Professional Side Gigs to Keep Your Skills (and Resume) Sharp
The gig economy isn’t just for delivering lunches. There are side gigs for teachers, accountants, physicians, attorneys, and more!
Recently laid off and want to keep your skills current and avoid big gaps in your resume? Here are 48 side side gig platforms just for professionals.
When you think about the gig economy, what images come to mind? Drivers racing to deliver groceries or lunches? Or couriers weaving in and out of traffic?
That is what much of the media portrays when it talks about gig work. Most often, it’s never a flattering picture. Still, have you ever wished there were side gigs for someone in your profession? Some app or platform offering quick work in, say, medicine or business, that you could take on without commitment to full time, just to earn a little extra income? Or, perhaps you need to pick up short term assignments to prevent a significant resume gap while you’re between jobs.
Professional Side Gigs Exist!
I’m not talking about freelancing, which is closely related, but rides in the middle between gig work and entrepreneurship. Side gig work for professionals — Pro Gigs, as I’ve dubbed them — are side hustles that are less committal, and don’t require you to wear multiple hats the way freelancing does.
Freelancing has been around for a while, though only since the pandemic has it been given respect as an occupational choice. The gig economy, too, has flourished during the pandemic, but still has a more negative connotation.
Freelance vs Pro Gigs: What’s the Difference?
The use of platforms, such as apps or websites, that enable a contractor to get side gigs, is the fundamental difference between the two. Platforms have made it easier for white collar professionals who want to make extra money doing what they do, without wearing all the hats that come with “true” freelancing.
For example, side gig platforms handle most of the unpaid work freelancers have to do, such as marketing, establishing an online presence, referrals, invoicing, and sometimes taxes. Platforms may even chase down a positive review for the professional.
Essentially, using a side gig platform is like having an all-in-one back office that does all the tedious and unrelated tasks a freelancer would otherwise have to do themselves. There is a fee that varies from platform to platform. But unless they enjoy juggling a dozen hats, a freelancer would have to pay someone else a lot more to do all the back office work.
Professional Side Gigs
Conversations about the gig economy, especially in political and legal circles, are focused on blue collar work like driving, cleaning, and delivering. Yet pro gig platforms are quickly growing to embrace just about any white collar profession, making gig work an option for just about anyone. Let’s look at some of them.
It is not possible to cover every profession in one post. And even less possible to feature the thousands of platforms discovered in my research on gig and pro gig platforms from around the world. So I’ve categorized them as broadly as possible and cherry picked a few of the more niche platforms for each category.
Pro Gigs for Business Professionals
Pro Gigs for Creative Professionals
Pro Gigs for Education Professionals
Pro Gigs for Human Resource Professionals
Pro Gigs for Legal Professionals
Pro Gigs for Marketing Professionals
Pro Gigs for Medical Professionals
Pro Gigs for Technical Professionals
Just the Beginning
According to a recent Harris Poll, conducted on behalf of American Staffing Association Workforce Monitor, “nearly eight in 10 adults (77%) say the U.S. economy is either on the road to a recession in the next 12 months (35%) or already there (42%).”
Their survey results show that “58% of adults are likely to get a second job or ‘side hustle’ in the next year to supplement their primary income. While the likelihood of taking on an additional role decreases with age, with 72% of Gen Z (18-25) and 67% of Millennials (26-41) considering a side hustle compared to just 30% of Baby Boomers (58-76), a majority of the workforce may be boosting their resources as inflation continues.”
Regardless of where your opinion rests about the state of the economy, it’s good practice to keep abreast of work trends, especially as they relate to your profession and industry. The gig economy isn’t going away any time soon. According to Statistica, the Projected Gross Volume of the gig economy is estimated at $455.2 billion by 2023 in the US alone. Already, nearly half of Americans engage in some level of gig work, and technology will enable more forms of platform work in the future.
Your turn: Do you have experience using a professional side gig platform? What was your experience? Tell us (below) what advice do you have to help someone else be successful?
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Category: Featured, Freelancing, Gig Economy, Recruiting, Resumes
