Post Updated: 1/28/24
The 3 best jobs for college students are flexible and pay great. I’m a firm believer that one of the best things you can do for yourself as a college student is to not take out student loans and to graduate with as little debt as possible. Why saddle your precious future with heavy financial strain? Your early adulthood is supposed to be a time of life when you put all your energies out into the world and live your fullest, explore, and discover who you are.
It’s nuts to burden our youth with debt and thus limit their potential by “strapping them down” when they most need to fly.
So, I believe you can absolutely do college debt-free while also becoming an entrepreneur in the process and gain real resume power?
With a bit of research and (for some of these paths) a small amount of upstart cash, you can have money and time to study for your degree while not sacrificing your social life. Better yet, do them with a friend. And remember, setting and keeping goals builds real confidence and self-esteem, so that’s a bonus!
The Best Job for College Students #1: Cleaning
Cleaning houses is hands down one of the best jobs for college students. I’m a bit biased as I’ve cleaned houses for over 10 years. I can say with conviction that this is a goldmine gig if you are good at it.
But I am not talking about working for a cleaning agency. What I mean is to start your own cleaning business. It’s easy to set up and you can make between $125-300/day if you’re good, trustworthy, and quick.
Imagine working 2 days a week and meeting your budget. The caveat to this is it is physically demanding. It also could require $200-300 startup costs if you’re bringing your own supplies.
What cleaning houses gives back, however, is your weekends and quick money for not a long day of work. People want cleaning! It’s one less thing they have to do in their busy lives and if they find a trustworthy and good cleaner, they will stick with you and refer you.
How to Start a Cleaning Business
- The first step to starting a cleaning business is to decide on your availability. You’ll want to have specific time slots to be able to offer your new clients catered around your schedule. For example, if you do classes MWF, make your cleaning days Tuesdays and Thursdays or Saturdays. It’s best to budget at least 3 hours per home.
- Find homes to clean. I had the best success from posting an ad in a local grade school newsletter and via word of mouth. Email a school secretary and ask if they accept ads in their newsletter. Also, make business cards on sites like Vista Print , which cost about $25 for a buttload. I included a great photo of myself on my cards so people immediately get a good impression. Put them at popular coffee shops for leads. Once you clean one or two homes really well, trust me, customers will refer you to their friends (ask for them!). Join Nextdoor , which is a national neighborhood app where you can make a post about your service. Ask your parents to tell their friends. It may take a week or so to stack customers but the river will start flowing.
- Choose your cleaning methods. Decide to use either your clients products or bring your own. I chose to bring my own as I made eco-friendly agents that smelled amazing. I liked having full control over my business and not relying on the client to remember what I need to clean. Be clear with your new customers about what you provide and not.
- Tally up your start up cost of goods. It will take about $200-300 to get going. You’ll need: a vacuum (or you can require clients to provide one), a mop or Swiffer, a bag of rags, a cleaning caddy with all your cleaning agents, and a bucket. You’ll also want to purchase business insurance to cover any mishaps on the job (like you breaking something expensive of customers or your getting hurt on the job). You can get this via any insurance agency such as Geico and it’ll cost about $30/mo. Factor that into your tax deductions and what to charge customers.
- Figure our your pricing and stick to it. One of the worst things you can do is to under charge for your hard work. The national average pay for hiring a housekeeper is $25-50/hr. The better you are (being quick but totally thorough- getting into the nitty gritty areas like baseboards and wiping cabinets and behind the toilet), the more you can charge. I choose to charge by the house. A basic small family home or 1-2 bedroom apartment can go for $125-$150/cleaning and should take you no longer than 3-5 hours. Be clear with customers on what you charge and speak with confidence and worth. Here is a cleaning calculator you can play with (but I find this average is on the slightly high end) to help you get started.
- Be prepared to pay your own taxes. Talk to your parents or trusted tax professional about how to pay taxes as a private contractor (someone doing their own job, basically). Don’t be intimidate, it’s not hard, just takes an hour or so of figuring it out with a tax pro. All these costs can be written off on your taxes!
- Just be wary when you start getting calls– screen people by doing a Zoom with them and getting an impression before you go to their house. Your safety comes first! Let friends and family know your schedule and where to find the addresses and phone numbers of your customers. Google new customers addresses to verify the neighborhood is one you’ll be comfortable in. Clean for acquaintance’s referrals, people you can vet are not sociopaths!
Best College Job #2: Dog Walking and Pet Sitting
I met a young woman named Maddie today who is a dog walker. She makes $25/hr picking up, walking, and returning dogs and loves it!
- To get started, you can use an app like Rover.
- Create a profile and availability, location, etc. and start networking. You can find dog walking and pet sitting gigs, where you take care of animals while people are out of town or away for a while.
- Set your prices. Know your limits.
- It is a good idea to get some basic training in caring for dogs before you get started. Do some research on dogs such as how to greet dogs, helping them stay in line around other dogs, etc. You don’t need to be certified but it would be a bonus and help you stand out.
- Make sure to communicate with you clients what you will bring such as doggie poop bags or what you’ll need them to provide.
According to Maddie, after a few successful walks, she got so many referrals she had to turn people away. Just like with cleaning, this job is needed. If you’re reliable, trustworthy, and good at it, people will refer you.
The great thing about this is you can say no or yes depending on your school demands and for pet sitting, the work is easy, allowing you to put your time into studying.
Best College Job Pick #3: Personal Shopper and Food Delivery
We all know the pandemic has made grocery delivery an near necessity. Even though people are back in the stores, the convenience of food delivery has made this niche one of the best jobs for college students, assuming that you have access to a car.
According to stats on Indeed, Instacart delivery workers made, on average with tips, $17/hr. As long as you’re 18 years of age and have a car that isn’t a lemon, you can easily sign up and start shopping. Work when you want, however long you want. You can simply be the delivery person or do the shopping as well.
Turn on the app and accept gigs as they come in. Be a great bagger, be gracious and quick and the more tips you’ll receive. Doing this work is flexible and independent- great for an often shifting workload of a college student!
The Caveat to These Gigs
Working for yourself is one of the most rewarding things you can do in adult life but there are some downsides. For instance, you’ll be responsible for filing your own taxes and accounting for your expenses. Save gas receipts and any receipts you bought products to support your business with to tally up come tax season.
And tax season really is every 4 months. You’ll want to make quarterly payments to the government, state and federal, so as to avoid a penalty fine (about $50).
When I was cleaning houses, I had an amazing Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who set it all up for me. I tallied up my expenses and income and he created payment receipts for me to submit to the government as well as filed my end-of-year taxes. I paid him no more than $125/year.
Ask around for a good tax guy- I’m sure your parents or other elders have people to recommend. A tax expert is able to find all kinds of write offs and deductions that I never would have found on my own so hiring a pro is the way to go.
Another caveat is you won’t get benefits for these jobs as an independent contractor. No insurance, no paid time off, no sick leave. Factoring this in and saving an emergency fund for those times is a must (I have $1000 in the bank at all times just in case). However, as a college student, you can stay on your parents insurance typically until you’re in your mid-20s and get student insurance via your school.
The Takeaway On The Best College Jobs
There are so many options for workers now days and you can craft the ideal schedule and income for yourself as a college student. If you value doing your own thing, know that with a bit of planning and effort, you can work when you want, making as much or little as you need with these types of flexible jobs.
And if you start a cleaning or dog walking business, that is entrepreneurial and looks great on your resume. I hope this has given you some good ideas for crafting a work life around your needs! Let me know of your favorite college jobs or if you’ve tried any of these in this blog post. I’d love to hear from you. Good luck!