One of the best ways to make some money on the side while studying your university degree is to do some self-employed freelance work. Freelancing is the best way to use your specific knowledge set to work for a number of clients on a flexible basis.
What are some of the best freelance jobs for beginners?
Writing (Creative or technical) write for blogs, magazine or other publications. Writing jobs are perfect for English students and are currently in high demand!
Proofreading & Editing If you have high attention to detail this job is perfect for you! Read through drafts of; books, articles, assignments and resumes. Another perfect job for English students.
Graphic design for internal publications or social media accounts are high in demand as in house designers can be very expensive to have on a permanent payroll.
Website development for smaller businesses involves building and maintenance of websites and setting up E-commerce platforms if needed, a perfect job for someone studying IT or coding.
Online teacher, online teaching offers a large variety of subjects for you to choose from so even the most niche subjects can be taught, however English is currently the most in demand subject to teach.
Be a virtual assistant. Provide support and secretarial services to a company or even an individual. Because of the remote aspect of this job you don't have to just look for people in this country to work for.
Photography is a very good freelance gig to go for if you have the knowledge and access to a good camera, from taking photos of weddings, anniversaries, baby showers, company launches and many more special events. Stock image photography is a nice way of making passive income as for every download of your picture you will receive a small payment.
Social media manager for a small enterprise that needs help growing their online presence on social media platforms.
Transcribers are also in high demand as many doctors, lawyers and other professionals record their thoughts or meetings in audio or video format and need them converted into text documents.
Translators are highly sought after, a perfect job for language students that have spare time to translate documents from their desired language to English or vice versa for companies that are expanding into foreign markets.
Where can you find all these freelance jobs?
There are many websites you can visit to advertise your services, some of the most popular websites to visit are fiverr.com, upwork.com, flexjobs.com and the best website to use if you are a university student is collegerecruiter.com that provides freelance jobs for college and university students worldwide, and is the perfect place to start building up your portfolio early on in your working life.
How to get started!
Firstly you need to figure out what your sellable skillset is. Because you're a Uni student you have a great starting point - look for a job that relates to your study course i.e.. English students will be perfect for Transcriber work, Mathematic students will be excellent bookkeepers and Business students will be well suited to be a virtual assistant.
Next is getting your name out there in the freelancing world and letting people know you are the perfect candidate for their job.
Build up your portfolio from work you've done before, or by making mock-ups of work you're capable of completing. Write a CV setting out your skillset and how you've attained these skills.
If you really want to impress your possible employers a great start is to setup a basic website showcasing your skills, see it as an online visual CV, this is especially impressive if you are looking to do web design work!
Finally, you should use your environment to your advantage. If you're a photography student and have access to a good camera and photo studio then your work in stock imagery will instantly be a lot more impressive and professional compared to other people that are trying to get into photography freelancing. Use your university study spaces for a calm and distraction free environment to work from, working for yourself you can find that you can get easily distracted so finding a calm place to work from is a great way to keep yourself focussed on getting work done and submitted in time. If you're stuck on a job and need some advice, then look around you! You are surrounded by some of the smartest people in the country, ask them for advice!
How Strive can help you!
As a freelancer, any work you complete is on a Self-Employed basis. This means you are responsible for declaring your earnings to HMRC, and paying any associated taxes. We can help you from start to finish if you like - from advice on registering as self employed, to completing your Self Assessments at the end of the year.
If things go incredibly well for you and you end up becoming your own boss permanently, we are here to give you all the help you need in setting up your own business, from registering your business with Companies House to running your social media accounts & filing your end of year returns, we do it all!
Drop us an email on enquiries@strivebusinesssolutions.co.uk or call us on 0333 335 5137
Comments