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Freelance work for philosophers?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

What are the best options for freelancing as a professional philosopher? For example, say someone is a FT philosophy instructor looking to pick up summer work or earn extra money during breaks or the school year. What are the best types of freelance work, and where are the places to find them?

I’m thinking there may be options for tutoring, editing, etc., but I’m not sure where to start or if this is a fruitful path…

This is a great question, in part because good answers to it might help graduate students and academic job-candidates to explore and develop "plan B's" outside of academia. Any of you have tips or other suggestions?

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3 responses to “Freelance work for philosophers?”

  1. Simon

    I (PhD student) have recently been offered a part-time job at a think tank/NGO, which will allow me to cover the (hopefully) last few unfunded months before submission. If your specialisation is at all applied (climate, medical ethics, voting theory, etc) you may be able to find such opportunities as well.

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  2. anon

    I’ve worked as a note-taker for accessibility services (technically I was an independent contractor that got paid by a note-taking company rather than employed by the university). The pay worked out to about 35 (US) an hour. It was advertised on a local job website. But I’d put this more under “extra money” than “exploring a plan B”.

    Reply
  3. Trystan Goetze

    This summer, when I’m between postdocs, I’ll be doing some online course development work for a professional development and continuing education department. It makes good use of my research and teaching experience (the courses are on tech ethics), pays better than adjuncting, and doesn’t come with the responsibility to actually run the courses.
    As for how to get this kind of work — it’s a bit unhelpful, but the answer is “networking.” A contact I made in the AI ethics consulting industry got me the gig; it wasn’t advertised. For what it’s worth, I think networking is how most people get decent freelance work, regardless of the specific type of job you’re doing.

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