10 Occupations You Can Combine With Learning Online

The advent of the internet and technology over the years has made so many things possible—from delivering anything and everything right to your doorstep to live and recorded online classes and working part-time jobs wherever you are in the world. What we felt was impossible once was made possible because of how humans have changed the trajectory of work and learning through technology.

Students, in particular, have seen the most benefits from this. Combining learning with occupations is not new—many students have been looking for part-time retail jobs to fund school and personal finances since immemorial. Today, technology has helped many learners work part-time remote jobs, even halfway across the globe.

This article will discuss the different occupations you can combine with learning, from part-time office jobs to part-time evening jobs that best fit the kind of work and schedule you’re looking for. 

Why do students work part-time?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, it is not uncommon for students to be employed at the same time they are enrolled. 

Case in point, the portion of part-time students employed is higher at 74 percent compared to full-time students at 40 percent. Being employed helps students pay for education and living expenses, even if graduating takes longer due to fewer class schedules per day than full-time students. 

Jim Pendergast, Senior Vice President at altLINE Sobanco, says, “The need for students to work part-time while studying is mostly because of the continuous rise of education and tuition fees for the past two decades—not to mention the increasing food and rent costs they need if they are studying away from home.”

According to Forbes, the tuition fee for a full-time four-year college course has increased by 180% for the past 40 years, from $10,231 annually to $28,755 in 2020. These fees get more expensive for private nonprofit colleges, which charge $48,965 annually compared to public universities at half the price.

Occupations you can do while learning

With the ridiculous (and continuous) soaring of education costs, students have been taking daytime part-time jobs or part-time evening jobs before or after classes. Here are some of the most popular part-time jobs right now that you can consider applying to:

Tutor (online or offline)

Students are the most in-demand tutors out there among parents and families. Paying professors as tutors can be very costly for many, so students, especially college students, are the most viable and cost-effective options for those looking for tutors. 

In fact, professors encourage students to become tutors as it helps the tutee learn from someone who closely understands their struggles and inspires student tutors to love teaching. 

It is a common misunderstanding that tutors need to know everything about the curriculum they’re teaching. Tutoring is a mutual learning process, and you can be a tutor while learning material.

Tutoring is mainly done offline; however, live video-calling platforms have allowed online tutoring wherever you are. You can also opt for video recordings of lectures or create PowerPoint presentations and other digital learning materials.

Freelance writer

If you have a knack for writing, being a freelance writer is the best part-time job for you right now. 

As a freelance writer, you create output-based material, meaning many organizations looking for a freelance writer are looking to pay on a per-output basis rather than hourly. You can also negotiate an hourly rate, but make sure that your proposed rate is commensurate with the time you spend researching and writing the article and the value of your expertise on a specific topic.

Max Wesman, Founder & COO of GoodHire, says, “The advantage of freelance writing is that if you are paid based on output, your working times are flexible so long as you can submit the output on time. This creates great flexibility for students with complicated class schedules because you can work any time and anywhere without being tied to an hourly limit.”

The most in-demand freelance niches you can start looking into are copywriting, SEO writing for blogs, book writing, email marketing, personal finance, technical writing, or video scripts.  

Social media manager

No one knows social media better than Gen Zs do, and if you’re looking for part-time remote jobs, many organizations are looking for Gen Z social media managers. 

Gerald Lombardo, Head of Growth at Popl, says, “Social media operates on trends. This means that social media managers must be on top of what’s currently in demand, what products people are in, or what events are making the rounds on the internet.”

Gen Zs are at the top of the game when it comes to social media. A report from Statista showed that 40 percent of Gen Zs spend an average of four hours daily, and one in ten Gen Zs spend ten hours or more interacting with people online weekly. 

Because of this, Gen Zs hold better leverage at being good at being social media managers than any other generation. At the same time, student Gen Zs can work on social media management as a part-time remote job, which means that work hours can be flexible and not be as demanding as on-site jobs.

Virtual Assistant

Over the years, we’ve seen how Virtual Assistants (VA) have become a lucrative source of income for those looking for part-time remote jobs. But what exactly are VAs?

Virtual assistants provide independent administrative services outside clients’ offices, mainly through online work and communication. The scope of VA work can range from managing personal schedules, calendar management, customer service, call handling, bookkeeping, and human resource jobs.

Similar to social media management, being a virtual assistant allows flexibility for students to manage their time and schedule from being a student and a part-time contractor. 

