Weekend Jobs For Students Based On Their Major

By Ashley Paskill on January 25, 2021

As a college student, you are on a tight budget. While many receive support from family members and/or financial aid, many want to take on side gigs to help earn some extra money. While many jobs require years and years of experience, other jobs, especially side jobs, require less, if any, experience at all. Side jobs are a great way to make some extra cash while being able to maintain your busy schedule, especially if you decide to do them over the weekend. With the variety of side jobs out there, it may be difficult to find one that fits your personality, so choosing one based on your major can be useful.

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Education:

There is always a need for teachers, especially ones that are good at their job and love what they do. In order to gain more experience, you can do things such as babysit and tutor kids around you.

Babysitting

You may live in a college town where there are families with small children, or you may know a grad student who has their family with them on campus. Either way, you may be able to find babysitting jobs to help give parents a break. This is a great opportunity if you babysat when you were younger since parents tend to want babysitters with some experience with kids. If possible, have previous families write you a letter of recommendation to show families you may want to babysit for to help boost your potential to be hired. This kind of job is especially great if you are studying to be a teacher, but no matter what career you decide to go into, babysitting can give you references to include on applications.

Tutor

Even as an education major, it is likely that you are really knowledgeable about another subject, be it history, English, math, or science. Put these skills to good use and make some extra money by being a tutor. There are plenty of places to be a tutor, including local tutoring centers, your campus tutoring center, and even online.

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Culinary Arts:

Culinary arts encompasses so many different things, and no matter what aspect you want to get into, there are weekend jobs you can get into to gain experience and get some cash.

Server or host in a restaurant

Weekends are typically the busiest times for restaurants, so they may specifically be looking for a weekend host or server to help supplement the busy times. This is a great way to get experience in the food industry and see different kinds of dishes that are popular. Working in a restaurant is a great way to gain insight, whether you want to open your own restaurant or want to become a chef.

Catering staff

Weekends are known for events, and many catering companies are looking for extra help to cover these events. You may be doing anything from helping to prepare the food, setting up the food for the event, and cleaning up the food section after the event, or at least the food portion, is over. You may have to go to different locations, so this is ideal if you do not have to rely on public transportation.

Food truck staff

If you go to school in a city, it is likely that there are food trucks located around campus. You may be able to work part-time on the weekends. This kind o job will give you customer service and food prep experience. You will likely be able to interact with fellow students, professors, and people outside your school bubble, depending on where the truck is located.

Web Development:

Web development is an up-and-coming field, but many of these jobs are Monday through Friday. However, testing websites is something you can do to gain knowledge and earn some extra money.

Testing websites

If you are someone who enjoys looking at the layout of websites and seeing what works and what does not, you may be good at website testing. While little to no experience is needed, if you have been studying web development or web design, you already have some knowledge that can help you know what to look for and give good advice. Website testers receive an average o $10 per website test and each test can take between 5 and 25 minutes. For the tests, you will likely need a computer with a microphone, broadband internet, and the most updated version of the web browser you use in order for things to go smoothly. The tests can have you looks at things such as how things look, how things work, and how user-friendly the website is. Learning about what you like in websites and what works can help you decide how you make websites in the future.

Business:

There are many aspects of business, and as mentioned below, working in a retail setting can help you learn every aspect of business.

Retail worker

Many college students take retail jobs on the weekends to help make some extra money. If you are studying business in any capacity, this is a great way to see things in action. Many retail places offer flexible student scheduling, including being mindful of what days you can work. You may even decide to work only on weekends. Just be sure to alert the company during the hiring process so they can be sure to get your availability right. Whether you work as a cashier, human resource personnel, a stock clerk, or even a supervisor, being able to see how a business runs can help you see things happen in real-time. Even if you are a cashier, it is important that you take on the role of these employees so you can know how they feel when you become a manager. Taking on any sort of retail role at a company can give you great insight. You may be able to get cash office and managerial experience once you are at the company for a while.

Photography and videography:

Thanks to an increase in technology, so many people are getting into photography and videography, especially since phone cameras are getting better and editing software is becoming more user-friendly. Building a portfolio of your work is more important than ever to show that you are truly committed to the field.

Wedding photographer

Since most weddings take place on weekends, being a wedding photographer can help you develop your skills while making some extra money. Check to see if there are any wedding photography companies near you that are looking for photographers. Even if you decide to build a website or portfolio of your work, this can be done on the weekend. While you can build your own photography business, it is a good idea to get some experience with an established business to help build your portfolio. Also, you would have to do business-type things during the week, and if your weeks are pretty busy, this will only add something else to your plate.

