If you’re at college or university and you like a little bit of extra spending money then you may have considered the possibility of looking for freelance writing jobs. As long as you have the skills required to write good quality written work, then there’s a reasonable chance that you can make a little bit of cash on the side. In fact, some students will have started out writing part time at university before taken it on as a full-time career. So, you never know what will happen should you choose this career path.
In order to help you maximise your chances of being awarded any jobs you apply for, it is a good idea to have a portfolio of any work that you have produced. Of course, if you’re new to the writing industry then you may not have any work that you have been paid for yet; however, as a student you will most likely have to essays that you have written, so you can then use these essays to demonstrate your expertise as a writer. Then, once you start to win jobs and do paid work, you can start to include other relevant samples in your portfolio as well.
There are plenty of freelance websites available on the Internet. Some of the most popular are known as content mills. Generally, these sites offer numerous jobs for different writing requirements, and focus on a wide range of different niches.
To some extent, content mills have earned themselves a bit of a bad reputation in the writing industry due to the low rates of pay offered to writers. However, if you’re only looking at earning a little bit of extra money then you may not mind the low rates, particularly as you have far more freedom than you would with a regular part-time job. Even though many of the clients do pay minimal rates, it is still possible to find jobs that pay well for top quality writers.
There are other avenues that you may wish to explore as well. For example, there are various websites such as classified ads that provide members of the public the opportunity to post freelance writing jobs. Some of these may be simple one-off opportunities; however, this may be ideal if you are a student. With a bit of experience, you’ll soon recognise which jobs are worth applying for and which aren’t.