However, the challenge with being a virtual assistant is that the industry is so saturated today (with an estimated 30 million VAs worldwide) that getting an opportunity for a VA job requires a unique skill or characteristic that would stand out among a crowd.

Graphic designer

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are an estimated 22,800 job openings for graphic designer jobs each year, and the industry is expected to grow by 3 percent for the next ten years. 

While big employers require graphic artists to graduate in a related field, many small to medium-sized businesses seek help from part-time graphic designers for one-off or contract jobs to design brand logos, website interfaces, publications, product packaging, and the like.

If you are currently taking a bachelor’s degree in graphic design, you can benefit from working part-time as a graphic designer to build a portfolio and experience, in addition to having additional income sources. 

Video Editor

Being a video editor also requires you to be updated on current trends, which is why Gen Z or student video editors are just as in demand as professional video editors. Remote video editing software can significantly enhance your workflow, enabling you to collaborate with clients and team members from anywhere, providing flexibility and convenience.

Being a part-time video editor allows you to build your portfolio (if you are trying to take video editing into a professional career) or earn money with your hobbies as a video editor. Remember that the selling point of a video editor is a strong portfolio, which means that if you want to earn enough and get more clients—you need to gather as much experience as possible and slowly increase your rates as your experience and the quality of your work increases.

Data entry and transcription

If you want a no-brainer job that you can do during slow and low days or something you can do without too much stress in between classes, you can search online job platforms for part-time remote jobs on data entry and transcription.

Data entry is mostly menial tasks on retyping one data set to another or in a specific format. Most data entry jobs include retyping or converting PDF files to Word or Excel files, updating customer information, or encoding employee or accounting records.

Transcription, on the other hand, is the process of turning a particular audio piece into a written file. Typical transcription jobs include transcribing online seminars and classes, meeting minutes, or creating closed caption subtitles for videos.

Affiliate marketer

If you are an extrovert who loves communication and being in front of a camera, being an affiliate marketer on social media sites is a great way to earn money while studying. 

Many businesses have transitioned their traditional marketing methods to modern ones—especially affiliate marketing. This is because outsourcing marketing, especially for startups, gives businesses leverage in cost-reduction and reaching wider audiences by tapping into affiliates.

There’s no set age limit for being an affiliate marketer. In fact, some affiliate marketing methods don’t need you to be in front of a camera, which you can do through blogging, guest posting, writing on social media sites, forums, podcasting, and many more. 

However, most affiliate marketers thrive through making video content on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, where most of the younger generation gathers to keep up with the trends.

There’s no one-size-fits-all metric on how much you can earn being an affiliate marketer as the rates and metrics depend on various factors like percentage of sales or fixed rates. Full-time affiliate marketers can make up to six digits a month, and new affiliate marketers can earn as low as $100 on their first month—but hey, that’s a start! 

Voice artist

If you take pride in your voice or speaking tone or are currently enrolled in mass communications courses, why not try being a voice artist?

Most voice-over part-time jobs include voicing for prompts, YouTube videos, games, social media content, e-books, meditation recordings, narrative podcasts, educational content, etc. 

Being a voice artist allows you to use your talent to earn money, and with an output-based part-time remote job like voice-overs, you have total control of your time and schedule despite school work.

Bookkeeping

There’s a misconception that only those with professional accounting licenses or CPAs can do bookkeeping tasks—that is not true. In fact, CPAs rarely do bookkeeping, and anyone who is passionate about accounting or is currently taking an undergraduate degree in accounting and business can earn lucrative income from part-time bookkeeping jobs.

Robert Kaskel, Chief People Officer at Checkr, says, “As more businesses try to outsource their administrative services to save costs on payroll and rent, virtual bookkeeping has become much more common now than ever. This is also possible partly because of the rise of online bookkeeping platforms like Quickbooks that simplify bookkeeping and allow collaborative online bookkeeping anytime and anywhere.”

Conclusion

With the rising costs of education and living, many students are forced into a situation where they need to work to sustain their education, especially if they come from far away places. 

Luckily, because of technology, there are so many ways a student can have an occupation without doing hard labor. You can be a tutor, freelancer, or marketer anytime and anywhere because the world has evolved to adapt to modern technology. 

Before choosing an occupation you can combine with learning, try to find an opportunity aligned with your course so you can use the working experience as part of your portfolio. The possibilities are endless, and with modern technology—the sky is your limit.