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Find a Job You Really Want In
When summer rolls around, and kids are out of school, it can also mean a break from work and paychecks for teachers. Summer can be a tough time for teachers since many don’t get paid while school isn’t in session.
Luckily, teachers are some of the most qualified and trustworthy people out there, so there are plenty of opportunities for you to find while school is out. Many summer jobs for teachers can overlap with regular teaching duties if you want to continue working in the same field or branch out to new opportunities. There are many different jobs people are willing to hire teachers for, so always keep an eye out.
We’re going to cover a few of the marketable skills that teachers have and the most popular summer jobs for teachers. If you don’t know where to start looking for seasonal opportunities, our guide will point you in the right direction.
11 Best Side Gigs and Summer Jobs for Teachers
When you’re looking for a summer job, these are some of the most popular options for teachers. There are plenty more opportunities out there, but these tend to be the easiest gigs for teachers to land.
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Test-prep teacher
Average Yearly Salary: $29,508Depending on what level you teach, teachers can easily make the transition to test-prep instructors. As students prepare for the college admissions process and take standardized tests, many need support to reach their full potential
Test-prep instructors work one on one or with groups of students to teach them key skills and review their mistakes to boost their scores. SAT and ACT help are the most common options, but you could help with graduate test prep on the GRE, MCAT, or LSAT, depending on your expertise.
There’s usually a lot of work available for test prep instructors in the summer since students aren’t in school and have more time to dedicate to prepping.
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Summer school teacher
Average Yearly Salary: $53,107Often, students need a little extra help and attend summer classes to revise and prep for the year ahead or even to get ahead and master an advanced course. Many teachers can find work as a summer school teacher, and often it can be even better than normal teaching.
Sometimes the courses are online, so you can work remotely, or the hours are shorter than the typical eight hour school day. You’ll also get to work with smaller groups of students and really get to know and support them.
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Tutor
Average Yearly Salary: $33,441Tutoring is a great option for teachers regardless of the time of year. There’s always a handful of students who could benefit from individualized one on one lessons, and summer is a great time to help them out.
Tutoring is a great option since you get to manage your schedule, decide how many students to take on, and pick the subjects you want to teach. Try approaching your students who are struggling in a subject or talking to your colleagues about tutoring opportunities to find work as a tutor.
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Camp counselor
Average Yearly Salary: $23,963If you’re used to working with kids all day, being a camp counselor is a great way to meet new kids and work with them in a different environment from what you’re used to. Camps are always looking for people to help with the influx of kids, especially super qualified people like teachers.
You’ll also get to do new activities and find camps that match a niche interest of yours. The only drawback with being a camp counselor is that sometimes they don’t pay as highly as a real teaching position, but you can always negotiate based on your rich experience.
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Freelance writer
Average Yearly Salary: $52,025Being a freelance writer is a great way to stay active and make some money while keeping a flexible schedule. You can start writing generic articles or pick a niche that you know well, like whatever subject you teach or advice for teachers.
As a teacher, you have great time management and communication skills, so being a freelance writer is a great opportunity. Since freelancers usually work remotely and on their own hours, you can even freelance write while you tutor or take on any of the other jobs on this list. Just make sure you identify the topics you want to work with and start pitching yourself on job boards, freelance forums, and other platforms.
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Translator
Average Yearly Salary: $42,000If you’re a language tutor, looking for translation work is a great idea. It will keep you active and engaged with your target language while helping spread knowledge across languages. If you’re not fluent in another language, sometimes companies look for native speakers to edit and refine translations, so they sound more natural.
Keep an eye out for translation jobs since they can pay pretty well. Bonus tip – if you’re a language teacher, tutoring in that language, or offering to tutor English as a second language (ESL) is a great way to put your language skills to use.
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Babysitter
Average Yearly Salary: $20,000For some teachers, like preschool, kindergarten, or elementary instructors, the jump to babysitting or childcare is natural. You spend all day with small children, so working with one or a few and watching them is an easy job. With parents at work while students are on summer break, you can find plenty of families who need a babysitter, especially one they can trust.
You can even combine duties and offer to teach the kids summer classes, tutor them, or teach a language if you can. If you offer to teach on top of babysitting, you could probably earn a little extra too.
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Pet sitter
Average Yearly Salary: $10,000If you want to take a break from teaching or working with kids, being a pet sitter or a house sitter is a great option. With people going to work or going on vacation in the summer, there’s a lot of people who need someone to check in on their pets or their house. Usually, these jobs don’t require a lot of time, so you can take on a few people at a time and make some decent money from it.
