Side Hustles for Social Workers: The Ultimate List

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Side hustling as a social worker can be a great way to increase your income. We all know, unfortunately, how low-paying this field can be at times. In my first job out of grad school (5 years ago), I was offered a $40k salary.

I could not believe my ears, but I didn’t have any other offers and needed a job asap, so I accepted the position. That year, I started side hustling as a dog sitter to bring in some extra cash.

It’s becoming more and more common for social workers to have some sort of second job, whether it be dog sitting or starting their own private practice. While this is not an ideal situation for many of us, sometimes you just need to bring in some more money. I am hoping to provide an extensive list of side hustle ideas and resources if you want to start a side hustle yourself!

Why Side Hustle?

Sometimes we aren’t in a position to increase our salaries at our 9-5 jobs and this is where side hustling can come into play. If you have a goal to save more or retire early, side hustling may be an avenue to help you reach those goals quickly.

But before you take on a side hustle, really assess if you’re able to make more with your 9-5. Could advocating for a raise help you reach your money goals, or do you need to get a new job altogether? I am giving you permission to ask for more money or leave your job for a higher salary (and yes, even if you haven’t been there long).

After all of that, if you are still looking for a side hustle, check out this list below! Even if you’re not a social worker, many ideas on this list will still be applicable to you, too.

30 Side Hustles for Social Workers

1. On-call/PRN medical social work

If you want a side hustle where you have more structured work hours, working an on-call/PRN job may be a good fit for you. Hospitals, hospices, home health agencies, and treatment facilities often have these positions available so they have staff to cover when their full-time staff need time off or they are short-staffed.

Often times you do not get benefits with these positions, so they may offer a differential on top of your hourly pay (e.g. 10% differential, so 10% of your hourly rate would be added to your base hourly rate). Sometimes these positions may require you to work a certain amount of shifts per month, so ask if they have a minimum requirement to ensure it fits with your current lifestyle.

2. Starting a private practice

I know a few friends, who have started a private practice on the side of their full-time job. Mental health practitioners are in high demand right now, as I’m sure you know, so there’s absolutely a need for this service. Taking on a caseload in addition to your job may seem intimidating, but you can have as little or as many clients as you want.

Opening your own private practice does require you to be fully licensed as a clinical social worker in the state you wish to see clients. If you want to do telehealth, you will have to get a license in all the states where your clients live. You can choose to do private pay only or get paneled with insurance companies. It’s totally up to you!

4. Social Work Supervision

Are you someone that likes teaching and mentoring people but don’t actually want to be a professor? Offering social work supervision might be a good fit! There are many new social work graduates and a lot of them will need supervision as they are working towards their licensure.

Be aware of the requirements in your state regarding how many hours your supervisees need a month, so you’re able to determine the number of supervisees you want on your caseload. Some social workers opt to do group supervision once a month, and this can allow you to support multiple social workers at once, provide a space where supervision is offered at a great discount, and potentially only offer it once a month.

Your hourly rate is determined by your years of experience and expertise. Personally, I paid anywhere from $65 to 150 for individual supervision. The group supervision I participated in was free because it was provided by my employer.

Many states have requirements regarding additional CEUs that are needed before you can become a supervisor. So make sure you check your state requirements!

5. Home Studies for Child Protective Services

Individuals who are wanting to open up their homes to foster and/or adopt children need to have a home study/assessment as a part of their application process. Many of these positions are on a contract basis, so you may get to set your schedule and hours. To find similar positions in your area, I would suggest using search terms like “adoption home study jobs” or “home study specialist.”

7. Pet Sitting

Pet sitting is one of my favorite side hustles. I love animals and am currently unable to have one due to my work schedule, but I can still have puppy time on my off days! Pet sitting can range from dropping into someone’s home once a day to feed/walk their pet or staying at their house for multiple days watching their pet/house. I like pet sitting because I can create my own schedule.

I recommend the pet-sitting app Rover, but you can also check out Wag or Fetch. Pet sitting is one of the easier side hustles to get up and going because you can create a profile and get a booking within a week if there is a large need in your area!

If you want more details about what pet sitting entails, and how to get started, check out my blog post: How to Become a Dog Sitter on Rover.

