purely platonic stuff, so please don’t think about it any other way.
Final thoughts
Just because it’s difficult to get a vacation job at a large company or retailer doesn’t mean you can’t work and make money. There are many ways to make money in the summer, you just have to find them. And who knows, some of these gigs could turn into sideline things to do during college when you return in the fall.
