Part-Time Jobs for Twenty-Something Writers
This post was written by Erin from College Grad Lessons
As twenty-something writers, most of us are students or young professionals that wouldn’t mind making some extra money. Although writing might be something that you just do for fun, you can use your blogging and other writing to help land freelance or part-time jobs.
I’m attending grad school full-time starting this fall and have been looking for a part-time job. I currently work full-time as a web developer and training specialist and recently interviewed for a part-time/contract web design position with an interactive design firm. One of the samples I sent to the firm was a blog template that I built for WordPress, so the person interviewing me asked if I had experience writing. Although I hadn’t planned on talking about College Grad Lessons (something that I do for fun and still needs a lot of work), it was the perfect writing sample for web content. The positive response that I received regarding my blog made me realize that I should consider freelance/part-time copywriting as another type of part-time job to pursue during grad school.
As a twenty-something writer, here are ten freelance/part-time jobs to consider:
- Copywriter – Search job postings and contact local PR and design firms to find potential copywriter positions. Send a link to your blog and few other writing samples and highlight your computer skills.
- Blogger – Blogs are becoming increasingly popular for small business marketing, but business owners often lack the time to research and write blog posts related to their business. Watch local job postings and search for businesses with blogs that need more or better content to find potential blogging jobs.
- Web Content Editor – Small businesses and design firms may be interested in hiring a web content editor to edit copy and add content to web sites. Look for job postings with WordPress listed as a desired skill.
- Tutor – Local schools or private companies may be looking to hire English tutors. Also consider posting flyers or an ad in a school newspaper to find interested parents and students. In high school, I tutored as a part-time job and made a decent amount of money. In addition to helping students with homework, you could offer creative writing lessons.
- PR Intern – My first job after college was an intern position on the Digital Public Affairs team at a PR firm. I monitored blogs for clients and even wrote blog posts and web content. Small, traditional PR firms may be interested in learning from your blogging and social networking experience. Larger firms may have specific digital/online PR intern positions.
- Freelance Journalist – Contact local newspapers and magazines to see if they need a twenty-something writer to review bars and concerts, cover local school events or other topics that could be covered by a twenty-something. If you’re flexible, consider writing stories in exchange for concert tickets, meals, etc. This could be a great way to cover your “going-out” expenses, build professional writing experience and have fun.
- Custom Invitation and Greeting Card Specialist – This could be a great part-time business for writers with a passion for poetry and graphic design. Create samples and contact local gift shops, community organizations, wedding planners, party venues and other related businesses.
- WordPress Consultant – Offer WordPress help to people in your existing network (think professors, friends of your parents with businesses, etc.) and ask them to recommend you to other people in their network. Your services could range from setting up domain names and installing WordPress to helping people create a blog theme and post ideas.
- Online Community Manager – If you have a decent amount of blogging experience, you may be able to find a job managing an online community. This could range from approving comments to welcoming new members to writing featured posts.
- Social Networking Consultant – If you’ve successfully gained a strong following through your blog, Twitter and other social networking, others might be willing to pay for your help. Offer assistance for writing bios, crafting profiles and creating a personal brand.
The best part about all of these jobs is that you get to do what you enjoy – write!
I’ll be posting the progress of my freelance job search periodically at College Grad Lessons, so be sure to come visit me there!
What part-time jobs have you landed thanks to your writing skills? How did you find the job?
March 10th, 2009 at 4:32 am
This is an awesome post, Erin! Very helpful. I am lookinf for a part time job while on classes, so this is great.
March 10th, 2009 at 4:32 am
None of my jobs relate to writing. I’ll probably never have a job that lets me write like I would like to. That doesn’t bother me. I’m not sure that I could turn my writing into a job, not even like a full-time writer. Turning my writing into a career would take away the love I feel for writing. Deadlines and being pushed do not make for good writing on my part.
March 10th, 2009 at 6:43 am
Ellie – That’s a good point actually. Deadlines can take the fun, creative aspect of writing away. Helping others enjoy writing through tutoring students might be way to make extra money from your writing skills without having to face deadlines and the forced nature of some writing jobs.
March 10th, 2009 at 5:02 am
The only one I’ve received has been working at our Writing Center as a graduate student. I never thought I’d be doing this kind of stuff, but it’s been fun. Like any job, it can be tough at times but on the whole it’s been very rewarding.
March 10th, 2009 at 6:56 am
Sadly, my writing is horrific. However, my knowledge of computers and Web 2.0 gave me opportunities of work and also consulting work.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Web skills have definitely helped me too. In fact, it was through a PR internship that was the “perfect job” I thought it would be that I realized I needed more technical tasks than writing tasks. Writing skills in the tech industry are a HUGE asset though.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:01 am
I’ve done a bit of freelancing to local newspapers in my city, but it was unpaid. I just wanted the byline anyways since I’m a journalism and need clippings. By doing some of that unpaid work it helped me land the News Editor position at my school paper, which is paid.
Thanks for the great tips Erin! I wish I knew more about designing blogs, that would be a cool job!
March 10th, 2009 at 7:22 am
Wow…thanks for the awesome tips! I’m currently a tutor and a PR intern
You’re right, many PR firms are interested in social networking and blogging skills, so having these interests has really made me an asset.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
This is super helpful! Unfortch none of the part-time jobs, full time jobs, or internships have helped my writing. Except for providing me with material. Hah.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Agreed.
March 12th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Your post is very nice & helpful for the people who wants the part time job, in my experience when i am student i also do part time job but it is daily wage. But i experience it is very productive & also i have extra money to spend on my self. Its great.
Mohammad Zohaib Khan from Job Listing