Side job from home: 20 ideas for mini jobs + tips & tricks

Whether as additional income for the main job or as a source of income for students, pensioners and parents of small children, a part-time job improves the financial situation. You are particularly flexible if you can do a part-time job from home. Thanks to the internet, there are many interesting offers for different interests.

2023: The 20 best part-time jobs from home for students, parents, pensioners & Co.

A computer with standard software, a telephone and an internet connection are required for many of the following secondary activities. Since this equipment is present in most households, it is not recorded separately under capital expenditure.

We ranked the 20 best side jobs from home based on criteria of merit, investment needs, flexibility and seriousness from 1-5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest score.

1. Surveys and Product Tests

Market research relies on surveys, the results of which flow into product development or the design of advertising media, among other things. You can earn a few extra euros by answering relevant online surveys. You are very flexible in terms of time and can do these tasks well as a part-time job from home. Popular online portals for surveys are:

• Toluna
• place of opinion
• Joblift.de
• Mysurvey DE
• pinecone
• GRP Scan Projects
• Nielsen Digital Voice
• Opinion Square.de

Register with the mentioned portals to receive invitations. The tasks include, for example, surveys on the expectations of a product or on advertising effectiveness as well as product tests. Some of the payment is also made in vouchers. Product testers usually keep the articles. If you are registered with many portals and are active accordingly, you can earn 50 to 100 euros per month.

2. Usability Tests

Here you test games, apps, other software or websites according to specified criteria and log the results. The tests serve to discover errors and potential for improvement. You do not need any special training or expertise. However, you should be interested in the digital content to be tested and be able to concentrate.

You can find relevant jobs on job exchanges , advertisements, but also on relevant portals. If you would like to carry out the activity as a part-time job from home, it is usually individual projects that you complete on an independent basis as a freelancer. However, some companies also award mini-jobs in this area. The earning potential depends on the demands of the specific task.

From our point of view, the following portals are particularly recommendable:

• pinecone
• applause.de
• FOCUS UX
• Loop11.com
• rapidusertests
• testbirds.com
• Testcloud.io
• Usability.de
• usertesting.com
• Userzoom.de

3. Tutoring

Giving tutoring is also a suitable part-time job from home. The prerequisite for this is that your students come to you. An alternative can be the video chat, for example via Skype. Of course, you must have the appropriate specialist knowledge and be able to convey it..

4. Accounting work

This activity is well suited as a part-time job from home if you are or were employed full-time in the commercial sector. Note that the Tax Advisory Act restricts the scope of duties for self-employed accountants. Anyone can enter pre-assigned documents on the PC or do simple writing and arithmetic work.

If you have worked as an employee in accounting for at least 16 hours a week for at least three years after completing a commercial apprenticeship, you have more opportunities. Then you can also assign and book ongoing business transactions for your clients and carry out ongoing payroll accounting and create wage tax returns . As an alternative to self-employment, you can also look for a part-time job in the usual job exchanges and agree on working from home with the employer.

5. Write lyrics

As a copywriter, you mainly create content for company websites, online shops and blogs and occasionally also for printed articles. For a part-time job from home, you do not necessarily need a specific education. However, specialist knowledge and good language skills have a positive effect on earning potential. Most part-time copywriters work as freelancers on an hourly or word basis. A mini-job is also possible, but more rarely.

6. Editing and Proofreading

Editors and proofreaders check written texts. Proofreaders focus on spelling, grammar and typography. Editors check structure and content. Therefore, in some cases, you also need specialist knowledge. You can find a mini job or jobs for the self-employed via job exchanges. There are companies that specialize in these services. The part-time job from home is often only offered to freelancers.

7. Translator

In order to be able to work as a translator, you do not necessarily need special training or a degree. It is still an advantage because it allows you to take on more demanding and better-paying jobs. Even if you grew up bilingual, that is a good prerequisite for successful work.

Earning opportunities are highly dependent on your skills. Because simple shop texts are less demanding than, for example, technical or medical specialist translations. Since a translator, in contrast to an interpreter, only works in writing, you can do this work as a part-time job from home, mostly as a freelancer. Jobs can be found through portals such as proz.com or translatorscafe.com .

