5 Online Jobs for Teens (& Side Hustles)

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Last Updated on November 2, 2021 by Daniella

Jobs for teens no longer are just limited to babysitting, being a server at a local restaurant or working at the community grocery store as a bagger. We’re in the age of the internet here and today, there are plenty of online jobs for teens that will be rewarding and earn them money.

Online jobs can be a great option for your teenager. 

First, you don’t have to worry about transporting your teen back and forth to work. 

This was a big headache for me when I was working as a teen. I answered phones at a pizza place in town and although I only worked about 10-20 hours per week part-time, I know it was a hassle for my parents to drive me back and forth on my work days.

Next, working online will get your teen acquainted with what work life can be like over the internet. More and more jobs are going remote and if your teen is looking for work after graduating high school or into college, an online job may be what they find. 

Developing good work habits working from home now can be a great help to your teen if they’re faced with working a remote position later in life.

Not to mention, it’s really a dream for many people to work from home and online jobs totally deliver that.

If you’re searching for online jobs for your teen, keep reading as we’ve prepared a roundup of 5 of the best online jobs for teens.

Let’s go!

5 Best Online Jobs for Teenagers

1. Article Writer

An article writer is someone who is paid to write articles. This can include writing articles for:

• Blogs
• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Online publications
• And, other places

There are many places online that pay writers to create articles for them.

• Fiverr (16+)
• Upwork (18+)
• Hubpages (18+)
• Freelancer.com (15+ with parental permission)

What is Fiverr?

Fiverr is a marketplace where clients and freelancers can meet and work together online on projects. Freelancers use Fiverr to create their profile and set up gigs that showcase the work they specialize in.

When you create a gig, you will share the work you can do for clients, any packages available, pricing, turnaround time, and requirements.

For example, for an article writer, your gig could show that you’ll write a 500-word article for $25 with a 3-day turnaround as a basic package. Your intermediate package could be a 1,000-word article for $75 in 3 days and your advanced package could be a 1,500-word article for $100 in 3 days.

This is just one example of how you could create a writing gig on Fiverr.

People around the world work on Fiverr, earning a part-time and full-time income in a variety of industries including writing, translation, transcription, proofreading, illustration and more.

Check out Fiverr to get started.

What is Upwork?

Upwork is a freelance marketplace where clients can post their job requests and freelancers can bid on projects to win the contract.

For example, a client could post a job listing about needing 5 articles written for their food blog. Interested freelance writers will bid for that project and the client can review each proposal and make a decision on the freelance writer they want to hire.

It’s a win-win.

The client gets their project fulfilled and the writer gets paid for work.

You can join Upwork here to learn more.

What is Hubpages?

Hubpages is a publishing platform where you can share your writing, build an audience and get paid. 

Once you sign up for Hubpages, you can join their earnings program which helps you make money through the following:

• Affiliate income
• Premium ad income
• Hubpages contests and special programs income

You can read more about the Hugepages earnings program here.

This is a good opportunity for residual income as you may earn the least amount of money here compared to other sites we’ve shared.

Still, it’s a good opportunity for your teen to build their portfolio and potentially attract clients for more high-paying work. 

Visit Hubpages to read more.

What is Freelancer.com?

Freelancer.com is a freelance marketplace similar to Upwork, where clients post their job listing, hoping to hire qualified freelancers who can do the job.

You join Freelancer.com, build your profile then bid to open jobs available in your niche (writing).

Head to Freelancer.com to join.

These are just a handful of places that are hiring writers. You can also search local classified sites and job banks like Indeed, along with freelance writing sites like MediaBistro or Freelance Writing Gigs to find writing work.

2. Brand Ambassador

In a nutshell, a brand ambassador is someone who represents a brand. They share the brand with their peers and make money helping the brand expand their audience.

For teens that have a strong social media following on a social network like YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram, or others, then this could be an excellent fit.

There are influencers that earn a lucrative living from brand ambassadorships alone. There’s tons of potential to make money doing this over the long-term.

Here’s an example of how it might work:

A clothing brand approaches you to work together. They offer to pay you $1,000 per month for 3 months plus send you $500 in free clothing every month in exchange for sharing 10 social media posts per month modeling their clothing.

The brand gets more exposure to consumers in their target market and you earn money and get free clothes for sharing the company with your social media followers.

We wrote all about brand ambassadorships in this article which I recommend you check out to learn more about it.

3. Flipping

Flipping is a fun job and it can be done in person or entirely online. This is about sourcing goods at a low price and selling them at a high price, keeping the difference as profit.

Teens can start by going through your closet and selling clothes that they don’t want any more.