8. House Sitting

House sitting is just as it sounds, you’re watching someone’s house while they are gone. There are also opportunities to house sit across the country or internationally. Some people also utilize these platforms to stay in places during their vacation, so they can save on lodging! Many popular sites for this service require you to pay a fee to list on their site, so be aware of that.

9. Dropshipping

This business could be called drop shipping or print on demand. If you’ve wanted to sell products but have worried about holding on to the investor, then dropshipping may be for you! You would partner with suppliers that would fulfill the orders and ship directly to the customer and you would earn a profit on each sale.

This is a great course to help you get your print on demand business started without leaving your couch!

10. Freelance Writing

Do you enjoy writing or want to someday have a career as a writer? Freelance writing may be for you! You can write about the knowledge you have gained through your experience as a social worker or write about a different topic altogether. This is a side hustle that may take a little longer to get up and running compared to other side hustles, like pet sitting or Instacart.

Building your portfolio is important in this work and if you are okay with starting out with some volunteer writing, look into writing for SW Helper and Social Work News. They are always looking for more social workers to share their insights and stories!

If you’re interested in learning more about freelance writing, check out 14 Places To Find Freelance Writing Jobs – (Start With No Experience!). I’d also recommend checking out this course Start & Scale Your Freelancing Career by Miranda Marquit.

11. Blogging

Do people still make money blogging? Yes, yes they do. (Why do you think I started this one? ?) Many of the websites we frequent online are actually blogs. A few ways blogs make money are through ads, sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, selling courses, or digital products. You can blog about anything, so if you have something you’re passionate about, go for it! Blogging can also go hand in hand with freelance writing. Many bloggers write for other blogs or publications for a fee.

These are two courses I have taken and would recommend to anyone wanting guidance for starting a blog:

12. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is when someone buys something and when they use your referral link, you get a commission at no cost to them. It is typically used by bloggers or content creators to share services or products they enjoy with their audience while also getting a commission.

If you want to try out a course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing School is a popular one by a well-known blogger, Michelle Schroeder-Gardner from Making Sense of Cents, who has made over 2 million dollars through affiliate marketing.

13. Lyft or Uber

Lyft and Uber have been historically known as side hustles that you can start and make money from fairly quickly. If you don’t have a car, both platforms have a way for you still earn money through their car rental program. The general minimum requirements include: being of age to drive in your city, having at least one year of licensed driving experience in the US (3 years if you are under 25 years old), and having a valid driver’s license and valid insurance.

14. Virtual Assistant

We are all taskmasters and have the organizational skills to be someone’s virtual assistant. Virtual assistant tasks can range from inputting data into an Excel document to managing someone’s email and appointments. See this blog post, How to Become a Virtual Assistant.

15. Food Delivery

Everybody knows and loves the food delivery services like Door Dash, Grub Hub, or Uber Eats. To get started with this side hustle, minimally you need a car and time to spare! This can be a good option for those who like driving but don’t want to have people in their car.

If you prefer to grocery shop for others, you can try Instacart. I have personally tried Instacart and have made a little bit of money. I live in a highly populated area with a lot of drivers so I have missed out on the higher-paying trips because I was slow to claim them, but I know other people who have made a couple hundred bucks in a day so it really just depends on where you live and your dedication.

16. Telehealth Therapy

Mental health providers are in high demand and telehealth might be a more appealing option to those who don’t want to open up their own private practice. There are many telehealth agencies out there so do your due diligence about vetting them and inquiring about how much you are really able to take home. Here are a few agencies to check out: Vibrant Emotional Health, Concert Health, Betterhelp, Talk Space, and Cerebral.

18. Rent a Room in Your Home

We rent a room in our home for extra income and it’s helped us to pay off a big chunk of debt. Consider this option if you have an extra room in your home that is unused. You can do short-term rentals through Airbnb or longer-term rentals that you can list on places like Furnished Finder. We currently use Furnished Finder to find tenants who are students or medical professionals and we rent to them between 1-6 months.

See this post for more details about processes and things to consider when deciding to rent.

