Looking for a part-time job that is excellent for international students and foreign workers? Start with this list of the 21 best online jobs for students.
The stress that college students face often has to do with more than just taking classes and writing exams. Having enough money to pay your bills can also be a challenge.
Thankfully, there are many online jobs for students you can do from any location in Canada and the United States as long as you have access to the internet.
These legitimate work from home opportunities require little to no upfront investment and offer easy ways to earn extra cash.
Best Online Jobs For Students To Earn Money
An online job allows you to work remotely and monetize your free time without leaving home.
In addition to earning an income that makes college life fun, some online jobs also help you build skills you can turn into a career or transfer into your future employment.
1. Online Tutoring
- Average pay: $20 per hour
- Where to find work: VIPKid, Chegg Tutors, QKids, WyzAnt, and Tutor.com
You can teach various subjects online to middle school, high school, and college students, including English as a second language to kids abroad.
This gig also includes tutoring from extracurricular things like fashion, music, art, social media, and more.
Some companies require a Bachelor’s degree, while others are okay with some teaching experience.
In addition, you can combine this with creating online courses on platforms such as Udemy, Teachable, and Coursera.
Related: Online tutoring jobs in Canada.
2. Proofreader
- Average pay: $15-$30 per hour
- Where to find work: Freelancer, Fiverr, and Upwork
I used to do proofreading gigs as a college student, and it helped hone the writing skills I have today.
If you easily catch grammatical or punctuation errors when reading, a freelance proofreading job could work for you. No previous experience is required.
Caitlyn Pyle earned $43,000 proofreading part-time, and her Proofreading Anywhere course is a must-take if you want to make some real money.
As per Indeed.ca, the average proofreading job pays $23.30 per hour.
3. Social Media Manager
- Average pay: $20 to $40 per hour
- Where to find work: Local businesses on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest)
College students know all about living it up on social media. So, why not turn that skill into a money-making business?
Businesses seek individuals who can help them grow a following, post on social media, and answer customer questions.
Reach out to local businesses in your area and tell them how you can help them engage with customers to grow their brand.
You can also use your social media platform to promote other people’s products and services. This is known as affiliate marketing.
When someone clicks on your link and makes a purchase, you get a commission.
4. Participate in Market Research
- Average pay: $1 to $20 per survey
- Where to find work: Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, Pinecone Research, and Daily Rewards
Get paid for providing your opinions. Yes, that’s what market research panels like Swagbucks pay you to do.
Companies use the data generated to plan their marketing and product promotion strategies.
While you won’t get rich taking surveys, you can easily answer surveys on your phone when you are less busy. Here are some legitimate online surveys.
Here are a few to get you started:
- Swagbucks: Get a $5 welcome bonus
- Survey Junkie
- Pinecone Research: Earn $3 to $5 per survey
- Ipsos i-Say
- Branded Surveys
5. Create an Online Store with Shopify
- Average pay: varies
- Where to find work: Shopify
Start an online e-commerce store where you can either sell your own products (e.g. arts and crafts) or simply act as a middleman between suppliers and the final customer.
You can easily create a store using a platform like Shopify, where you have ready-made templates and tools to get your shop up and running within hours.
The easiest way to get your store going is to use dropshipping, which means you can sell physical items without keeping an inventory.
After a customer makes the purchase, the third-party supplier ships the product to them directly, and you get paid.
You can also sell on Etsy, Zazzle, and ThreadUp.
Start your online store on Shopify.
6. Become a Blogger
- Average pay: varies (up to $15,000 per month)
Blogging is an excellent way to earn passive income if you know what you are doing.
For example, this blog, SavvyNewCanadians.com, pays me more than I earned at my day job as a veterinarian.
Start a niche site and write about something you are passionate about. As your blog gains traction, you can monetize it using adverts and affiliate marketing. You can also sell an online course.
I have written a detailed guide on how to start a blog from scratch in six easy steps.
When you consider that your upfront costs are minimal (e.g. $3.95 per month for web hosting), there’s no reason why you shouldn’t start right now.
7. Data Entry Online Jobs
- Average pay: $10 to $15 per hour
- Where to find work: Clickworker, FlexJobs, Upwork, and Fiverr
Boring? I know. Online data entry jobs don’t pay a lot of money; however, they remain popular as part-time jobs for students.
The basic requirement is that you should have good typing skills and pay attention to details. Create a detailed profile on platforms such as Clickworker and Fiverr to find jobs.
