Freelancing For Students Is The Perfect Job
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In this post, Araminta discusses Freelancing for Students is a great job for students and how it could help their future prospects.
Today I have another guest post, this time from Araminta who is the creator of Financially Mint, a personal finance blog for university students written by an actual student. She interviews experts, does weird experiments and a ton of research to help her and others graduate financially intelligent.
Freelancing For Students – Why It Makes The Perfect Job
Freelancing could mean a lot of things: writing, starting a blog, designing, teaching, etc. But the most important factor in freelancing is this: you are in control. And this is great for us students: more flexibility, a lot of ‘real life’ learning and preparation for the future. Students have more time than most people, so why not put it to use?
A great place to start is Upwork. Anyone can sign up pretty quickly and easily and start getting clients. There won’t be much of an income the first few months, but with consistency it builds up. Freelancing is something that can scale.
Here are some benefits of freelancing for students:
Earns you money immediately
I’ve popped onto Upwork, found a translation gig, completed it in the next hour and saw the money paid on Upwork. Bam.
Ok, that might not happen for everyone, but the point is that you’re earning money immediately. You don’t need to wait till the end of the month, and you don’t need to put a ton of effort to start seeing returns – you can literally get started now.
The best part: you don’t need much experience or knowledge to get started. More on that below.
Teaches you how to hustle
So you do start seeing returns immediately – but they won’t be much, I tell you now. If you want to earn good money freelancing, you’ll need to hustle = effort. This means searching for clients, being underpaid, pitching new clients, etc.
I started at the young age of 16. I was writing stories about people living in Minecraft and was earning a meagre £40 for 4000 words. But I was earning money (impossible to find a job at 16 in the little village I was living in), and that’s what kept me going. Right now, a few years later, I know I can find clients easily and be a full-time freelancer if I wanted to (I’m part-time right now). As you can see, it takes time.
But hustling is an amazing skill that get you very far – and employers especially love that. Not everyone has the discipline to freelance and earn money. Doing so proves that you get what you want, and you work for it.
Helps you with professional interactions
It may or may not be your first time interacting with clients – someone who will pay you for a service.
Even if it’s not, freelancing will teach you a lot about managing clients, setting your own rates and dealing with contracts. The number one question we all ask ourselves as freelancers is: how much should I charge?
Over time you get better at answering this question and it prepares you for real-life interactions with bosses, co-workers, etc. Practice means you understand how to work and what works best for you.
And of course, don’t forget here that you will be independent: working your own hours and earning your own money. This forces you to be disciplined and rigorous and managing your own money, a great skill out there in the real world.
Freelancing for Students: Builds you a scalable portfolio
What I love about freelancing is how useful it can be in the future. Not only can you build a portfolio over the years to gain even more clients, but this portfolio is something you can show to employers and companies looking to hire. It looks great on a CV and is something that will make you stand out.
That’s what I mean by scalable: as you improve and build up your portfolio, you can start charging more and maybe even turn this into a business. Can you do that as a waitress in a restaurant? Or at a call centre? Nopety nope. Freelancing wins. Oh, and here’s a cool guide on how to get started.
Freelancing has given me a lot of freedom over the years – no more pressure to ‘get a job’ or to answer to a nasty boss paying you minimum wage. Try it out, what’s the worst that could happen? You earn a bit of money? Not bad if you ask me and that’s why Freelancing For Students is the perfect job.
Not quite a student yet but want to earn some dosh? See my guide on Jobs for Under 16’s
