Online jobs for not-terrible pay for the scientist

June 15, 2017 11:18 AM

I'm currently on leave from my STEM PhD program and need a job in the interim. I'm applying to temp agencies, but need a quick paycheck while doing so--preferably something I can do from home. Are there any online jobs that pay somewhat well? My programming skills likely aren't strong enough to do coding jobs. Most online transcription doesn't pay enough. Right now I'm looking at tutoring and Lionbridge-type jobs. Is there anything I'm missing?

I've looked at past questions, but a lot of them suggest sites like Mturk and Rev which, like I mentioned, don't have great pay.

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (8 answers total)

Rush textbook reviewing/copyediting? I had precisely one job like this in my life and it came through a personal contact 10 years ago....

The problem with most "online" work that is recruited online is that the barrier to entry is so low, that someone has probably found a way to squeeze wages down.....

If you have a niche or contact, now is the time to exploit it/reach out to them, because of the above.
posted by lalochezia at 11:44 AM on June 15, 2017

Since you already have academic contacts, you could see about copyediting dissertations or journal submissions. Often, grad students and early-career profs who learned English as adults will pay someone to check their grammar. Occasionally first-language English speakers will hire a copyeditor, either because they're very meticulous or because their advisor has told them their writing isn't up to par.

I did a lot of this in my first year after grad school. Some clients came from Craigslist, but most found me by word of mouth after I let my old friends and colleagues know I was doing this kind of work, and my experience was that the word-of-mouth clients were way less of a hassle than the Craigslist clients. I also hung up fliers around campus but I didn't even get any inquiries that way -- I think these days the internet is so pervasive that nobody bothers to look at fliers anymore.
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:57 AM on June 15, 2017 [3 favorites]

I would look into private tutoring for summer classes related to your specialty and/or GRE/SAT/ACT tutoring. A friend of mine also did private college counseling. My experience has been you can make a ton more money by reaching out through your network and working with students one-on-one versus going through an online platform where rates tend to be lower + they are taking a cut.
posted by rainbowbrite at 12:32 PM on June 15, 2017

I'm a (former) lab scientist who has worked in science policy for a large non-profit organization for the last decade. The pay cut was real, but I work from home 90% of the time (and travel to meetings 10% of the time--I haven't worked out of an office in 9 years). Do you have a non-profit org whose work you appreciate, admire, or otherwise could contribute to? Look through their job listings. Many non-profits are leading the pack in terms of remote work friendliness, in that it cuts down on the amount of $ they have to spend on office space that could otherwise cover program costs. Many offer contract positions in addition to full-time salaried positions, and that might be what you're looking for. If you're a decent science writer for lay audiences, and have experience or comfort writing for and managing social media, you're an asset.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 12:36 PM on June 15, 2017 [3 favorites]

American Journal Experts is a not at all bad to work for company that pays pretty well by the job for copy editing of manuscripts by non-native speakers. It certainly is more lucrative than most other "gig economy" bullshit jobs I've seen.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:23 PM on June 15, 2017 [4 favorites]

I came here to say what hydropsyche did. If you have written and published a paper, you have skills in terms of knowing what form a paper needs to take.
posted by Dashy at 10:09 PM on June 15, 2017

One person, I think a biology PhD student, told me that she occasionally does online work for a company called schmoop. I think she put together science study guides and that kind of thing. She seemed to like it ok.

Also going to suggest copy editing. There are definitely very affordable resources out there to help you get started if you're not sure your grammar and style are up to snuff.

Last thought, I've seen an enormous demand for "data science" which often includes pretty straightforward data analysis that most STEM folks would be totally comfortable with. I've done a couple of projects for non-profits analyzing their social media data, for example. Could be worth looking into as a slightly more lucrative option.
posted by forkisbetter at 4:45 AM on June 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Do you have any experience with K-12 education? Testing companies (ETS, ACT, Pearson) have opportunities for question writers.
posted by Dotty at 11:31 AM on June 16, 2017