How To Make Money During Phd
Who doesn't love making extra cash? Thankfully, there are almost an endless number of ways to make money – allowing you to supplement your student loan or PhD stipend. Read on to discover how to make money as a student without compromising your studies.
Student Money Making Considerations
I think it is first worth saying that your time is valuable. Being a student opens up a fantastic range of opportunities that are not open once your graduate, so do make the most of them! Here is a post I've written about making the most of opportunities.
If you're already satisfied with your finances then making extra money may not be a good use of your time. This is especially true with inefficient jobs which require a large time commitment at a low hourly rate.
But if you're determined to learn how to make money as a student, read on for my in-depth analysis. In this post I have focussed on streams of income with immediate earning potential, however if you're feeling entrepreneurial you can of course start your own business. This tends to involve a great deal of upfront effort, but may prove fruitful in the long term.
I am going to focus on ways of making money which fulfil as many of the following criteria as possible:
- High hourly rate
- Flexible hours
- Contribute to your personal and professional development
- High availability
How to Make Money as a Student
Tutoring
Tutoring is probably the first job that sprang to mind when you considered how to make money as a student. The only tutoring I've done has been free of charge (see below*) but I do know many PhD students who do it on the side. It can be rewarding both financially and personally, as you start to see improvements in the students.
The typical scenario will see you helping students prepare for school exams but you may also find opportunities to help more junior university students. Pay will vary a lot depending on your credentials and how you market yourself, £30 per hour and above is typical. Tutoring is as flexible as you make it, however do factor in the time it takes for preparation and any commuting.
Hourly rate: 4/5
Flexible hours: 3/5
Personal development: 2/5
Availability: 3/5
Tutoring Overall Score: 12/20
*Feeling altruistic and want to help out students who can't afford a tutor? Universities often have volunteering schemes such as Pimlico Connection at Imperial. I did this for one term when I started my PhD. No pay but a lot of satisfaction and the potential to make a big difference to the students you help.
Matched Betting
The wildcard! In a nutshell matched-betting involves taking advantage of promotional sports betting and casino game offers: flipping the odds in your favour, massively increasing your odds of regularly winning. You might have seen sketchy looking adverts about it, but rest assured that you genuinely can make decent cash doing it from the comfort of your bedroom. I subscribe to a matched betting service* which makes the process of finding and capitalising offers very simple.
A typical offer may see you make £20 for 20-30 minutes work, with some offers being much more time efficient and others less so. There are a series of simple sign-up offers you can begin with which got to me to a quick profit of around £1000 profit. After these sign-up offers there are usually recurring offers for existing customers too.
*This is an affiliate link, please read more about my policy relating to them here.
I started matched betting several years ago an in total have made almost £10,000. The nice thing with matched betting is that it is tax free! You can do it as much or as little as you have time for and it's easy to fit around your work. You won't learn anything useful from doing it but the flexibility is almost unrivalled. In summary, it's a fantastic way to make money as a student!
If you're interested I have now written a huge post, guiding you through matched betting:
- The Student Guide to Matched Betting: Make Easy Money Online
Hourly rate: 4/5
Flexible hours: 5/5
Personal development: 1/5
Availability: 5/5
Matched Betting Overall Score : 15/20
Retail & Other "Normal" Part-time Jobs
Needs no introduction. I'd suggest staying clear of the mainstream job market unless you really do need a dependable regular job: usually pay is low with potentially tiring hours which could hamper your academic work.
Hourly rate: 1/5
Flexible hours: 2/5
Personal development: 2/5
Availability: 2/5
"Normal" Part-time Jobs Overall Score: 7/20
Market Research Sessions
You've probably seen TV shows with a group of consumers thrown in a room to discuss their use of a certain product, with executives taking notes behind a one way mirror. The setting isn't always like that, but the opportunities to make money as a student with market research are prevalent.