Wedding videographer

If you are into shooting videos and editing them, you may be good at wedding videography. This allows you to capture the highlights of a couple’s wedding day and bring them into a single video or series of videos. Again, weddings take place on the weekends and depending on when the couple wants their videos, you can do the editing on weekends as well.

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Music:

Music can be a tough field to get into because it is pretty competitive. It takes a lot of practice to build your craft and learn songs that you can play for an interested audience. Getting a side gig as a musician can help build your repertoire and practice.

Wedding musician

Sticking with the wedding theme, if you are studying to be a musician, it is likely that you have a wide repertoire of music in your musician toolbox. This is especially useful for wedding musicians, who may be asked to play anything from classical to contemporary music during the ceremony. Again, most weddings take place on weekends, and you can stick with weddings taking place near your school. It is likely that you will be performing with others, so see if everyone else’s schedule works for rehearsing on the weekends to help keep your weekdays free for schoolwork and student organizations.

DJ

If you are more into the technology side of music, you may decide to work as a DJ. This kind of job is fun because you get to work at all kinds of events and meet so many new people. You also get to play a lot of different music depending on the event. Most events, including parties and weddings, take place on the weekend, so you will be able to do this while still keeping up with your busy school schedule.

Journalism:

Journalism is a super competitive field. In order to stand out, it is important to publish as much as you can and build your portfolio as much as possible, even while you are a student. While there are ways to do this where you do not get paid, there are plenty of ways to get paid for your writing.

Freelance writer

Many publications, both physical and digital, hire freelance writers to cover stories. Look into your college town and see if there are any publications available. Also, check to see if your college paper or yearbook pays writers to do their articles. You may have to make a few calls and send some emails during the week, but depending on your due date, the bulk of the writing and editing can be done on the weekend.

Blogger

Many companies, even ones that are not media companies that have newspapers or magazines, have blogs on their websites. These blogs put out company and industry news pieces as well as profiles on company leaders. These kinds of positions are often overlooked by journalists as they are not the typical journalism job, but many of these companies are looking for people with writing experience. Look into local companies, and be sure to check out any remote blogging positions.

Thanks to the rise in technology, more and more individuals are starting their own blogs. Even if you have applied for other writing and blogging positions, you can start your own blog to show your knowledge, especially if you do your blog on a subject you are interested in and that you want your future beat to be. Once you start building your audience by writing regularly and sharing out your posts, you may be able to get paid, depending on what platform you use.

Freelance editor

If you have experience in writing and managing other writers, you may be able to get a job doing freelance editing. This usually involves editing work for content and proofreading for grammar, punctuation, and factual errors. As a freelance editor, you will likely have the flexibility to choose when you work and how much work you take on, depending on the publication you work for. Make sure you know ahead of time what the expectations are and make sure you can do the work on the weekends before committing to it.

Veterinary Science:

If you are studying veterinary science, you likely have a deep love and care for animals. Getting a job caring for animals can help you have fun while earning both money, experience, and knowledge in the field.

Pet sitter

For those looking to become a vet, the love of animals is there. What better way to have fun while learning about animals than to take care of them for their owners. Even though things may not go wrong, if the pet gets sick, your knowledge can help. If not, you can go take the animal to the vet, which can help you learn more. You can pet sit for pet parents you know, or you can join sites like DogVacay, Rover, and Holidog to find jobs near you.

Groomer

Even though this is not completely related to being a vet, being a groomer can help you gain experience in handling animals. As a vet, you may have to groom animals, such as shaving them before surgery or even just clipping their nails. This is a great way to see if you like working with animals beyond taking care of them when their owners go on vacation.

Art:

Getting experience in art can be difficult, but if you stay creative and are willing to pave your own path, you can find ways to gain experience while earning some extra cash. While many companies focus on the business end of things, they still need creative people to help with marketing things.

Artisan

If you are interested in selling your work at this point, you can either have friends and family members commission pieces or sell your work online. Sites like Etsy allow you to sell your paintings or other art pieces, while sites like Redbubble and Teespring let you sell your designs on various items. You are responsible for marketing your own products in both of these. If you sell on sites like Etsy, you are responsible for shipping the item, so be sure to account for shipping in your prices.

Graphic designer

For those more interested in digital art than physical art, graphic design is a great way to get some software experience while working to build your portfolio. While graphic design is not always art, it will help you get experience for creating future art and will help you build your portfolio to show what you can do.

If you have to work on the weekend, it is important that you do something you love and are able to gain some experience relevant to your major.

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