Hi all, please I need suggestions on how to earn some extra income while doing a full time PhD. it's really hard depending on family for money, so i was wondering if others in my shoes can give me ideas on how to make some money part-time while doing the PhD. Also are there unconventional ways of getting funding for your work as the ones i've applied for have not yet worked out.

Thanks

Have you looked into opportunities at your uni? We get offered things like invigilating and scribing for students with additional support needs - it's obviously seasonal work, but you might be able to get something like that.

I've earned about £400 per month from this type of work for the last 8 months so it's pretty good, but it will depend on what's available in your department. Also from leading tutorials, seminars and practical classes.

Please did you earn that as a graduate assistant or similar positions? In my department we have graduate fellowships but is highly competitive and i didn't get it. So is it possible to do this kind of work outside this employed positions? would it be illegal? i don't know.

It's not really a formal job title and there are no set hours, I just pick up things as I can. This is in the UK so it's not like applying to be a TA in the US etc. It's about 8 hours work a week. There are many other students that do the same work but most probably work for only 1-2 hours a week because they just do it for the educational value rather than the money like me. It's not competitive but obviously if you the job well and get on with people you are likely to be offered more work than other people.

It's not illegal - I am paid through the university payroll.

You will need to check within your department about what is available.

Also check the exams office as I also help out with invigilating for exams and that's external to my department.

Pay ranges from £8 per hour for invigilating to £18 per hour for helping students that need additional support.

You might also find the university offers students other paid work like in the careers office or in university admin offices or call centres.

Go the Brooke Magnanti way and make £££££ in your spare time! ;)

What subject are you in? Have you thought about tutoring school-age kids? I do this both as a private tutor and through a private college and earn £18-25 an hour. I did it just for a couple of hours a week throughout my PhD to top up funds, now my funding has ended I'm doing it at the private college for 10-15 hours a week and it lets me earn enough to pay bills. I'm a biologist and there was plenty of people looking for science tutors. But people at my private college tutor all subjects.

:-)

I read that article the other day. Apparently there are more male students in the sex industry than female.

Funding models seriously need to be looked at to avoid situations where students feel the need to sell their bodies to fund their way through University.

I know of other instances where students submit their bodies to medical tests in drug trials. A quick Google suggest payments of £2,500, not money to be sniffed at if you're broke.


Ian

I am a seminar tutor, I correct exams, and I am the department's computing officer. So there are a few ways you can hustle some spare cash while you are full time. Just make sure you know how to scale your tutoring because my colleagues who teach 7+ groups a term make money but their research suffers and most of them are on track (or already are) to be submitting in their extension year.