8. Transcribe

When it comes to transcribing interviews, conference minutes or lectures from audio or video recordings correctly into written form, this is only possible manually. Speech recognition software is not suitable for this. This process is supported by the transcription software f4tranSkript , a free program with which the recording can be stopped in between.

If you can type fast with the keyboard, you can do the transcription as an interesting part-time job from home. Occasionally there are vacancies for mini-jobs, but freelance work predominates in this area. You can find orders at abtipper.de , for example . You have even more options with training as a medical transcriptionist, because doctors also use this service frequently.

9. Data Collection and Maintenance

Whether for business, marketing or research, data often has to be recorded manually and databases maintained. This can be, for example, addresses, product data or survey results. Many companies delegate these tasks because they do not arise on a regular basis. Working from home is often possible because the exchange takes place online. For example, you receive image files and transfer certain information from them to a database.

10. Research Assistance

Internet research can usually be done easily as a part-time job from home. The need for such services is there. For example, many companies are interested in certain market data. Others would like to supplement internal databases. Research is also necessary for research work and various other projects.

Certain specialist knowledge is sometimes required, especially in the scientific field. In many cases, however, the tasks can be completed by anyone who can work in a concentrated and precise manner and has experience in using the Internet. You can find mini-jobs and jobs for freelancers on job exchanges and advertising portals such as eBay classifieds .

11. Crowdsourced micro jobs

Micro jobs are small tasks that contribute to a larger project. The mediation takes place via appropriate platforms. clickworker.de is ideal for a part-time job from home . They write, correct or revise short texts, research information or tag or categorize images. These are just a few examples.

There is a fixed amount of money for each completed job. If you have reached a minimum amount, you can cash out the money. The chances of earning are not particularly high. But the micro jobs can be done at any time.

12. Virtual Assistance

Virtual assistants are mostly self-employed, but sometimes also work as employees. They take on telephone services, organizing appointments, e-mail and letter traffic and similar assistance work for one or more clients without having to be there in person. Customers are often craftsmen or other small businesses without their own secretariat.

If you want to do this work as a part-time job from home, agree on fixed times that can be combined with your main job or your everyday life. This works best if you work for one or a few regular clients. Look for advertisements in job boards or create one yourself. You can also use social networks to find customers or contact companies directly.

Here you will find some well-known portals for virtual assistants:

• eAssistant
• remotework.net
• doyouthat
• my-vpa
• beach layer

13. Customer Support

Unlike virtual assistants, account managers are often employees. This work is also suitable if you want to do a mini job from home. Account managers must be well versed in the company’s offerings in order to be able to advise customers professionally.

They must remain friendly even when taking criticism or dealing with disgruntled customers. Since communication takes place via telephone, e-mail or chat, the work can also be carried out without being present in the company. However, the employer must agree to this. Use job boards to look for such work.

14. Sell homemade stuff

If you pursue a creative hobby that involves making attractive products on a regular basis, you can make money from it. Whether you sew, do handicrafts, or do some other arts and crafts, you’ll earn extra income from the sale. With this part-time job from home, you are self-employed and must also register a business if you sell regularly.

15. Production Works

Even if you don’t want to work on the PC, there are opportunities for a part-time job from home. Some companies outsource simple manual tasks to home workers. This is mostly production work for which you do not need larger machines. It is best to ask local companies directly about working from home. Then the transport route is not too long. Make sure that you receive an employment contract (if you are not self-employed) and all the necessary work equipment.

16. Affiliate Marketing

Whether as a blogger with a niche site or with your own video channel, income from affiliate links can generate an attractive additional income. These links lead to websites or specific products of advertising companies (advertisers). You will receive a commission for each sale via such a link or for each click.

You can use affiliate networks such as Awin , Digistore24 or AdCell to find suitable advertisers and for the technical processing . A prerequisite for success is that you regularly publish interesting content and that your site achieves a good search engine ranking.

17. Influencer Marketing

You can also do this as a part-time job from home. A prerequisite for a worthwhile income is that you reach so many people via a social media channel such as Instagram or YouTube that you become interesting as a cooperation partner for companies. This is only possible with a good concept and regular new content.

