Top 16 Best Side Jobs For Teachers: A teacher in this context is a person who is officially employed in an academic institution for the purpose of teaching and performing duties which enhances student’s knowledge and academic performance. This definition is broad in scope and sees “teachers” to include academic teachers and academics facilitating staff. Academic teachers here squarely perform the job of teaching lessons in classrooms and other functions incidental to the employment, while academics facilitating teachers are persons whose job is not squarely teaching in classrooms but performing procedural functions incidental to his or her employment which completes, regularizes the studentship of the students and facilitate learning processes; such as registrars, secretaries, ICT personnel, etc.
This category can be distinguished from persons who are strictly non-academic staff; personnel such as drivers, security personnel, cleaners, gardeners, etc. This distinction is necessary in order to ascertain the category of teachers this article is targeted at.
Teachers here includes those employed at whether federal level or state level, primary and secondary school teachers, lecturers at various higher institution; College of Educations, Polytechnics, Universities, Technological Institutions, Health Colleges and other special training institutions.
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Top 16 Highest Paying Side Hustles for Teachers 2024
Firstly, it is important to establish that side job opportunity for a teacher most times depends on his or her field of study, area of expertise and skill. Professionals may be more likely to have available opportunities for side jobs as a teacher. Professionals such as Engineers, Accountants, Lawyers, Doctors and other health specialists, Surveyors, etc, can aside their teaching job, practice their profession and area of expertise.
Generally, these are the top 16 side jobs for teachers:
1. Private Tutoring: This appears to be the most common and practicable side job for teachers. Teachers can aside their teaching job, organize a private lessons for students, both for students within the school and outside the school.
Students will always be willing to participate, and parents are readily to pay the fees as it gives the participants edges over other students. There are also sites where teachers can apply to tutor registered students online at a determined remuneration.
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2. Online Tutorials: Technology and invention has made it possible for students to learn at their comfort zone. Teachers may want to seize this opportunity to generate more income aside their salary, by hosting online classes for students worldwide.
This is at its advantages because distant location of participants would no longer be a barrier. Teachers can own and host application software and sites, undergo the necessary verification and certification processes and prepare a curriculum on ranges of course to be studied online.
3. Graphic Designing: This is for teachers who knows their way around designing tools. S/he can get attached to a designing or printing press company and work from the office or home at a free or leisure time. Perfect time management skill is needed in order that the demands would not interfere with the person’s actual job as a teacher.
This is an advantage to computer and ICT teachers, although not necessarily. They can also own a business center and cyber café.
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4. Writing and Publishing: It is an addendum advantage for a person who is into academics to extend his or her scope of operation. A teacher can engage in writing and publishing books, e-books, articles, journal, etc. This is in fact, an integral part of a person’s teaching profession, although it takes entrepreneurial skill in order to personalize this opportunity.
Writing and publishing is a two way power; it facilitate one’s recommendation as an author and a teacher, boosts one’s authority and relevance as an academia, and of course yields monetary profit for a teacher. Publications can as well be sold via online platforms like Amazon, Jumia etc.
5. Agricultural Industry: Agriculture is a fast growing and indispensable sector of the economy. Teachers whose area of expertise is agriculture can also be employed as a researcher, planning manager, agricultural consultant or any working position in an agricultural industry at the federal or state level. An accounting teacher here can be contracted for preparing or scrutinizing budgets and financial records.
Teachers who are botanists, microbiologist, crop and soil scientist, veterinarian and other related or acquired expertise are at advantage here. An Economics or Commerce teacher can as well be engaged for commercial awareness, developing marketing strategy, mapping sustainable business plan and development and for economy boosting strategies.
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6. Translator: Translator converts written material from one or more languages to another. A teacher can also be engaged as an interpreter. This is at the advantage of teachers who are abreast with languages. French, English and other Language teachers may be at advantage. A teacher who engages in side job as a translator can still specialize on the field of his or her expertise as a translator.
They can be engaged to perform the job of accurately translating text, film, and other materials and still convey its original meaning. Translator can also be extended to translation of machine languages. Basic knowledge of computer and ICT devices here is an added advantage.
7. Freelance: A freelancer is an independent contractor who provide services for individuals, educational and commercial institutions, companies, government and non-governmental organizations and other variety of clients. It is a contract for employment as opposed to contract of employment where a person is employed as an integral part of the company. Freelance is flexible in its nature.
A teacher can engage in freelancing jobs and get wages aside his teaching profession. Freelancing job may include web designing, programming, writing, photography, arts, medial and publicity, educationist, project manager, etc. It is broad in scope and includes any service which a skilled person can get contracted to perform.
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8. Proofreading and Editing: A teacher can get engaged as a proofreader. This is an advantage for English teachers as they have more opportunities and since most writings are written in English, and every writer needs a proofreader and editor. Although a proofreader need not have studied English, grounded knowledge and understanding of English is necessary.
There are book proofreading, academic proofreading, novel proofreading, and thesis proof reading. The job of a proofreader is to crosscheck and scrutinize a written work by another for the purpose of correcting grammatical, typographical and structural errors. Editing extends and focuses on the readability and comprehensibility of a written work.
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9. Podcast and YouTube: A teacher can launch a podcast and discuss topics of interest on air. Podcast is an online platform for delivering information in audio format via the internet. Podcast can be likened to a radio station, although podcast is more flexible; internet based and the audio files can be downloaded to a device.
One can make money via podcast by doing advertisements, affiliate marketing, running Ads, crowd funding, sponsorship, etc. YouTube is also an online platform which is audio and visual based. A teacher can aside his or her field of study, create and own a YouTube page, and make educative videos.
