[BrookR1]

I have a few expenses coming up and was thinking about taking on a temporary part time job. I've seen the ads for mystery shoppers, typists, pet food slingers and selling pen*s enhancers, etc. I was wondering if anyone actually tried these odd jobs and what were the results? Would I be better off taking a part time job at a big box store as a stock person or greeter? An extra $100-$200 per week is what I'm looking for and I'd rather find something that doesn't involve writing, since that's what I do all day at my normal job.

 

[Superpredator]

I did medical transcription editing on the side for a couple of years. I had an average of two hours a night of work, and I earned anywhere from $8 an hour while I was figuring things out (not an income worth my time) to $50 an hour with clearly enunciating doctors.

The caveat is that I worked for someone from the small town where I grew up. He mainly contracted people he knew or knew of, and that's typical for smaller firms. I also got an editing position because I have a medical background. I doubt I would ever seek (and I haven't yet sought) an editing or transcriptionist position at a national firm. From what I understand transcription work simply isn't a fantastic way to generate an income unless you land a small company, which isn't easy to do. It's not an easy job to pick up unless you have some existing medical knowledge, and it's not so lucrative or stable that it's worth shelling out money to be trained.

I'm not sure whether the job would involve writing, per se, but it sort of does.

Good luck!

 

[funniecow]

Net surveys?

 

[aaron313]

Private tutoring. Why not teach those illiterate US students how to write a complete ****ing sentence, and actually understand how to use words correctly. Oh, also teach them how to use ADVERBS!

 

[zotjen]

A friend of mine was a mystery shopper for a while. It was probably more time consuming than the average part time job. First, he had to select via the company's online website which businesses he wanted to visit. He then had to visit them and of course they weren't necessarily close together.

He also sometimes had to spend a certain amount of time in the establishment (e.g. McDonald's) and then had to fill out a lengthy questionnaire, again online. He also had to shell out his own money for the places he visited. He was reimbursed for this but of course then had to deal with sending in receipts to verify he had actually visited the places.

 

[yashicaman]

What about adjunct work for a community college? Hey, maybe you could teach business and technical writing or creative writing or something else.
I occasionally do the adjunct thing and bring home about 800 a month (luckily, I'm teaching a class at a state university which pays well). As I have a big class, I don't assign any writing. Just multiple choice tests. It would be much different if I had a small class (under 20).

 

[jonathanjong]

Psychology experiments?
Or for a more stable option: Lots of academic staff look for research assistants to do the tedious stuff. I'm at "work" now, running participants through psychology experiments. I just put them in booths and debrief them after.