Advice for finding side jobs

[Josué]

I haven't seen any thread on this, so maybe this is a discussion worth starting.

I would like to make some extra money in parallel with my main income stream but I haven't been very successful in having good ideas for side jobs. Those who have or have had side jobs, how did you choose them? Did you actively look for side job ideas or they happened "naturally" ?

[Ego]

I guess you could say mine happened naturally. I naturally look for ways that I can make money from the things I enjoy doing.

I was at the beach yesterday. A community college surf class was taking place. One of the instructors was a semi-retired woman who loves to surf. She figured out a way to hang out at the beach teaching people to surf. I asked her a few questions about retirement. As a part-time instructor she was using her surf-income to buy additional pension plan credits. Not bad.

[Josué]

I guess I can start training myself to do the same thing. Actually I think one of my problems may be a lack of things that I enjoy doing when not at work since for the moment I can't recall one.

[Eureka]

I have a side job where I spend time with a mentally disabled woman. We might go swimming, to the zoo, bowling, to a café, go sailing, to the forest or walk around town looking at life or what not. It is about 15 hours/month, but we agree on the scope from time to time and I have a big say in when it is taking place. It is fun and does not even feel like work. After I got this gig (as her Mom, who lives in my neighbourhood, asked me if I'd be interested), I discovered that there is a lot of this kind of side jobs assisting handicapped people around for a few hours a week and once I quit my day job I guess I will take one or two more.

I also sometimes sub yoga classes or do translation or editing work as side jobs or make web pages for small projects. This is something I am asked to do because I have the necessary skills and if the task is not too big, I usually say yes.

But I am not a super fan of working so I try to limit my side jobs until I quit my day job. Once I let go of the day job there will be more time for these little jobs; as it is now I prefer to have more non-scheduled time for myself.

[OTCW]

I do some test proctoring on the side. It just happened naturally, but you can search the part time work section of Craigslist to find stuff. My main gig is part time, but I consider it a real job, just with less hours.

[Josué]

@Eureka: What do you translate? I can read, write and speak 5 different languages with different levels of proficiency (Italian, French, English, Portuguese and Spanish) and I wonder if I could capitalize on this... I suppose you need formal certifications if you want to do big translation works no? Are you aware of something that can be done online?

[Eureka]

Basically all translation work is done into your mother tongue and to this you need to be flawless, including correct punctuation etc. If you have skills within technology, chemistry, law or the like in combination with perfect mother tongue, then you don't need certifications to translate. Usually, the company will make you give a test translation and if satisfactory, they will send you work. Most technical translations are done online through agencies. There are plenty of them around and they can be placed all over the globe. You should be able to find them via Google and on forums for translators.

Good luck!

[7Wannabe5]

My youngest sister,who is currently doing legal contract work after burning herself out as a public defender, is studying Japanese because the fluency in American law/Japanese language combination is particularly lucrative.

This might also be a good opportunity for you to change your mental construct concerning the flow of money. For instance, the subtle yet important difference between finding a side job in the realm of surfing vs. starting a small business in the realm of surfing. When contracts concerning the flow of money or exchange in valued goods or services are made, there is always a party who is offering the contract or setting the initial terms, and a party who is accepting the contract, with negotiations and competition mediating. When you view yourself as somebody who wants to "find a job", then you are viewing yourself as somebody who is looking for somebody else to make initial offer of contract. When you view yourself as somebody who wants to "start a business" then you are viewing yourself as somebody who wants to make initial offer of contract. Otherwise, almost every single detail of the transaction could be almost identical. I think young people should learn both perspectives or skill sets because otherwise "I have no money." and "There are no jobs being offered." results in "Nothing I can do.", and over the long-run results in a cultural mythology in which corporations end up being treated like mini-Gods because they, and only they, hold the awesome rare power of "Job Creator." In reality, the power of "Job Creator" is available to any 14 year old kid with $20, a shovel, a sign, and a not-too-bright-but-reasonably-strong 12 year old brother.