There are agencies you can register with and they'll regularly email new opportunities targeted at various demographics. I've done sessions on topics as diverse as gardening through to chocolate bars. You don't need to be a student to apply for these but they do suit the potential flexibility of being a student.
The premise is simple: you provide an insight into your decision making process or feedback on a product to inform product development. Sometimes the work will involve going to a single one hour long session, other times you'll be recording video diaries for a week or a month from home. Pay is often around £50 per hour or more.
Along with the products themselves I've received bonuses like an iPod to be able to record video diaries on which is an extra perk. Make sure to factor in commuting time: earning £75 for a one hour session might sound great but if it takes an hour to get there it's less efficient than it sounds. The sessions can be interesting but don't really offer much in the way of personal development. Opportunities are sporadic and certainly not financially dependable so see them as a bonus.
Here are some companies I get emailed market research opportunities:
- Claret
- Grapevine*
- TakePartInResearch*
- Trend
*These are both affiliate links, please read more about my policy relating to them here.
Hourly rate: 5/5
Flexible hours: 4/5
Personal development: 1/5
Availability: 2/5
Market Research Overall Score: 12/20
Prolific
Prolific is kind of like other online survey sites but as well as making money, you're participating in academic studies. As of February 2021 I've been using Prolific for a few months now and have made just over £100 at roughly £10 an hour.
The nice thing compared to other ways of making money is that you can pick up studies at your convenience, from your bed. A lot of the time the studies are actually pretty interesting too. The worst thing about it is that there aren't currently a constant stream of high earning surveys so the potential to earn lots of money is limited. Hopefully as the platform develops the opportunities will increase.
I wrote a whole article with my thoughts and tips for using Prolific here.
Hourly rate: 2/5
Flexible hours: 3/5
Personal development: 3/5
Availability: 2/5
Prolific Overall Score: 10/20
Bank Switching Offers
To entice customers, banks often give out free cash for you to switch to them. Usually these offers are for £50-£100. Recently I got paid £100 to switch a current account to RBS, not bad for 10 minutes work.
I detail some of money I made in 2019 from these here. See available offers in the UK listed here.
Switching is now really simple, with all your direct debits etc automatically carried across so switching takes less than half an hour: making this a good hourly rate! If you're able to save money, the linked savings accounts associated with many of these accounts are great too. The issue is that there aren't that many banks and you can't do these offers that frequently so it certainly isn't a long term solution to make money. I still recommend making the most of these very easy offers.
Do be aware that sometimes there are required minimum monthly deposits. Usually you are okay to "game" it i.e. if deposits of £1000 per month are required, you can simply transfer money back and forth amongst several of your own accounts up to this amount.
Hourly rate: 4/5
Flexible hours: 4/5
Personal development: 1/5
Availability: 1/5
Banking Offers Overall Score: 10/20
Selling on eBay
I make money selling old belongings on eBay, and have averaged about £200 per month since starting my PhD.
This method of reliably making money only really applies if you've got loads of old belongings hanging around which you no longer want so it's certainly not for everyone nor a sustainable long term income source. Nevertheless it's worked great for me to both make money (over £10,000!) and give my belongings a new lease of life. I wrote a post about it here: How I make money selling belongings on ebay.
It is great to see the rise in thrifting and reducing our demands on the planet. Even if you've just got some old clothes you're no longer wearing, try selling them. As well as eBay there are loads of other platforms this applies to such as Depop, Shpock etc.
Hourly rate: 2/5
Flexible hours: 5/5
Personal development: 1/5
Availability: 2/5
eBay Overall Score: 10/20
Campus Jobs
If you are keen to get a part-time job the best place to start looking is with your university itself. Typical campus jobs include:
- Working at open days
- Phoning alumni for fundraising
- Serving at food outlets
As these positions are aimed at students the hours are low and fit flexibly around your course. The hourly rate is typically higher than average and travel time will be low or non existent. Competition can be high, but perseverance may pay off.
