I am an automation engineer, and I live in Mexico, sometimes living in countries like Mexico is that you are not getting paid enough money if that is the case, then the second option is to start a side hustle, in this post, I am going to share with you 17 side hustles for engineers.
17 side hustles for engineers
Each engineer has a different set of skills, some of these side hustles might resonate with you and others might not, my recommendation is to pick just one side hustle and invest your time and skills to grow it and make extra income from it.
1. Create online courses
This is one of the easiest side hustles you can start, you already know your field, and all you need to do is to create a course share your experience and sell it.
Depending on your engineering specialization, you can design a series of online lectures or instructional videos that help students learn.
Also, you can create a course directed to newly graduated engineers, explaining to them what they can expect in their new roles and how to deal with any issues they might face.
You can sell your courses in platforms like Udimi and Clickbank which are specialized in selling digital courses.
2. Become a part-time tutor
This is what I did when I just graduated, I used to post in Facebook groups looking for people who needed help with Mathematics and Physics ( most people have problems with these subjects).
I used to charge them to explain concepts and help students with their homework, this is great if you have extra time, especially in the evenings or on weekends.
Another side hustle that I still do is teaching at a local university where I go every Saturday, teaching subjects like control theory and practical English, depending on your time and skills this can be a great side hustle.
3. Start a repair workshop
A few years ago me and my friend started a computer repair workshop, you used to make money by just changing operating systems in computers, cleaning them, installing programs and applications, and so on.
If this is something that you can do, it can be a great side hustle for you. You can start fixing and repairing things in your neighborhood and charge people for them.
4. Take on contractor jobs
Some companies need something to be fixed but they can not afford to pay someone full time.
If it is something that you can do, you can help them to fix the issues on a short-term basis.
I am a certified solar energy system designer, till this day, I take jobs where I help small companies to perform sizing and electrical calculations, and I get paid depending on the project.
5. Create products and sell them online
If you can build something that people can use, you can sell it online and make a profit, this could be a gadget, a computer program, a game, or anything, just create it and start talking about it online and people will buy from you.
6. Offer consulting services
This is one of the lucrative side hustles for engineers. If you have credentials and you know you can fix things offering a consulting service is a way to go.
Small companies might not be able to afford to hire full-time consultants, so they often rely on private contractors to help address technical issues.
If a company has a technical issue that you’re qualified to solve, working as a consultant is an effective way to earn money during your free time.
7. Start a blog
This is what I am doing right now. You know most people want to learn, you can start a blog about anything and publish your content online.
You can start a blog about your field, about health, about your hobbies, etc.
The good thing about starting a blog is that you just need a domain name, which will cost you about $10 per year, and hosting will cost you less than $5 a month.
If you publish quality content and can put the effort in, this can be an excellent way to earn side income.
You can learn how to start a blog here.
8. Work as a freelance technical writer
Forget about AI, technical writers are still in demand, you can join sites like freelancer.com and Fiverr.com and offer your services.
Most people will be able to pay you good money for a good technical writer.
You can start charging small and when you start to get good testimonials and then gradually increase the amount you charge.
I have a friend who makes $200 per hour writing technical articles on freelancer.com
9. Become an app tester
Many companies that create apps need people who can test them, and who is the better tester that an engineer?
You can go to Amazon Mechanical Turk and start looking for those kinds of jobs, to be honest with you, they do not pay that much, but you can easily make some extra cash.
10. Perform remote data entry
Companies that rely on large amounts of data to run their business often need professionals to perform data entry tasks.
If that is something that you think you can do, you can go to Upwork and find yourself a lot of gigs about data entry.
https://www.upwork.com/freelance-jobs/data-entry/
11. Become a substitute teacher
Most schools lack enough people to teach science, physics, and mathematics, so when one of their main teachers is not available for any reason, they will need someone to feel that role temporarily.
If you enjoy teaching or working with children, consider becoming a certified substitute teacher.
In some countries they will want you to be certified to do this, I was lucky enough to be able to do it without certification, the only thing I had to show them is my engineering degree.
If you think this can be your long-time gig, you can get certified.
12. Use your car to make money
If you own a car, you can use it as another source of income, using apps like Uber, Didi, and others, you can start offering rides after work.
The good news about this side hustle is that you can turn those apps on whenever you feel like doing extra work and turn them off when you do not feel it.
13. Perform freelance CAD work
If you’re an engineer who’s familiar with computer-aided design (CAD), then you can probably find some freelance work on the side.
If you know how to use software like Autocad and Solidworks, you can find a side hustle that can help you to make extra cash.
14. Create your app
For those who can code, this is a great side hustle, you can build your app and sell it or give it away for free and include the inbuilt purchases, or just add Google AdSense and make money from it.
15. Build websites
I used to do this side hustle back in the day, I used to build websites for my customers for free and sell them hosting.
For me it was great, I gave away a service that people pay a lot of money for free, the only condition I gave them was to get a hosting plan using my affiliate link.
I would get paid by the affiliate company, $100, doing work in less than 30 minutes, it was a win-win for everyone.
You do not have to do it the way I did, depending on where you are located you can charge people accordingly and make some extra cash from this.
16. Start a Youtube channel
You can start a Youtube channel explaining concepts about your field, I have seen a lot of engineers who make a lot of money having tech youtube channels, from explaining different models of pc or cell phones, video games, airplanes, etc.
You do not need a fancy video recorder to start your youtube channel, you can use a normal phone or computer ( if you can read this, you have everything to start your youtube channel).
Use your phone to record things and put them on Youtube, people will find them and will start to follow you and your channel.
If you want to edit your videos you can use Camtasia.
17. Start a newsletter
You are an engineer, you have knowledge of things that few people have, what you can do is just share that knowledge with people on the internet and then ask people to subscribe to your Newsletter for exclusive content.
You can charge for people to be in your newsletter or you can do it for free.
If you charge for it, that is how you will make money, but if you let people join your newsletter for free, you can offer them mentorship and guidance for free.
Also, you can recommend gadgets you use, just remember to use your affiliate link, and if they buy you will get paid.
Final words
That is it, those are the 17 side hustles for engineers, if you want to make some extra cash, you can pick one or combine a few of them and start making that extra income, your bank account, and your family will thank you for that.