8. Freelance Writer
- Average pay: $50 to $500 per article
- Where to find work: Upwork, iWriter, Problogger, FreelanceWriting.com, PeoplePerHour.com, and Textbroker
One way to get your foot in the door and become a successful freelance writer is to start a blog. The articles on your blog can serve as your portfolio, and you can use this to market your services.
Companies, blogs, magazines, websites, and others are looking for freelance writers to work for them on a full or part-time basis.
9. Micro Freelancer
- Average pay: $5 per gig
- Where to find work: Fiverr, Amazon Mechanical Turk, Gigbucks, Task Rabbit
There are numerous tasks you can get paid to do on freelance marketplaces like Fiverr, including outright weird things.
For example, you could earn $5 to $500 to do a voiceover, edit a video, write a resume, create a website, transcribe audio, and more.
10. Virtual Assistant
- Average pay: $20 to $100 per hour
- Where to find work: PeoplePerHour, Zirtual, VA Networking.com, and Upwork
Virtual assistants perform a variety of tasks remotely for businesses and individuals. You can be hired to answer emails, manage social media platforms, plan and schedule meetings, book travel, proofread, plan events, research a project, maintain a website, enter data, etc.
Bonus Ways For Students To Make Money
These bonus tips to make money online are worth checking out.
11. Use Cash Back Apps
Get paid to shop by using a cash back app when you shop online or at your favourite store.
A. KOHO: The free KOHO app and prepaid Mastercard offer up to 5% cash back on purchases at partner stores. Users also get a free budgeting app and a high interest savings account.
Join KOHO here and use our referral code CASHBACK for a $20 bonus. The bonus is applied after your first purchase. You can also learn more about the app in this review.
B. Rakuten: If you shop online at stores like Amazon, Walmart, Staples, Sephora, Sportchek, and 700+ others, Rakuten offers opportunities to earn cash back and save money. Simply visit the site before you shop at your favourite retailer to earn cash back rewards.
Join Rakuten here or read our review. You get a $30 bonus after your first online purchase of $30 or more.
12. Audio Transcription
- Average pay: $10 to $25 per hour
- Where to find work: Upwork, Rev, Indeed
When it comes to online jobs for students to earn money, audio transcription is a popular choice.
The basic premise involves listening to an audio file and typing the words you hear. Audio files often consist of recordings of meetings or lectures.
You will need to have good concentration as well as fast and accurate typing skills. You often get paid by the audio minute but take into account that you will spend longer than a minute transcribing one minute of audio. Rates typically range from $10 to $25 per hour.
13. Web Designer
- Average pay: $25+ per hour
- Where to find work: Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer
If you have web design skills, you can earn a side income or full-time income as a web designer.
Web design is in demand because every business needs a website, and you can charge a premium for your skills. To get started, set up your own website, create a portfolio, and look for jobs online.
14. Video Editing
- Average pay: $40+ per hour
- Where to find work: Outreach, Upwork, Indeed
Lots of people need videos edited these days. Just think of all the videos that businesses produce in addition to all the YouTube videos and other marketing videos out there.
Video marketing is huge, and your editing skills can make a difference by making videos look more professional.
You’ll need some equipment for this job, including a good laptop and professional editing software like Adobe Premiere.
15. Sell on Etsy
- Average pay: Depends on sales
- Where to find work: Etsy
Etsy is another great website that allows you to make money without any previous skills needed. One of the best ways to do this is to create digital downloads called printables. This way, you only have to create each item once, and you can then continue earning more by selling the same file multiple times.
It’s almost passive income, and depending on how much you sell, you could earn $500 or more monthly. However, you’ll need some art or design skills to get started.
Here are some Etsy alternatives.
Best Online Jobs for Students with No Experience
No experience? No problem! Here are some of the best online jobs for students, even if you don’t have any experience.
16. Sell Print-on-Demand Products
- Average pay: Depends on sales
- Where to find work: Redbubble, Printful, Printify
Print-on-demand (POD) products are more popular than ever. Using a site like Redbubble, you can create your own designs, and the company prints them onto a range of products, from mugs to t-shirts.
Shoppers visit the marketplace, and when they order your products, the company prints and delivers them, processes the payment and takes a commission. All you have to do is create your designs.
