The truth about the world's most argued flyover

 What can I do besides my full time civil engineering job to earn some extra cash?

Every now and then, I come across a fresh grad asking a question of this sort, they are either happy with what they are doing; but trying to get "their" faster,  not even nearly happy with their profession and looking for a career shift or everything in between. And if you are like most of them; you have most probably asked google " What can I do besides my full time civil engineering job to earn some extra cash?" which somehow lead you here. good for you, because I'm going to explain the wisdom I have collected along the years about this subject . Let's dive in.

 Source | Bing Image creator

Ground rules

First things first, let us draw some red lines:

• Be transparent: If you are planning to have a side hustle, inform your bosses about it, be transparent as much as you can. The reason is that they might find out on their own and that might expose them to a liability given that you are their employee, might have to terminate your employment with a scar on the face of your reputation.
• Be strictly legal: do NEVER break any laws or work ethics. If you are not sure; consult someone with legal background.
• Be cautious of clash of interests: at certain points you might end up doing work for direct or indirect competitors of your current employer. something you don't want to do.

That being said let's start rolling.

Ways to earn extra cash as an engineering graduate

Freelancing: freedom that comes with a price, in YOUR pocket

I'm not suggesting that you start googling around trying to find a freelancing engineering designer's job online. That won't work 95% of the time, The reason behind that is that the job poster doesn't care where you are located so he is most probably looking for the cheapest candidate; someone I don't recommend you to be. As long as you are adding value, value it. What I'm suggesting is to start searching engineering firms within a geographic perimeter that you set. let us say a 1 hour commute from where you work your day job(that will give you an advantage if your physical presence is needed). list these firms and their addresses, contact info if available and start opening communication channels with them offering your service. Be genuine and clear, never lie and be specific; this will give you a competitive advantage over your peers. land your first freelancing job and get the roll starting. here is your first pay check.

 Source | Bing Image creator

Tutoring: a trade of knowledge for money

If you are like the vast majority of civil engineers, you have most probably fell in love with a subject or two during your college years, no matter what the reason is; you now have a strong suite, leverage that.

Again, do your research, find possible segment of students that you can serve research their habits and how do they deal with this subject, always ask these questions about your target segment and try to find their answers:

1. Do they really need tutoring in the subject you master?
2. How do they usually do that, online, on premises or hybrid?
3. How much does it cost them?

Then start approaching them in their natural habitat, maybe pay them a visit and offer your services, offer your services over social media or even distribute flyers during their gatherings. Always make sure that you have a competitive advantage; it doesn't have to be the price, it could be the convenience, the duration of sessions or the availability to answer their questions. Unless your message stands out of the crowd, it will sink in the deep dark see of similar messages.

Online courses: do it once, and keep the cash flowing

Remember that subject that you mastered in the good years of college, here is another chance to utilize it again, this time you will have it recorded.

Since many of the students have other commitments; they would sometimes prefer to have their tutor teach them as their own pace, some would want to heavily study on weekdays others might want to study on weekends and that comes in very handy with recorded sessions. It also allows you to do it once and start selling it as a mode affordable price to students. You may stand out by offering additional live sessions if the student needs or to answer their questions.

This might need some small investment in the video making gear (camera, microphone) to produce high quality content.

As for the platforms on which you may profit, you may use something very well known as udemy or similar platforms (you can even create your own at a later stage) or you may even chose a different business model and post it for free on Youtube and make profit out of ads display. do your research and find out which one works best for you.

These are three very profitable ways that answers your question " What can I do besides my full time civil engineering job to earn some extra cash?", feel free to post your comments and advice in the comments section below.