The Top 3 Side Jobs to Earn Extra Income As a Stay-At-Home Parent

Many people feel that being a stay-at-home parent means putting your career on hold for a few years but, given the rise of online working opportunities, that’s not necessarily the case anymore. Today, we’ll be taking a look at three online side jobs to earn extra income that are ideal for stay at home parents and breaking down their pros and cons so you can decide if they’re right for you.

Spoiler alert: we have a favourite, and we think you will too!

1. Teach Your Skills

Online teaching jobs have been around for a few years both in the form of general skills, such as English as a foreign language, and more job specific skills such as IT and programming.

These jobs can be great for stay-at-home parents as they allow you to work from your desk and don’t require you to retrain, so long as you have a teachable skill. That being said, there are some significant downsides.

The main downside comes from the fact that you’ll likely have to work through a company as a freelancer. This, in some respects, gives you the worst of both worlds as you won’t have much control over which students you choose to work with while the company won’t have to fulfil the same obligations they would to a regular employee.

Pros:

• You’re already an expert in what you do
• You’ll get to keep working in the field you enjoy
• You’ll get to share your skills with the people who’ll benefit from them the most

Cons:

• You’ll probably have to work with/for a company
• You may not have full control over your hours
• You may have to accept students/clients that aren’t a good fit
• You may need specific qualifications

Do you love the idea of sharing your skills but don’t like the sound of having to work for an online company? Stick around to the end and we might just have the perfect suggestion for you.

2. Start An Online Store

On the other end of the spectrum, if you have something to sell – and that could include a skillset – then why not start an online store?

When people think of online stores, they often think of storefronts like Etsy or Ebay. These are places that sell physical goods over the internet and then ship them to the customer.

Bear in mind, however, that plenty of online stores sell digital products such as ebooks or assets. These don’t require shipping although do come with their own technical challenges.

In fact, while running an online store is a wonderfully independant way to make money, it’s worth noting that it comes with a whole host of challenges. After all, you’ll be responsible for running a website as a part of your business, collecting payments and distributing your product. There’s a lot that can go wrong with a business like that and it’ll be on your shoulders to make things right.

Pros:

• You’ll be your own boss in every sense of the word
• You’ll get to invest all your working hours into something you’re really passionate about
• You’ll get to share your vision with others

Cons:

• You’ll be responsible for keeping the website up and running
• You’ll have to handle all the challenges of running your own business
• You’ll have to find an effective way to distribute your product to your customers

Want to be your own boss without having to worry about the responsibilities of running a business? If that’s you then our third option may well be your dream job!

3. Become An Online Mentor

Last but certainly not least, let’s get to the bit we’re really passionate about – online mentoring!

Here at Career Navig8r, we naturally believe that online mentoring is the ideal side job to earn extra income. In fact, we believe it so much that we built a whole company around the idea.

Online mentoring perfectly combines the benefits of teaching your skills to others with the independence of running an online store, giving you the best of both worlds with none of the drawbacks.

Unlike running an online store, you won’t be responsible for handling the site or having to distribute your product to customers. We handle all that for you.

Unlike finding an online teaching role, you won’t be subject to the whims and wills of a company. At Career Navig8r, we’re just a storefront – you get to set your own prices and choose which clients you want to work with. With us, you’ll always be in the driving seat.

But the real reason why we believe that online mentoring is the perfect side job to earn extra income as a stay-at-home parent is the unique level of freedom and flexibility it gives you over your working hours. After all, the majority of your mentoring work will be online meetings with clients. These can easily be arranged at a time best suited to both of you and, even better, should an emergency crop up, an online meeting is easy enough to rearrange at relatively short notice.

The busy schedule of a parent can often seem like a major barrier to your career but it doesn’t have to be. As an online Mentor, you can monetize your skills and continue to use the hands-on knowledge you have of your job role without compromising on the all-important work of being a stay-at-home parent.

Are you ready to become an online Mentor? All you need to do is sign up for free with Career Navig8r, tell us a little about your experience and your previous job roles, and start advertising as a Mentor!