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10. Virtual Assistant: A virtual assistant assists companies, corporate bodies, government bodies, individuals and other categories of clients in handling virtual/online responsibilities.
Such responsibilities may include composing e-mails, official letters, business proposals etc, attending and responding to the client’s online activities, scheduling meetings, booking travel accommodations, keeping online records and performing other functions that are incidental to the employment.
Familiarity with ICT devices and software for spreadsheet, word processing and internet is an added advantage. Communication and time management skill is of paramount necessity. Teachers can get engaged as a virtual assistant and still multi-task it with their teaching job.
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11. Real Estate and Rental Agency: Real estate agency can be done as a part time job or side work and as such, can be done by teachers in addition to their teaching jobs. He can make contact with anyone who wants to sell his estate (land) and connect him with another person who desires to purchase the land and when that is successully done, the teacher agent collects his commission.
The beauty of it is that he can even make this connections in weekends or at midnight hours through phone calls and messages. With it, he can make extra income for himself as side work pay. He can also connect a lessor and a lesse for a lease agreement and then, he collects his commission after a successful deal.
He can also rent out his empty or reserved space by way of Airbnb if he has any in order to make more money. With this, insurance is guaranteed and if anything happens to the rented space, the lessee to whom he leased the space will be financially liable thereby adding more money for the teacher lessor. Today, people even rent out their personal properties by way of side work for extra pay.
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12. Online surveying: In 2022, it is diecovered that there are many online surveying people (including teachers) can do in order to earn more money and this can be done at one’s convenient time and place.
Online surveys can be done when taking one’s lunch, when resting in the sitting room with television watch, or in any other out-of-work periods once the surveyor has his active mobile smart phone. Today, online surveyors earn extra money for their contributions on different survey topics.
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13. Blogging: As a teacher who has passion for education, you have to start up a blog (as a side job) where you can share your own insights and ideas. This is because today, a blog is one of the greatest platforms where people share their thoughts and connect with others who are interested in similar topics.
However, if you are able to build up enough traffic in your blog, you could earn money from it through affiliate marketing or advertising. Again, You can sell digital products such as e-books or courses in your blog. As at 2023, it requires a lot of work to start a blog, but once it is up and running, you will make some extra money from it. It may even give you more income than what you earn as a teacher. Again, you can start a blog on another topic other than education (even though you have experience in education as a teacher).
14. Affiliate And Digital Marketing: Today, people (including teachers) love and engage in these side jobs in order to increase their income. So, if your blog also focuses on affiliate and digital Marketing as areas of interest, you will make more money from the blog than what you will make from other areas of interest. As at 2023, building digital and affiliate sites to create more income is one of the best long-term ways to make money online.
You can make a niche site which relates to your hobby (even if your hobby relates to either city, rural, area, or tourist destination). So, your niche websites can be a massive source of income for you.
Today, marketing is a great side job for teachers, but requires a certain level of communication skills. This is because as an affiliate marketer, you have to relate with the buyers in order to know products they really want or need, and communicate with the seller so as to make the products available for the buyers. You can even provide the ones that the buyers do not need at the moment and make them buy the products for the future.
However, if you can persuade fifth graders to learn their tables of multiplication, surely you could persuade adults to buy those products. As at 2023, there are different ways to get into marketing, but you have to get the necessary skills so as to succeed in it.
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15. Sale Of Footwares: Today, the society has become highly competitive in terms of footwares both for males and females. As at 2023, males go for strong leather pams and shoes, cans, and sneakers while the female go for rubber slippers (with different colours) and flat shoes.
So, if you take the job of making these footwares available for the users (in addition to your teaching job), you will definitely make extra money from it. Shoes market is huge today! People want to have plenty of shoes and wear the one they want at any time.
16. Sale Of Lesson Plans And Printables: As a teacher, you must have spent a lot of time in making your lesson plans. You have put in efforts in online research so as to get inspiration and make your work to be original, or you may have even bought already-made lesson plans to save some valuable time.
You can sell the lesson plans to other teachers (as your side job). You can do that via different websites and make more money for yourself. As you make more money from the sale, you are also helping other teachers who buy them from you!
As at 2024, this is one of the vital options if you want to make extra money on the side. However, the income from this side job may not be huge, but it could build a small passive income stream for you. If you have been in the teaching job for a long time, you may have a large collection of lesson plans which you can sell and make money.
If you have research skills, you can make great lesson plans and sell them to other teachers who struggle with making their own lesson plans.
So, your ability to organize the information and create a step-by-step lesson plan can get you profits. This is because other teachers who struggle with theirs are happy to pay for it. Just locate a good website and display your work there. Again, you can create printables for different purposes such as: for other teachers to use in the classroom, to help the partents in organizing and keeping homework and other responsibilities, for the use of students.etc. However, today, you can sell them on your own website (which will be easier than other platforms such as: SendOwl and Shopify) and make extra money.
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Being a teacher makes one flexible to an extent. Teachers may find fun and profit in extending their means of income by engaging in and expanding their areas of interest and expertise. This article has therefore suggested practicable side paying jobs for teachers. In all, effective skill in time management is required.
Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka, ACMC, is a lawyer and a certified mediator/conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a developer with knowledge in various programming languages. Samuel is determined to leverage his skills in technology, SEO, and legal practice to revolutionize the legal profession worldwide by creating web and mobile applications that simplify legal research. Sam is also passionate about educating and providing valuable information to people.