Hourly rate: 2/5
Flexible hours: 3/5
Personal development: 2/5
Availability: 3/5
Campus Jobs Overall Score: 10/20
How to Make Money as a Graduate Student
In addition to the money making opportunities listed above, there may be some additional ways of making money open to you specifically as a masters or PhD student.
Can You Work While Doing a PhD?
You may be questioning if it's even possible to earn extra money during your PhD.
Usually, yes you are fine to make some extra money during your PhD. In fact working as a graduate teaching assistant (as detailed in the following section) is often actively encouraged by academic departments.
However you might be wondering: can you work full-time and get a PhD?
For full-time PhD students, there are normally limits on the number of hours you can work outside of your PhD studies. Consult your department for further details. If you'd like to have a full-time job whilst completing a PhD it may be best to consider doing the PhD part-time.
Graduate Teaching Assistant
If you're studying for a PhD, a typical way to make money as a student is working as a graduate teaching assistant (GTA).
In this role you assist with teaching undergraduate or masters students. This can include:
- Lab demonstrations
- Running seminars
- Exam invigilation
- Marking exams and coursework
At Imperial College, graduate teaching assistant pay is typically £15-30 per hour, depending on the level of responsibility required.
I've personally taken part by leading a journal club for masters students, assisting in computing labs and marking exams.
Typically at the start of the academic year course directors will email a list of opportunities to all PhD students. Some positions get snapped up very quickly, others are a struggle to fill. My experience has generally been that if you want to earn money as GTA, the opportunities are there.
It's worth bearing in mind that you'll usually be committing to work a certain number of hours per week for a whole semester, so do not over commit! Additionally I often receive emails stating that a small amount of help is required at short notice, such as preparing a room for an exam, so not all GTA opportunities require a large commitment.
A perk of working as a GTA is that it gives you a valuable opportunity to develop field-specific skills and soft skills such as public speaking and answering questions. Plus it looks great to have on your CV if you're considering an academic career. If you're a PhD student it's definitely work a look.
Hourly rate: 3/5
Flexible hours: 3/5
Personal development: 5/5
Availability: 4/5
Graduade Teaching Assistant Overall Score : 15/20
Consulting
Another way for PhD students to make money is through consulting.
Although not strictly limited to grad students, a lot of roles may want you to demonstrate some expertise which already having years of experience and a degree or two under your belt can help with.
I'll begin by saying that I only have a small amount of experience in this area. Opportunities exist in many fields but are much less prolific than GTA work. You'll hear about consulting opportunities through several potential channels:
- Your supervisor may have a history of working with certain companies
- Department-wide emails targeted at PhD students to provide specialised help
- Adverts around campus
- Signing up to a consultancy agency
Of course you can also set yourself up as an independent consultant. The pay is usually better than working as a GTA as you're providing tailored support. Working with an external company through consulting can be a valuable experience for both academia and industry.
Recently I signed up to Kolabtree, a website connecting businesses and independent consultants. I've had some offers for work but haven't yet taken on any. Be aware of the 20% platform fee. Even so I like the idea and setting up a profile doesn't take long.
Hourly rate: 4/5
Flexible hours: 3/5
Personal development: 5/5
Availability: 2/5
Consulting Overall Score: 14/20
Summary
There are loads of ways to make money as a student, each with their own pros and cons. No single one of these income streams is perfect for everyone, so which to choose will depend on your own circumstances and priorities. However, there is nothing to stop you from utilising a mix of different income streams, giving you exposure to more opportunities to make money.
Personally from this list I've made the most money from eBay and matched betting, followed by working as a graduate teaching assistant. Then a much smaller and less dependable source has been market research opportunities and Prolific.
Hopefully you now have a good understanding of how to make money as a student. If you have any suggestions for income streams I should include, please do let me know in the comments. You can also subscribe to stay updated on new posts:
How To Make Money During Phd
Source: https://www.thesavvyscientist.com/how-to-make-money-as-a-student/
Posted by: garciasounedithe.blogspot.com
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