Ideally, you publish content on a topic that you are passionate about, e.g. B. a hobby. You can then seek endorsement deals with corporate partners and showcase their products.

18. Dropshipping

With dropshipping, you operate your own online shop, e.g. B. with Shopify . The special feature is that you do not come into contact with the sold items yourself, since these are sent directly from manufacturers or wholesalers to the end customers after the orders have been placed.

Your task is to maintain the shop, to do marketing, as well as billing and administration. However, you do not need any storage or shipping capacities. You also do not have to pre-finance goods on a large scale.

19. Create online courses

If you have expert knowledge in a certain field, you can create video courses on it and monetize them. A well-known platform for marketing is Udemy . The users of your offers pay for it and you get a revenue share.

Alternatively, you can also offer courses via video platforms such as YouTube and monetize them with advertisements or affiliate links. However, you may no longer publish these courses on Udemy or similar platforms.

20. Sell Media Content

It has long been known that photographers can sell usage rights to their photos on stock exchanges such as Alamy , Adobe Stock or Shutterstock . Depending on the platform, these options have now been expanded to include graphics, videos, animations and music or audio sequences.

The competition is big. But with the right technical and creative skills, and a flair for trends, you can generate additional income through these exchanges.

Part-time job from home – the three most important questions at a glance

Would you like to do a part-time job from home and are you looking for ideas? Perhaps you have already asked yourself one of the following questions:

• Can I seriously earn money from home?
  Yes, there are many reputable opportunities to do a part-time job from home as an employee or on a self-employed basis.
• Which mini jobs can you do from home?
  Virtual assistance, translations or proofreading work are suitable as mini-jobs.
• How can I earn money at home on the side?
  Since a lot of work can be done online, there are opportunities in very different areas and a corresponding number of platforms for placing orders and technical support.

Working from home : advantages and disadvantages of a part-time job in the home office

There can be many reasons for being interested in a part-time job. Perhaps you would like to earn money in addition to your main job? Or do you have other main commitments such as studying or caring for small children? The part-time job from home is attractive because it saves you time and gives you flexibility. If you live in an underdeveloped area or are not mobile for health reasons, it is sometimes the only option.

These advantages are offset by some negative aspects. The extent to which you find these annoying depends on your personal preferences. For example, it can be difficult to separate free time from working hours when you work a part-time job from home. In addition, it is not for everyone to work alone and not in the environment of colleagues. Depending on the type, some people also have problems motivating themselves for work at home and concentrating 100% on it.

Working from home as an employee

As you can see from the examples, a part-time job from home can be carried out not only as a self-employed activity, but also as an employee. These are usually mini jobs. You can find offers on job exchanges or by asking companies directly. In any case, clarify whether you can do the mini-job from home and flexibly. Employers tend to expect more presence from employees than from freelancers.

Opportunities for earning a part-time job from home

How much you earn in total depends less on where you work and more on the type of work and the time invested. A side job is usually considered to be a 450-euro mini-job or self-employed work that does not exceed this monthly income limit. Therefore, it makes sense to look at the average hourly wage.

It should also be noted that a part-time job is less likely to develop routine and experience than a main job. Also, some jobs, such as online surveys, are not always available. Both also affect the earning potential.

Requirements for a part-time job from home

If you are already pursuing a main occupation, have your employer approve the secondary occupation in writing. Although this is not generally required, it is included in many employment contracts. If you only occasionally take a few online surveys, that doesn’t apply. But your employer may not agree to activities that could affect your ability to work or even constitute competition .

If you carry out assembly or packaging work, you may need a little more space to store the materials and products. If you need to do the delivery yourself, a vehicle is also required. A suitable workplace is also important, also for part-time jobs with telephone service. Because you must be able to speak undisturbed.

Note that some sideline jobs require specific knowledge and skills. This applies to accountants, translators and tutors, among others

Conclusion: Many different possibilities for a mini job from home

If you would like to earn something extra, this is possible with an additional mini-job or with self-employment from home. There are many offers that appeal to different interests, talents and requirements.

Above all, computers and the Internet make it possible that an interesting and flexible part-time job from home is not a problem. In addition, there is also the classic homework