There's no doubt these are unprecedented times. With reports that unemployment in the US is at a Great Depression level and workplaces announcing shut downs until 2021, the majority of households have been completely turned upside down. Like many families struggling with this change, you've probably found yourself having to balance homeschooling kids while finding work opportunities to help cover costs during these uncertain times. Thankfully, there's one site that's been really helpful for families and that that has quickly become a lifeline for me personally during this time. Studypool, an online education site whose primary focus is online tutoring, has actually been around for a few years, as featured on Nasdaq back in 2018. Thanks to a friend who told me about this site, it's now become a regular part of our daily routine. Here are 5 ways we've used it so far:
1. Kids' Home-schooling
Alright, so my 15 and 13 year old's home-schooling has definitely been an adjustment, but the hardest part is simply that I can only help them so much when they get stuck on some of their school work. When my daughter was stuck on a pre-calculus worksheet, I simply posted it on Studypool's website under their "microtutoring" Q&A and was quickly matched up with a tutor who could help breakdown the steps for my daughter. It was so helpful and my daughter has now continued working with this tutor to get her through this challenging time. I've also found some tutors to help my son with his schooling. He was to write a report about a book he had read while at home and though I wish I had the time to help him, it just wasn't efficient for me to walk him through extensive grammar lessons. Thankfully, a Studypool tutor came to the rescue and helped my son really understand some basic grammar. Studypool also has these great grammar lesson videos that helped my son brush up on basic writing skills.
2. Job Search
As a real estate consultant, most of my clients put projects on hold at the start of the pandemic, so I've had to actively search for alternate opportunities to make money. The challenge though is I haven't updated my resume in over 10 years and didn't have a Linkedin. Studypool has a "Job" section under their Q&A so I posted a question there and found someone who could help me for $50. They redesigned my resume and helped set up my LinkedIn in a matter of a few hours. I've since been able to submit my information to several job opportunities and have already gotten some call backs.
3. Earning Extra Cash
Since I'm bilingual in Spanish, I figured I could also try to use my skills and become a tutor on Studypool to earn some extra cash. I applied to be a tutor here and started bidding on questions the same day. Because of the flexibility of the work, some days I'll spend several hours on the site and other days, I'll just check in on some of my students. I've been able to make a few hundred dollars already working on questions like translating text from English to Spanish or editing PowerPoint presentations. It's really easy work and there are multiple ways to get paid like Payoneer, Paypal, and Western Union. Studypool's support team was also really helpful as I was figuring out how to use the platform as a tutor. Per Trevor, one of the customer support reps I spoke to, "there are 70 plus categories supported by Studypool so tutors with all types of skill sets can find their niche and earn money on the platform."
4. Building a Website
My husband has an insane collection of old vinyls sitting in our garage and this is the time to finally sell them. I saw that Studypool had a Programming category with tutors who were knowledgeable about a wide range of programming languages, so I used Studypool again to find someone who could help my husband build his business site. What seemed like a daunting task was actually really easy and he's already made his first sale. With tutors who specialize in digital marketing and SEO, it's cool to know that we could get help in those areas if the business needs it in the future.
5. Book Guides
This is more of a bonus but I was so excited to see that Studypool has book summaries for thousands of books, and these aren't just for typical books you read in school but also for more contemporary books that I've been wanting to read but simply don't have time to (or the budget to buy). I loved catching up on Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Tara Westover's Educated. They were at the top of my reading list last year and now I feel like I've "read" both. This is a great alternative if you just want to know the highlights of a book.
Have you discovered any interesting or useful sites during the pandemic? Share them in the comments!
