Top 5 Freelance Jobs
The job market in the 21st century is going downhill on a slippery slope at a rapid pace. With the population at an all-time high, there are more number of unemployed persons now than ever, and the group of people, who have been affected the worst by it, are the young.
A beacon of hope in these trying times of financial and economic crisis, is the freelance job. Flexible work hours, negotiable pay, and work-from-home, are just some of the features that this market provides. Naturally, more and more people are pursuing this line of work rather than conventional options. Check out Assignment Geek if you're looking for talented writers.
Independent writers
The image of writers as unemployed alcoholics, who live and die in abject poverty, is a thing of the past. In fact, independent, part-time writers are very much in demand now for freelance writing. The qualifications do not ask for much, except that you are fluent in English, and have good grammatical skills and vocabulary.
This is a welcome change, especially for single mothers, retired individuals, and those who were not fortunate enough to get a college degree, and are hence, struggling to find a job that pays above minimum wage. Many newspapers, and businesses hire them as columnists or temporary ad-writers.
Content writing agencies
This has got to be the biggest boon to the economy, right now. People, looking for freelance writing jobs, can now consider it a legitimate career option. In recent years, agencies have opened up that hire writers on a permanent or part-time basis, and centralise the work so that writers do not have to go looking for work themselves. They also co-ordinate the work amongst the writers to find who is the best match for a particular writing job .
These companies offer all the perks of working at an office, while allowing the free space and comfort of the freelancing industry.
Academic writers
This option is mostly utilised by students, fresh out of or still studying in college, and, thus, looking for some extra cash. This is like a more specified and narrow field of writing as a freelance. The writer has to be skilled in academic writing jobs. This includes knowing and being good at using academic jargon, having a fair idea of, at least, the basic college-level academics, knowing what is expected from a student in an academic paper.
This is a very well-paying branch of freelancing, as it requires a bit more specialised training and a refined sense of what goes on in the academic circle.
Technical writers
Consider this to be the corporate counterpart to academic writing. This branch of the writing industry is all about office reports, statistical analyses, and the like. As such, this field requires writers to have a few more qualification related to the field, rather than just having basic communication skills, but some agencies offer specialised crash courses to train you quickly.
These kinds of technical writing jobs pay a significant amount of money, so if you do have an opportunity to become a content writer, specialising in technical writing, passing it up would definitely be a mistake for sure!
Formatting
APA manualAcademic writing
Part-time writing job
Becoming a content-writer makes for a great part-time job. If you have to manage both home and work, or say, you have a long summer vacation ahead of you with nothing much to do, you could always work on the freelance. Even if you are not qualified for advanced writing jobs, there are hundreds of general pieces that you could complete in under an hour.
The best part is that besides the money, the experience will also look good on your resume for college or if you ever want to change your line of work. It shows valuable white-collar experience.
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