19. Taking Surveys

I would be remiss to not talk about taking surveys in a side hustle blog post, but truthfully, these websites do not provide much of a payout for the time invested. However, if you’re interested, a few popular survey websites include Swagbucks, InboxDollars, and Survey Junkie. Buzzfeed also has a survey program you can apply to and they may occasionally reach out to you for your feedback.

20. Research Studies

You can get paid to participate in research studies. Some studies may require you to go in person, while others you can complete virtually. I primarily use User Interviews to apply to participate in studies. I have made $150 for participating in an in-person study for just 2 hours! Just know, you may have to apply for a few studies before you get picked. Click here to get $10 after you complete your first study by using my referral link.

21. Tutoring

There are many online tutoring platforms and you can tutor for a variety of subjects. You could even offer to tutor for the Association of Social Work Board (ASWB) exam! Some popular virtual tutoring websites include VIPkid, Chegg, Tutors.com, and Skooli. If you want to tutor in person, you can check with your local schools or community colleges to make connections and post flyers.

22. Write A Book

Selling a book is a great way to build your authority in a niche and make some extra income. You can sell your book on a variety of platforms and a common one is using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Udemy has some great low-cost courses on how to get started and make money.

23. Photography

Photography can be a really rewarding and creative side hustle. For the basics, you would need a decent camera and editing software. Go to Best Buy or check out Amazon for the best deals. This is the camera that I am currently using. Lightroom is a popular editing platform and I have used Pixiset to upload galleries and send them to clients. Photographers typically have an Instagram to showcase their services. And if you want a website as well, check out Wix or Squarespace if you want a simple and professional-looking DIY site.

24. Create A Course

Creating and selling a course can be a great way to share your expertise. Since the pandemic, the purchase of online courses has increased! Here are some common platforms people use to sell their courses: Teachable, Podia, or Kajabi. There is also an option to create a continuing education (CEU) course and get it approved by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) or another credentialing body.

25. Crisis Line

There are many online crisis jobs where you can work remotely. The hours for these positions are variable and some have a significant need for overnight availability. These positions are sometimes on a volunteer basis, but a few organizations that pay are Crisis Text Line and Protocall. You can also check out Empathy which has a similar workflow to these crisis agencies, but you’d be providing grief support.

26. Transcriptionist

You can make money as a transcriptionist by converting voice recordings into documents if you are able to type fairly fast. Speak Write is a website a social worker shared on Reddit where they are able to make a decent about of money transcribing. You have to be able to type at least 60 WPM with 90% accuracy, live in the US or Canada, and be fluent in English. Check out their website for additional qualifications.

27. Flipping Items

Selling your stuff or other items can be a way to make extra cash and upcycle. You can sell your things, or sell items you have gotten from a thrift store, garage sale, in-store, or online! Some common places to resell items are eBay, Poshmark, or Facebook Marketplace. This blog has many great posts on creative ways you can sell your stuff.

28. Start a YouTube channel

People are actually making money on YouTube! Video streaming is still very popular and you can find a video on YouTube for just about anything. Building up your channel and gaining subscribers may take a while, but it can be a very lucrative side hustle. Check out Shay Budgets, who is a social worker who side hustles as a YouTuber.

29. Grant Writing

Many organizations receive grant funding to fund their daily operations. You may have even worked for one! These organizations need individuals who are able to write clear, concise, and compelling proposals while also filling out applications so they can continue to receive their necessary funding.

Need help getting started? Check out this blog post by LearnGrantWriting.org, Why Start a Side Hustle Grant Writing? See also this post by them: The Ideal Career Change for Social Workers – Grant Writing!

30. Golf Course Beverage Cart Attendant

This is a great spring/summer job, or if you live somewhere where there is nice weather all year round. These jobs typically have low qualifications, are fairly laid back, and you can take home tips! Search for part-time positions at the golf courses near you.

Final Thoughts on Side Hustles for Social Workers

There are so many side hustle options out there and sometimes you just have to start with one and see if it works for you. It’s okay to change your mind and pivot to something else. I have tried many and have landed on a few that fit well with my current work schedule and give me the best return.

Hope you enjoyed this list of side hustles for social workers and wishing you the best in getting that money!

Please share this article with a fellow social worker!