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Blogger
Average Yearly Salary: $41,000Blogging isn’t just a summer job, but it does take a considerable amount of time and effort to set up your first blog. Summer is the perfect time to
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Commit yourself to learning basic web development skills like HTML
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Figure out a niche that you’re able to write authoratatively on
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Write 3-4 blog articles a week
Don’t expect instant results — it takes time for a blog to start gaining traction and people to start finding your site organically. But if you keep producing high-quality content, traffic will come.
After that, it’s up to you how to monetize your blog. Ads and affiliate marketing are the lowest effort money-makers, but they’re typically the lowest paying as well. If you have an actual product to sell, digital or otherwise, then the sky’s the limit for how much your “side gig” can start making you.
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Online English Teacher
Average Yearly Salary: $31,000No matter what subject you teach in your regular teaching job, you’re qualified to be an online English teacher. Most online English tutoring companies operate out of China or other Asian countries, and most pay between $15-$25 an hour.
You can expect early classes (4-6 a.m. start times, if you sign up for the earliest time slots), short classes and total teaching hours in a day (25 minutes and 4 hours max, respectively), and young, beginner-level students. A positive attitude and a slow speaking speed are the most important skills for this job, as well as a bright and colorful backdrop, props, and reliable internet.
Exceptions certainly exist, as adult students often want classes at different times of the day and for longer periods. These jobs usually pay more, but also come with higher expectations (and qualification requirements) as many adult students need to pass specific exams (TOEFL being the most common) in order to progress in their jobs.
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Freelance Artist
Average Yearly Salary: $49,900Being a freelance artist can mean a lot of things — you can make and sell prints online, find clients online to do graphic design work for, or turn your fun teaching materials into a product that helps other teachers out (all of these pair well with the blog idea, by the way).
Sites like Etsy are also a great place to post and sell your work, and Instagram and other social media platforms are always handy for getting things off the ground (and growing).
If you live in a big enough town or city, there are likely art fairs during your summer break as well. These are a great place to sell any physical products you have and get your name out into the community.
More Summer Jobs for Teachers
Here are a few more options that you can look into:
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Religious education teacher
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Resume and cover letter editor
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Freelance editor
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Community class instructor
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Elderly companion care
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Online course instructor
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Lifeguard
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Uber/Lyft driver
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Proofreader/editor
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Participate in research studies
Tips for Teachers Getting Summer Jobs
Keep these tips in mind as you explore your options for summer jobs:
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Consider your current employer. Many schools offer summer classes, and your employer is likely a larger school district with additional available jobs. Plus, you’re likely a shoo-in, so you won’t have to worry about spending weeks just looking for a summer gig in the first place.
Of course, this does sort of ruin the dream of becoming a teacher — getting the hell away from your main employer for 2 months every year.
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Expand your skill set. The other route is to look at your summer job as an opportunity to sharpen your ancillary teacher skills, like creativity, compassion, and critical thinking.
Becoming a better artist can help a math teacher create helpful visualizations for students that need it, working as a freelance data analyst can keep a science teacher’s mind sharp on modern technology, and working as a camp counselor can remind any teacher that kids ain’t so bad when you don’t lock them in a school building for 7 hours straight.
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Don’t feel pressured. As we said two tips ago, part of the joy of being a teacher is that sweet 2-month vacation built into your schedule. Unless money is a big part of the equation, try to use your summer job to explore something you enjoy rather than as a slog you have to get through for a paycheck.
Even if it’s something that doesn’t net you a lot of money, doing something you’re passionate about will help reinvigorate you for another year of teaching.
Leveraging Your Teacher Skills
Being a teacher involves a lot of hard skills, like childcare or classroom management, as well as soft skills, like communication and organization. Knowing which skills you excel at is a great first step in landing a summer gig.
Many of the skills teachers have are highly transferable, and you can apply them to a wide range of jobs. If you’re looking to expand your horizons and diversify your work experience, knowing your skills and strengths is crucial. Think about how you’ve used these skills in your teaching job and try to leverage that for a summer opportunity.
Here are some of the most common skills required to be a teacher:
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Patience. Most of all, teachers are great at being patient. Taking the time to help a student through an academic hurdle takes patience and dedication, so think about jobs requiring this skill, like childcare or acting as a companion in a nursing or retirement home.
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Critical thinking. Not only do teachers need to be good critical thinkers, but they also need to share their wisdom and teach students to be critical thinkers. Find strong examples of times you thought critically for your job and apply them to any summer jobs you apply to.
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Communication. Teachers are master communicators, and you can leverage this in all stages of the job search. Think about what kinds of communication you’re best at, whether verbal, written, or through body language. Good communicators are needed in every industry, so many educators can highlight this skill as they search for summer opportunities.
