Seeking to earn some extra money as a student or in addition to your current job? Finding the right part-time work can provide you with the flexibility to earn an income while still focusing on school and your personal life. In this guide, we’ve rounded up19 of the best and most flexible side jobs. Many of them can be done from home, like filling out online surveys, babysitting, or tutoring, while others let you get outside, be creative, or meet new people.
Looking to make some extra money as a student, high schooler, or even alongside your current job? Finding the right part-time work can give you the flexibility to earn income while still focusing on school and your personal life. Whether you want to earn money at 16 years old or find ways to earn extra money next to your daytime job, there are plenty of flexible options available.
The list below offers a wide range of side jobs to help you earn extra money. These are all flexible jobs where you can often set your own schedule. Some can even be done from the comfort of your couch.
Note: not all of these options are suitable if you’re under 18. If something interests you, look into the requirements to see if it’s the right fit for you.
1 Babysitting Jobs
Do you love kids? Babysitting is a flexible part-time job that could be perfect for you. Check out our article on “how much do babysitters make?“
Babysitting is easy to combine with school, university, or another job, since many parents look for a babysitter during evenings or weekends. Others need after-school care. If you have a free afternoon, you can use it to look after children.
As a babysitter, you have a lot of freedom. You decide your own schedule and set your own hourly rate. If you’re open to helping with light household tasks, you can often charge even more.
Finding babysitting jobs is now easier than ever with online platforms such as Sitly, where you can quickly see which families in your neighbourhood are looking for a babysitter.
2 Paid Survey Participant
Did you know that answering surveys is actually a job, and one of the most popular ways to earn extra money online? You sign up on a platform (for example, [Centro di opinione](Centro di opinione), [Green Panthera](Green Panthera)) and create your profile so that companies can assign you surveys that best match your age, consumption habits, education level, and more. Answer the questions online and get paid per survey, usually once you reach a minimum threshold: €10, €20, €50 depending on the platform. In any case, before signing up and starting work, research the platform’s reputation online.
3 Administrative Support & Data Entry
Another way to earn extra income from home: data entry. For example, logging invoices or addresses, uploading e-commerce products, and doing transcriptions. Essentially, companies outsource their repetitive tasks. Where do you find these jobs? Try Addlance, under “administrative support.” You can also find more rewarding roles, such as remote assistant. Again, you’ll need to register and create a profile.
Turn Your Hobby Into a Side Job
Sharing what you know and love is incredibly easy in the sharing economy. Try this exercise: write down everything you’re really good at and/or passionate about. Then pick one or two things you could genuinely share with others. Chances are, by the end of this little exercise, you’ll have invented your own side job — and discovered how to earn extra money effortlessly.
4 Teacher and online Teacher
Are you good at Maths? Or Latin? How about offering tutoring online or in person? Reach out online to people looking for someone exactly like you. The secret is to think of yourself as a “skills seller” — once you do, choosing the right channel to promote yourself becomes much easier. If you’re not convinced, give sites like Superprof a try.
5 Private Chef
It’s time to put all those hours watching MasterChef, reading food blogs, and using friends and family as guinea pigs for your delicious creations to good use. Offer your skills and expertise to people who want to throw a party or dinner but don’t know where to start. Become a private chef in your spare time.
6 Personal Shopper
The job that turns money spent into money earned. To become a personal shopper, you need to be well-informed and very proactive. It’s a role that can be done at various levels and in different sectors: you could handle grocery shopping for busy people, or take wealthy tourists around your city hunting for bargains. It’s particularly ideal as a part-time side job in Rome, Milan, or Florence. If you manage to build a recognized personal brand (you’ll need a website), this job can be very lucrative.
7 Experience Host on Airbnb
Not everyone knows that Airbnb — the platform for renting homes and rooms — has expanded its services to include “Experiences.” Anyone can present and list their own activity on the platform: a day at the market followed by cooking, a photography course, a visit to a nursery… the variety of experiences on offer is simply staggering. Do you have a special skill, a hobby, a space to show off, or even just a tour of your city to share? Find your audience on [Airbnb Experiences](Airbnb Experiences). Once it gets going, you can earn quite well.
What Jobs Can You Do in the Evening or on Weekends?
Evening and weekend side jobs are unfortunately the most sought-after — and also the ones that require the least skills, which sadly means lower pay. That said, platforms offer review and ranking systems that, over time, help you work more and earn more.
8 Delivery Rider
A new name for an old job. A rider is essentially a courier, but for food. The regulations governing this type of work are fortunately evolving and beginning to offer more protections. While the downsides are well known, consider the positives: you can start earning immediately — literally from one day to the next. And geolocation systems allow you to optimize your working hours and choose when to work. The most established players in this sector are Glovo, Deliveroo, and Just Eat.
9 Dog Sitter
To boost your income, you can offer to walk dogs when their owners can’t — especially in the evenings or on weekends. No special qualifications are needed, but a great love for animals is a must. To connect with dog owners, there are specialized websites where you can sign up, such as Petbacker.
As you can see, there are plenty of things you can do to start earning a little extra. Good luck!
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Calculate Your Babysitter’s Rate with the Sitly Calculator
Find out how much to pay a babysitter in your area. Sitly’s Babysitter Rate Calculator shows average rates across Italy and helps you estimate a fair hourly wage based on your city, number of children, and any extra duties. Get a clear and personalized indication of what families and babysitters usually agree on.
How to Become a Great Babysitter
If you want to become a babysitter and find regular work, the key is to build experience, gain parents’ trust, and show that you take the role seriously. Even if you’re young, you can start by helping family members, offering to work as a “mother’s helper,” taking a First Aid and CPR course, and creating a professional babysitter profile on a platform like Sitly. By setting a fair hourly rate based on your age, experience, and responsibilities, and by going the extra mile during each job, you’ll increase your chances of getting more babysitting work and keeping parents happy.
