Many people are struggling financially today due to a sluggish economy, but college students are a group of people who never seem to have enough money regardless of the state of the economy. They are faced with the ever-increasing cost of college tuition and books, increasing living costs and limited time to work in a traditional job. If you are a college student yourself, it may have crossed your mind that having a few thousand extra dollars to spend this semester would really ease your stress level. The fact is that you actually can earn a significant amount of money over the course of a semester when you pick up mystery shopping jobs in your free time.
Around Your Schedule
As a college student, you may already feel as though your time is stretched thin. You may take a full load of college courses, and you may be one of the many students who also work on a part-time or even full-time basis. Perhaps you are a non-traditional student, such as a mother who is returning to school after having kids. As a mystery shopper, you can easily pick up assignments around your busy schedule. With most jobs, you have to conform to your life and even plan your classes around your work schedule. This is not the case when you are a mystery shopper. You can work as much or as little as you like, and you can even conveniently pick up more assignments during spring break or after midterms when your studies are less intensive.
Finding Assignments
A typical mystery shopping assignment may pay you up to $20 or even $50 or more with the base compensation, bonuses, tax incentives and expense reimbursements taken into account. Before you can enjoy income from these lucrative assignments, however, you must first find the assignments. The first step in the process involves signing up to work with mystery shopping providers. Visit the Mystery Shopping Providers’ Association website online today to find a list of legitimate providers. Then, follow each provider’s instructions to apply for the job. The application and approval process is generally painless and fast, and as soon as you are approved, you can peruse the job boards and request assignments.
The Time Commitment
Each assignment will vary slightly, and some assignments may be more lucrative for you than others. Likewise, some may require more of your time than others. However, many assignments can be completed within about 15 to 30 minutes on-site and another 15 to 30 minutes sitting in front of the computer to file your report. There also is travel time to and from the site location, and this travel time will vary. The fact is that you may have plenty of pockets of free time in your day when you could pick up an assignment or two, but you may not have enough time available to work a full eight-hour shift at a traditional job. By picking up several assignments per day in your free time, you can easily earn that extra cash that you want this semester.
Take time today to sign up to work with a few mystery shopping providers. As you test the waters, you may only wonder why you didn’t think about mystery shopping before!