Anjali Menon, a full time law student and a newbie to our team, shares her experience as a part time content writer.
One disadvantage about being a student is that there is no financial independence. You have to think a thousand times before you splurge and have to save every bit of your allowance because if you don’t, then you are most definitely going to be broke for the rest of the month. So that’s when part time jobs come into the picture.
A full-time student and a part time writer
If you are a student who is passionate about writing and have a reasonable amount of free time then freelance content writing is the best career option. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Freelance content writing has several challenges and of course advantages. It is the road less taken because not many students really work. They prefer chilling at cafes with their friends or partying and living it up. You can also do all these things while you work, but not all the time as responsibility sets in. but if you are really serious about taking up content writing then nothing should stop you from reaching your goals. Here are some tips and reasons you can use to motivate yourself to start a content writing career while being a student.
Developing your passion
One of the best ways to nurture your passion is by practicing it. Practice makes a man perfect. So if you love writing, then keep writing to fulfill your passion. It also one of the best stress busters ever. So if you had a bad day or want to unwind, then writing is the way to go. Nothing is ever easy and requires a great amount of hard work. So choose to nurture your passion rather than wasting your time thinking why you never made it. Once you keep getting better at it you will feel proud of yourself for choosing this path. This will also make you sure of what kind of a career you want in future. If you really like it, then you can always take it up in the long run and if it doesn’t seem to suit you then you would know what not to do. So explore all your options and find out what you really want at an early stage itself.
Earning money
For those students who do not get enough money to live when they are away from home, this could be a very helpful way to earn some bucks on your own. Who doesn’t like having some financial independence? So you can do whatever you want with your money without being answerable to your parents or guardians. This would help spendthrifts who like to invest in things once in a while. So yes, the money factor is quiet an incentive. It also gives you confidence as you tend to feel more self dependant when you start earning. This is also a great way to motivate you to work more.
Planning
The most important way to do any job is by being prepared and planning everything. You will have to plan your college schedule along with work schedule. So keep some time for college work so that you do not miss out on your academics and some time for your job. This way you will not miss out on both. Keep a planner if necessary, and jot down whatever you want to do on that day or for the next day. Be organized because it isn’t easy to work while you are in college if you lead a disorganized lifestyle. That would just mess things up. Plan and set a goat as to how much you can work per week and work accordingly. Don’t procrastinate and while away your time. That would just make you miss out on both your academics and career. Procrastination is your biggest enemy if you are working part time. You’ll lose your superior’s trust for not being able to meet deadlines and also your teacher’s for getting lower grades at college. So plan everything in advance just in case and that would ensure that everything goes smoothly.
Do not push yourself
Do not over do it. Enjoy your college life as well and don’t get too serious with life. It is important to enjoy and appreciate little things during this age. College days are never going to come back, so do take an off once a week so that you can catch up with friends and family. Don’t push yourself to an extent where you won’t have any time left for anything. You will feel much stressed out and over worked leaving you with no energy to finish up your college work or content writing.
Prioritize
You should learn to prioritize. Sometimes we tend to overlook the fact that there is a test coming up or an assignment for which we need to study or prepare and end up writing. So in such situations, stop being a workaholic and inform your superior regarding these commitments. Prioritize and study accordingly. Once you are all set for your exam or done with your assignments then you can get back into writing.
The experience
The experience is brilliant. You can always brag about it to your kids later on saying that you worked really hard during your college days rather than wasting time. Parents often use it as an excuse when their kids demand more money from them. But, on a serious note, the experience that you gain while working at a young age is wonderful as it helps you grow more responsible, accountable and confident. It helps you mature and grow as a person. You wouldn’t find it difficult to adjust to your new job once you graduate. It also helps build contacts that you could use while you look for a full time job, or could even work for the same company full time once college is over. This also adds on to your resume and does a great deal of good in future while you look for jobs.
Freelance content writing is a great career option that I have stumbled upon personally. This helps me write and release my stress. It gives me an opportunity to learn and research about things I never thought I would ever even think about. It gives you great experience and knowledge regarding the subject.
I learned more about content writing, search engine ranking, different modes adopted by websites to attract traffic etc. this has really given me a lot of exposure and made me confident about the fact that writing is going to be my primary choice while I think of career options later on. Hope these tips help those who would like to take up a part time job as a content writer.