[Josué]

@Eureka: Thanks! I will definitely investigate this further.

@7Wannabe5: Maybe I'm wrong but isn't it harder to create a job than to find one?

[7Wannabe5]

@7Wannabe5: Maybe I'm wrong but isn't it harder to create a job than to find one?

Was it harder to get a date for the prom in 1955 if you were a boy or a girl?

I would argue that it is actually much easier to create a job than have somebody else create one for you. We all do it all the time. As in:

Me: I am hungry.
Me: I will make myself a sandwich.

It's only our almost complete dependence on money and industrialized production methods that make it seem like job creation involves an impossible hurdle. In fact, we are more accustomed to directly creating jobs to assist with our personal consumption than our personal production. For instance, two workaholic yuppies buy a pet and are quite aware that they have directly created a part-time job for a dog-sitter. Far less likely that they would invest their pooled savings to purchase a Dairy Queen franchise and be quite aware that they had directly created part-time jobs for 10 teenagers, and a full-time job for one 32 year old manager.

Also, people get too wrought up over whether or not they are "qualified" to create a job or start a business. I have a friend who has some high level skills in electrical engineering and is a lazy ENTP like me who only chooses to work when his funds are getting below his safety level. Depending on a variety of economic factors, he might choose to take a solo contract or he might hire a bunch of unemployed youth to do 89% of the work on a contract for him. Gaining the perspective and the easily acquired skills to work either half of the equation can give you a serious advantage.

[thrifty++]

There are countless ways. I would love to do more side gigs but already have some and the resource I dont have is time. So if you have time think about skills your have in your job or outside of it that you can segue off from.

Example ideas:

- technical writing in your field of expertise
- personal training
- moisturiser and soaps production and sale
- designing websites
- running a profitable blog
- creative writing such as writing romance literature
- buying stuff online for a steal and reselling it at a markup
- selling real estate
- turn your house or spare room into an airbnb rental and become a mini hotelier.
- make alcohol for sale or specialty food items for sale - mind you I am sure that there are regulations around this so I am not sure how easy it would be, but you never know. Could do some research.
- testing of homes for methampehamine risk
- get good at playing poker

If you were desperate you could always work in hospitality for a bit of extra cash, but that could depend on your pay expectations.

[Sclass]

I have thought about being a home handyman for spare cash. If you do it all cash your take home can be pretty good if you don't have a problem getting paid off book.

After helping my mother and some of her aging friends I realized there is just a big gaping hole for people who are trustworthy who can build a relationship with an aging person and do things like hang a picture, put up a paper towel holder or assemble ikea furniture. One friend keeps calling me from 400 miles away for tech support on her wifi router (change password then make printer work again). She says if I help she'll pay me...and she has but I usually leave the money stuck to her fridge when I leave.

My mom found some guys to do this but before we figured out what was going on they got thousands out of her for doing really shoddy work.

But I was envisioning being a good person who helps out and gets paid $20 here and there to do this and that. There is a need out there. Probably befriending some old folks and just being available is a first step. Not working for free is the second step.

[Sclass]

- make alcohol for sale or specialty food items for sale - mind you I am sure that there are regulations around this so I am not sure how easy it would be, but you never know. Could do some research. .

This sounds fun. There were a bunch of people in my own neighborhood that used social media to tell their customers they had just baked pies or made burritos or whatever they were famous for, and they'd be in the park selling them. No permits, no taxes. Just flash they appear and people rush to the park to get hot piroshkis and boom they're gone with cash. The tweet aspect made it very flexible.

what if you could do that with homemade vodka shots?

[Did]

what if you could do that with homemade vodka shots?

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-1 ... ty/7509954

[Sclass]

what if you could do that with homemade vodka shots?

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-1 ... ty/7509954

Awww man I was dying to build a still in my garage to play with. oh well, it's a skill that is too hazardous for me to experiment with.