Selling clothes online is super easy to do. You just take photos of your clothing, put them on marketplaces or websites online, and ship the clothes when they sell! 

You can also partner with online consignment shops like ThredUp or Swap and ship the clothes to their warehouse right away, getting paid when they sell!

Here are some places online to sell stuff in a marketplace site:

• Ebay
• Poshmark
• Mercari
• Buffalo Exchange
• Etsy
• Facebook Marketplace
• SidelineSwap

After your teenager has sold off all their stuff they want to sell, next they can turn to sourcing goods online from clearance sales, online thrift shops or flea markets, and other places.

For example, you could find a brand new Keurig coffee maker for $35 on Ebay and resell it for $60 on Facebook Marketplace, making a $25 profit!

Flipping can be very lucrative and many people do flipping full-time.

Here are some resources to learn more about flipping:

• 5 Thrifters Share Their Best and Worst Flips
• 9 Best Selling Apps to Make Money Selling Stuff Online (& In Person)

4. Proofreading

For people with a good eye for grammar and spelling, proofreading can be an ideal job. This will involve reviewing documents, pointing out mistakes to be corrected.

These 7 online, legit proofreading jobs can give you a good start at learning more about the proofreading industry and getting a job as a proofreader.

5. Online surveys

Paid online surveys are a neat way to earn extra money on the side. While survey-taking won’t produce a full-time income (nor much of a side income either), it can be a steady source of part-time cash for teens.

You make money sharing your personal opinion.

You can also get paid to watch videos, play games, listen to music, take online quizzes, and other small tasks. 

Many surveys let you take unlimited surveys 24/7 so it’s a good option for teens that need a flexible schedule to work around school, extracurricular activities and family time.

Surveys pay you via:

• Direct deposit
• PayPal
• Gift card
• Other rewards

Here are some survey companies you can check out:

• Toluna: Get paid for your opinion and help market research.
• Swagbucks: After you register with Swagbucks, you can do a variety of small tasks like those shared above, including taking surveys to make money online.
• Harris Poll: Harris Poll is a reputable, long-standing market research company and they offer paying surveys to panelists age 13+.
• Survey Junkie: This popular survey company offers a variety of online surveys and you can earn up to $18 per hour here if you focus on only the high-paying surveys.

Keep in mind that some surveys can be a waste of time for little pay. We also recommend you try paid research studies if you’re looking for higher pay.

More Job Opportunities for Teens

• Pet sitting: Sign up with Rover to be a pet sitter and pet sit from your own home or within the pet owner’s home.
• Driving for DoorDash or Instacart: You can even sign up to be a shopper for Instacart if you don’t have a car.
• Tutoring: Teens can start their search locally for tutoring gigs both during the school year and summer school season at their schools, libraries, etc. They can also ask others in their grade if they need help or do virtual tutoring via Facebook by searching for “Tutoring jobs” or “Tutoring” on Facebook Groups.
• Teach English Online: Help kids abroad learn English virtually. 
• Virtual babysitting: This is online babysitting and yes, it is a thing! A lot of times parents just need their kids occupied for an hour or a few hours while they’re working on things around the house like cooking or cleaning, studying or doing work. That’s where virtual babysitters come in, entertaining the child so they can be occupied and leave their parents undisturbed.
• Blogging: A blogger is someone who writes about their interests or passions online in their blog. Your teen can blog about whatever they want from fitness to knitting, travel, fashion, baking or anything else. Bloggers make money from ads placed on their website, sponsorships, affiliate marketing and selling their own products.
• Ecommerce: Start an ecommerce store and sell stuff online, like candles your teen makes, baked goods, apparel, keychains, crafts, etc. 
• Get artsy: Use a tool like Canva to learn graphic design and social media management. Then reach out to your school, online, or local small businesses looking for one-off work to start putting a portfolio together. Have fun being creative online!
• Selling photos: Explore a passion for photography and make money selling photos.

Final Thoughts

As you can see there are plenty of online jobs for teens to help make money from the comfort of home. Making money as a teen can be very beneficial too, helping teenagers develop financial skills, learning how to manage money, work for themselves, pay bills, and manage a schedule.

For teens that are looking for work from home jobs, check out some of these contenders in our roundup.

What do you think of these online teen jobs?

More ways to make money online:

• 15 Side Hustle Apps to Make Extra Money
• Redbubble Review: Make Money Online as an Artist
• How to Make Money on TikTok
• 8 Ways to Get Paid for Your Recipes
• Get Paid to Read Books: 12 Ways to Make Money as a Bibliophile

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