For better or for worse, our job market is becoming increasingly more flexible. Fresh college graduates aren’t necessarily looking to sign on with a company until retirement anymore.Many millennials are pioneering the fundamental change in how we work and think about work as a country. As much flak as millennials get for being “lazy” or “entitled,” the numbers say otherwise. According to a survey from CareerBuilder, 44 percent of people aged 25-34 and 39 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 24 have a side gig.
Some millennials are searching for a profitable side gig to perform outside their day job hours. Others prefer to piece together multiple side hustles into one cohesive way to pay rent. As NPR writes, “The lifetime job is history, we're told, a victim of technology and the logic of the market. Instead, careers will be a patchwork of temporary projects and assignments, with the help of apps and platforms with perky names like FancyHands, Upwork and TaskRabbit.”
Whether you’ve always dreamed of making money while wearing your pajamas or the fast-paced flexibility that many side hustles provide (not to mention the cold hard cash)to help you speed up your student loan payments, here are three fields in which millennials are earning money.
Fearless Freelancing
Freelancing, though work, can be fun. What are you passionate about outside of work hours? How can you turn your natural affinity for a hobby, skill, or subject matter into a paid writing, consulting, or design gig? One Huffington Post contributor points out that freelancing outside of your 9-to-5 gig can provide the supplemental income you need to travel the world, pay your bills, or treat yourself to some guilt-free fun.
If you can line up clients who need your expertise and your time, you’re in business! Just don’t forget impending deadlines outside of your regular workload or your freelance relationships could dry up over time. You can pursue individualized freelancing work, like pitching articles to your favorite publications, or you can sign up with an agency that matches you with clients in different fields.
Outside-the-Box Odd Jobs
The gig economy has very few limitations except that there are only 24 hours in a day. Side hustles come in all shapes, sizes, and commitments. From teaching fitness classes to delivering food, many millennials find that they prefer to work on their own terms when possible. Plenty of apps help connect eager millennials with odd jobs opportunities, whether they’re a whiz at assembling modern furniture or willing to put their back into helping their neighbors move. There will always be dogs to walk, deliveries to make, and food to serve; it’s just a matter of lining up gigs that align with your interests and principles.
E-Commerce Entrepreneurship
Millennials are often the target of retail advertising, but what about using their tech-savvy upbringing to open their own stores and handle their own marketing? Many young entrepreneurs tend to find success at the intersection of social media savvy and an understanding of retail trends.
Maybe you won’t be launching the next Google anytime soon, but you can make a splash in the online landscape by opening your own e-commerce store. One of the trickiest parts is learning how to go about selling online.Some crafty Internet entrepreneurs decide to sell their own handcrafted items while others use drop-shipping to sell items without personally making or stocking them. E-commerce shops tend to be scalable, so you can start small and grow along with demand.
Some millennials enjoy the stability of an office job. Others yearn to set their own schedules and get their feet wet in the vast world of side hustling within our gig economy. There’s no right or wrong way to be a millennial, but it’s important that you find a fulfilling strategy for your lifestyle. Harnessing the power of the Internet, apps, and mobile browsing can help millennials connect to meaningful side jobs that pay the bills and provide invaluable life experience.
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