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Scheduling. Teachers keep classrooms running on a tight schedule, so don’t be afraid to explore side jobs that require planning and coordination.
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Leadership. As the head of the classroom, teachers are natural leaders, and those leadership skills can transfer to typical desk jobs as well as fun summer gigs like camp counseling.
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Conflict resolution. Sometimes students disagree among themselves, or teachers need to resolve an issue between them and a student. Conflict resolution skills are in high demand for many jobs, so think about how you can use your skills to help others during the summer months.
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Technology skills. As technology becomes more and more essential to everyday life, teachers are responsible for bringing new tech into the classroom and teaching students how to use technology and the internet responsibly. These skills can be shared with the broader community through community classes or other similar events.
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Creativity. Teachers have to be creative to keep their students engaged. This is an essential skill across all occupations, whether it’s keeping everyone listening in a boardroom or making sure students understand your lesson. Try to leverage your creative skills in whatever summer job you’re looking for.
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Time management. Often teachers juggle teaching multiple subjects, offering extra help to students, creating lesson plans, and overseeing a club. Good time management skills are needed no matter what jobs you’re looking at, so make sure to highlight your ability to manage your time and multitask.
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Teamwork. At the end of the day, teachers work with other teachers and staff to get their lessons taught, so coordination and teamwork are essential. Be sure to highlight that you’re a team player in your applications.
Summer Jobs FAQ
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What can teachers do in the summer?
Teachers can work seasonal jobs in the summer. This might be teaching summer courses, tutoring, or facilitating educational camps, or it might be working in a job that has nothing to do with teaching.
Pools, summer camps, and plant nurseries often only operate during the summer months, which means they only hire staff for those months, making it easy for teachers to sign on to only work during their few months off.
Retail stores and restaurants often look for seasonal staff or are accustomed to their workers only sticking around for a few months, making these jobs good options for teachers. They often offer part-time options, which is a plus for many teachers.
Families are also often looking for extra help with their kids while school is out for the summer, and they’re often eager to hire teachers as nannies or babysitters since they know they’re experienced and trustworthy with their kids. It’s a bonus if the child already knows and likes you as well.
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What are good summer jobs that pay well?
Tutoring, retail, delivery driving, and nanny jobs are good summer jobs that pay well. You’re rarely going to make as much from a temporary job as you can from a full-time, year-round position, but these types of roles still pay well for the three months you’d be working in them.
Your pay depends on the organization or individual you work for, so keep this in mind as you look for a position. Ask your friends for recommendations or compare salaries online, and pay attention to additional benefits.
If a clothing retailer that you often spend a lot of money at doesn’t pay as much but offers a significant employee discount and generous paid time off, it might balance out.
In addition to one of these jobs, you may also be able to find a paid internship in a field you want to work in down the road. Again, your pay will depend on the particular organization you work for and the field you’re working in, but there are several opportunities out there that will pay you generously for three months of work.
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Can you get a job just for the summer?
Yes, you can get a job just for the summer. Some businesses like pools, summer camps, amusement parks, and landscaping companies are only fully staffed during the summer. As a result, they plan on hiring employees for only a few months at a time.
In addition, while you can work at retail stores and restaurants all year round, they’re usually used to hiring temporary workers, making these great options for summer jobs as well. Delivery and shipping companies are also often happy to hire temporary workers.
If you don’t want to work for a company but want to make some cash, you can usually find work babysitting or nannying, tutoring, walking dogs, or even weeding flower beds and mowing lawns. Many people travel during the summer, so you might know someone looking for a house sitter.
These jobs won’t necessarily provide a consistent income, but you will be able to earn some cash while working flexible hours.
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What’s a good summer job for a student?
A position as a lifeguard, amusement park ride operator, or summer camp counselor is a good summer job for a student. These jobs are typically only available during the summer months and are usually designed for students since they don’t require much, if any, prior professional experience.
They also allow you to work with your friends and spend time outside in a fun environment, making working during the summer much more enjoyable.
Retail, restaurant, and landscaping jobs are also good summer jobs for students, especially juniors or seniors in high school or college.
An internship is also a great summer job for college students and some high schoolers. Some of these positions are paid, and some are not, but they’ll provide you with valuable experience that will help you either choose a career path or make it easier to get a job in your field of choice once you graduate.
- Demographic Based
- Interest Based
- Location Based
- Pay Based
- Requirement Based
Author
Amanda is a writer with experience in various industries, including travel, real estate, and career advice. After taking on internships and entry-level jobs, she is familiar with the job search process and landing that crucial first job. Included in her experience is work at an employer/intern matching startup where she marketed an intern database to employers and supported college interns looking for work experience.
