Quick College Cash - Telemarketing

In the past six years, there have been many times near the end of the semester when I have resigned to living on ramen noodles and easy mac. During these times I have often turned to telemarketing to make ends meet. Here is an overview of the pros and cons of telemarketing.

PRO

• They often hire everyone who applies. Turnover tends to be high and they are always looking for new people.
• You can work part time and during the night.
  
• They generally pay more than minimum wage. The typical rate is $9-$10 per hour, and sometimes one can make much more. I once worked a telemarketing job that paid $12 per hour plus up to $500 per month in bonuses.
• You can work for a week when you need money, quit, then work again three weeks later when you're broke again.
  

CON

• High Stress - Telemarketing jobs are intense. Besides the occasional break, you will be busy the entire time you are working. Bring caffeine.
• They will treat you like a child.... its just that type of environment
  
• Unethical - most telemarketing positions involve convincing people to give or spend money that is against their best interests. Teleresearch and inbound call centers do not suffer from these problems.
  

Making Money is Hard

I've never liked making money the old fashioned way i.e. getting a job. I don't like the monotonous work one must pursue without a degree, and I certainly don't like people telling me what to do. I'm sure you don't either which is why this blog exists. I stumbled upon many ways During my 6 years as an undergraduate to bring in extra cash for incidentals like beer, clothes, and electronic gadgets.
It is important to maximize the amount of money you make relative to the time you spend making it. Here is a short list of ways you can do that.

1. Participate in medical or market research studies
Research studies are a great way to make extra money without the weekly time commitment and boss that a part time job would require. They typically pay $15-$20 per hour and some medical studies will pay $500 or $1000 upon completion. at $5.45 per hour it would take almost 200 hours to make $1000. A medical study might take the weekend.

2. Get a government grant or a scholarship
There is a ton of free money out there for college students, but you really have to look for it. During my senior year I received a $2500 just by calling the financial aid office and asking if there was any extra money available. Once again, the ratio of time spent to monetary return is heavily in your favor.

3. Event staff and other positions related to events on campus
Working as event staff for football games, basketball games, and other events around campus generally pays a better hourly wage than a part time job. It is easier work, enjoyable, and it doesn't require a weekly time commitment. Also, since it is a one or several time thing, you can pretty much just ignore your boss. You'll still be paid.

Examples:

• I once worked a county election and made $150 for 8 hours of work.
• $10 per hour to walk around the tailgating section of the football game.

4. Worst case scenario: You need a job to pay bills
There are several jobs that pay very well for the right type of people, and in some cases are preferable to the occasional check you will get from market resarch + event staff.

• Bartender/Bartenderess: Hot girls and muscular guys will make a killing on tips. The downside is that you will probably have to deal with drunk people hitting on you all night.
• Waiter/Waitress: Not quite as lucrative, but you don't have to be good looking (thought its a plus). Friends of mine make $12-15 per hour consistently doing this type of work. Another benefit is that shifts tend to be short i.e. four hours at a time.
• Telemarketing: Telemarketing is the quintessential part time college job. Benefits are high hourly pay, flexible hours, and lots of smoke breaks. Negative aspects of the job are psychological damage and being around the types of people that work telemarketing.
  True story: The last telemarketing place I worked in this town had an employee they called bugman who smoked crack in the parking lot before work and during our lunch break.
• Craigslist: Never underestimate the power of craigslist. It is the place to find weird oddj obs to do for extra cash.

Extra Money for College AKA Beer Fund

I have several blogs and I always start them out by stating what I intend to accomplish with this blog. First and foremost I hope to educate all of the young nubile freshmen on the ways of the college economy so that they can maximize their drinking time with respect to work. Work is absolutely dreadful, and I spend my time avoiding it. Second, I hope to entertain. Every once in awhile I will deviate from my first purpose and post some funny stuff that I found online.

Enjoy!