5 WAYS AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT CAN EXTRA INCOME
Most of us come into the US or Canada without proper education.
I am talking about financial education specifically.
I mean some people resign their high paying jobs to come abroad.
It is a good sacrifice, which often pays in the long run.
But it becomes frustrating if you have mouths to feed or have people who depend on you back home, and your stipend is not enough.
We all come here with big dreams. I tell you, those dreams are valid, but you got to pay those bills too! Haha!
So what do you do when your stipend is not enough?
Well, your scholarship money is called a stipend for a reason.
It is not meant to make you rich.
However, there are a number of other legitimate ways you can make additional income as an international student, and that won't affect your school and assistantship responsibilities.
1. Participate in studies: When I arrived in Chicago, I came in flat broke. I had just invested my entire savings in a book project. So, I needed funds to survive.
So, I found out about researchers looking for participants.
If you are in a private University (or even a highly ranked R1), you can earn as much as $75 per hour.
If the study requires 4 hours of your time, that is $300, and that can go into paying your one month's rent, half your rent, or even groceries for one month or a quarter, depending on how you shop.
Find care jobs. Many people keep this information to themselves, but if you are a student, especially during the summer, and you are in a big city like Chicago, “see eehn, care jobs yapa”. I mean, there are several caregiving jobs. You can support families, help them with grocery shopping or other kinds of errands, or even babysit.
You can earn from as low as $25/hr or as much as $50/hr.
You can visit these sites care.com, sittercity.com, trustedsitters.com, among others, to find what interests you.
If you are a social worker or looking for social service-related experiences, care jobs, in my opinion, may be a great way to build that experience/portfolio.
Offer to house sit or pet sit. During my first two months of arriving here, I offered to house-sit for a middle-class family. In exchange, I got free accommodation for one month. People pay people to house-sit for them. In other situations, people pay you to watch their pets.
If you are a pet lover or even a graduate of Veterinary medicine, and you are coming abroad, your professional training or hobby, can become your side income.
If you don't love pets, don't just do it for the money o, “make dog no go bite you”(so you don't get a dog bite lol). Haha!!!
Paid Volunteer positions: You can also earn a side income by volunteering with families or organizations, looking for people with foreign language abilities, or can assist with managing people's family businesses. I found some of those opportunities at www.workaway.com.
Offer a digital skill: I think this is the juicy one! Provide other graduate students or professors with your digital skill-based service. For instance, you can help other students build websites. You can also offer your skill on third-party websites, such as Upwork, Fiverr, and other places.
Let me stress that these kinds of opportunities are often in great supply in big cities like Chicago 😄 🤣.
So, before you choose where to relocate to, consult my book, Fully Funded. You can get it here at www.ideyforyou.com/ffs
I am rooting for you, and can’t wait to welcome you to the United States or we can meet at a conference in Canada.
If you applied already or planning to, I wish you well, but make sure to go where there are lots of opportunities.
Do not shrink, even if you don't fully understand your dream, keep it close and trust your intuition!
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Go and get my book here at www.ideyforyou.com/ffs
See you soon.
I dey for you!
Queen BM.