17. Video Captioning
- Average pay: $0.40 per video minute captioned
- Where to find work: Rev, Upwork, Fiverr
Video captioning is suited to anyone who wants to work remotely from home, including students. It involves watching a video and typing down the dialogue and what is happening on the screen.
You’ll need good listening and typing skills, but that’s about all. If you apply at Rev, you’ll need to take an assessment, so you should practice doing some captioning before you apply. However, you don’t need any specialist skills.
18. Sell on eBay
- Average pay: Depends on sales
- Where to find work: eBay
eBay has been around for decades, and it’s still a great way to make money online. You don’t need any special skills or experience, and anyone can get started.
Begin by selling used items to get an idea of how it works. If things go well, you could start buying used items from thrift shops and selling them for a profit.
You could even start drop shipping. This is where you don’t actually handle the products but just sell them, and a company takes care of delivery.
You could earn a few dollars on the side or make a full-time income this way.
Best Online Jobs for High School Students
If you’re in high school, you can still make money online. Here are some ways to get started:
19. Create a YouTube Channel
- Average pay: Varies
- Where to find work: YouTube
Kids as young as five have their own YouTube channels these days, so what’s to stop you from creating one for yourself?
Your success will depend on your content and the number of people who subscribe. But if it becomes popular, you can make some serious money.
Just like blogging, there are many ways to monetize your content. You can use affiliate marketing, recommend products you like for a commission, create your own merchandise, and more.
Here’s how to make money on TikTok.
20. Sell Stock Photography
- Average pay: $0.02 per image per month
- Where to find work: Shutterstock, Getty, iStock
If you love taking photographs, you could convert your hobby into extra cash.
People are constantly looking for all kinds of photos for their websites, blogs, calendars, books, etc. They go to stock photography websites and pay for a license to use them.
When someone downloads your photo, you receive a percentage of the sale. It’s not typically a great way to make a full-time income, but you can easily make a few dollars on the side.
21. Voiceover Artist
- Average pay: $25 per hour
- Where to find work: Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer
If you love acting and have a great voice, you could get work as a voiceover artist.
You’ll need some equipment, including a good microphone. But as long as you have this, you can find work reading scripts for adverts, videos, podcasts, and more.
There is plenty of work out there if you have the skills, and it can be a lot of fun too.
Final Thoughts
Online jobs and flexible remote jobs are the future. As a student, you can start some gigs to make money during your spare time.
Many of these online jobs do not require a lot of upfront investment or experience, making them doable even for college students.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no one job that is best for students, and it depends on your skills, how much time you have to spare, and what you enjoy doing. Use the ideas in this guide to get started.
You can earn $1,000 a month as a student by doing many of the jobs listed in this guide, including transcribing, web design and video editing. How much you earn depends on the amount of work you put in, your skill level, and your ability to find work.
You could earn $100 a day by working as a web designer or video editor, depending on how many hours you are prepared to work.
You could make six figures without a degree by selling online, like on eBay or your own website, or by learning a high-paying skill like web design.
Can an international student sell digital products like digital art on etsy which doesnt require any shipping services, (because it’s downloadable on purchase)?
Like is it allowed and does it require any legal obligations like applying for business licence etc,?
@Isshika: I could not find any information that would infer you could not carry out this type of business as an international student. You may need to keep track of how many hours you spend on the “business” if you are limited to 20 hours per week. Also, you may not need business registration at the beginning, however, if your gig grows in scope, it would make sense to do so at some point. Regardless, you will need to keep track of your revenues as taxes may be due when you file your income tax return.
This post may also be useful: https://www.savvynewcanadians.com/part-time-jobs-for-international-students-in-canada/
Hello
Thank you for the information.
Is it for only Canadian students or also international students?
I’m planning on going to Canada for my undergraduate and I have passion for vlogging on youtube and really want to do it there.I am allowed,right?
@Sniggy: Many of the options listed are also available to international students…subject to limits you may have on how many hours you can work per week.
Thanks for this! Appreciate the information. Can you expand on the legitimacy of e-commerce as an international student? I’m from the US studying in Canada trying to to make some cash as support. I would like to mostly sell online, particularly designs and digital media, but can’t figure out if I need a work permit or business license for my sales. Can you point me to some resources or share guidance?
Thanks again.
@lynn: Good question. I believe you will need a work permit. Though not sure how your hours are calculated when considering the hours of work you are permitted per week. You could chat with a rep at your student union/association as they would likely have come across similar scenarios.