In 2023, freelancing platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork have registered an increase in the number of young users, among them a large number of teenagers. Some of them earn between $100 and $1,000 per month, performing tasks mainly in areas such as graphic design, programming and content creation.
Exact data on the number of teenagers engaged in freelancing is hard to find, given the legal age limits associated with labor activity. But in recent years, Ukraine has consistently ranked among the top 5 countries with the fastest growth in freelancer earnings. Although statistics cannot truthfully reflect data exclusively for teenagers, we can assume that young people also contribute to this growth.
In 2024, freelancing for teenagers became more accessible. Of course, the starting point was COVID-19, when remote work and flexible forms of employment became commonplace. And thanks to this, more and more companies are ready to cooperate with specialists, not limited by age or location. And it's already possible to take on a project if you know the subject matter. No one asks how old you are if you're awesome at what you do. Sounds like fun, right?
In 2024, there are tons of ways to monetize your skills that were undreamed of just 10-15 years ago. That said, the mature generation doesn't always understand the intricacies of the digital world well enough, and not everyone wants to understand. Teenagers, this is your chance.
Yes, there are nuances. Minors can freelance, but some platforms have age restrictions for legal reasons or their own policies. However, there are loopholes here too, we'll discuss this further. And you can also offer services to clients directly through social media or create your own website. YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest - these social networks and platforms require content development. One blogger often has an entire team to do this. You can be part of it by writing and offering your services, backing up the offer with a skills demonstration.
How does freelance work for teenagers help self-development?
Why start working at an early age, deprive yourself of childhood and all that... Sometimes parents are against such activities too. But in fact there are a lot of advantages, except for the financial aspect.
1. Self-development
Elementary. A real job fosters time management skills and develops responsibility. Expands your horizons. Gives an understanding of how everything happens in reality, not in theory. With such a background, it will no longer be scary to go into adulthood.
2. Financial literacy
Freelancing allows a teenager to become more independent and learn how to manage their finances. And this, unfortunately, is not taught in school. It is one thing to manage your pocket money, which came by default. It's quite another to understand how hard it all comes. And it is not necessary to consult your parents about spending if it is your hard-earned money.
3. Building a career
Freelancing allows teenagers to accumulate work experience and create a professional portfolio, which will be useful in the future. This gives a big advantage over peers who start their careers later in life. This is when an employer needs a young promising employee with 10 years of experience. And you're only 20. It happens. And where do you get experience if you can't get hired without experience? Freelancing helps to break this vicious circle. And while your peers are looking for their first job after university and agree to at least something, a young freelancer will already be a confident player in the labor market.
Also, don't throw away the chance to build up professional contacts. Word of mouth still works and can be a career boost.
What freelancing jobs are suitable for teenagers in 2024?
If we consider freelancing, work for teenagers can be diverse. There are many options, here are just the most popular spheres among teenagers.
Design and creative areas
Graphic design (logos, illustrations, posters) - you can create icons or cute illustrations, rivet banners, screensavers, previews, posters. Here feel good those who were given in childhood to the circle of drawing, and why it is necessary in life was not explained. But the ability to draw is not necessary, in graphic design you need taste, and skills come with experience. There are completely free and easy to use tools that allow you to quickly learn the base - Canva, Gravit Designer, Pixlr.
Web design and UX/UI - nowadays every, even the smallest business is required to have a website. Sometimes at least a simple page for presentation purposes. And you can do that! Work in Figma, for example. You can start with a free online course “Web Designer: an explosive start” .
Motion design (video, animation for social media) - Many teens know and love editing videos for their social networks. A freelance video editor could be the perfect job in this case. Have experience creating and editing engaging content for platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram? That's already a good start.
Development and Programming
HTML and CSS are not programming in the classical sense, but they are fundamental technologies for web development. For those who want to develop in the programming field, starting with them is essential. HTML and CSS provide a basic understanding of how the frontend works. Once you've mastered them, it's easier to move on to learning programming languages like JavaScript, which adds interactivity and dynamics to web pages. Knowledge of HTML and CSS is necessary to work with any modern frameworks and content management systems (like React, Angular, or WordPress). In general, layout designers are also in demand, you can already make money at it.
Programming is not so easy to master, here it is more difficult to enter the field from scratch. But in fact, any knowledge does not appear by itself, you need to learn. Here are a few languages that are suitable for beginners:
- Python is one of the most popular programming languages due to its simplicity and readability. It is widely used in teaching teenagers because it allows you to create useful programs with minimal effort.
- JavaScript is a language that is ideal for creating web applications. For teenagers, JavaScript can be interesting because of its ability to create interactive web pages.
- Ruby is a simple and easy to read language that is also suitable for beginners.
- Minecraft Education Edition is a special version of the popular Minecraft game where even kids can learn programming through modifying the game world. You won't earn money from it, but you can learn.
Game development is a difficult field, but if you start now, you can do simply amazing things later. It is interesting, beautiful, exciting and well paid. Teenagers are recommended to start with Roblox Studio - it is a platform that allows you to create your own games using the Lua programming language. There's also Unity - it's a professional tool and provides a fairly simple and affordable means of learning.
Mobile app development - if you have a minimal understanding of programming, you can make and sell simple apps. To-Do sheets, habit trackers, schedules. Or what you personally lack in a smartphone. There are free tools for creating apps: Thunkable, App Inventor, Flutter, Kodular, Glide.
Content Creation
SMM - blogging and creating content for social networks is the “youngest” profession, if you consider the age of professionals. It's simple. After all, the generation of today's teenagers is already literally from diapers use smartphones, shayat in trends, know how to lead social networks cool. Why not make money on it?
Video editing - it's not always necessary to do full-blown social media. Sometimes you need to make a splash page, edit a selection, shorten a long video or add effects. This can be done in simple editors like InShot, KineMaster, VN Video Editor, FilmoraGo. Video content is the most in demand now, so you always need people to help with it.
Shooting videos - professional videographers are working on this now. But often you need short videos with reactions, emotions, plots, fulfillment of specific tasks. This can be done without special equipment, just with a phone camera.
Working with text and data
Copywriting and writing articles - simple texts to fill sites are always needed. To start in this direction it is enough to be able to write competently and clearly fulfill the requirements of the customer. Good at writing essays? Go ahead, do it for money. Spoiler: your mom will definitely approve of such an activity, because here you do not need to force you to learn tedious rules. Here you try to write well on your own, and the motivation is payment.
Translations - sometimes you need to translate the text into your native language and tweak it to make it sound like it was written by a nativist speaker. Agree, even a schoolboy can cope with this. Or there are simpler orders, where you need to translate the text into different languages with the help of a translator, and the specialist already subtracts them.
Transcribing and text processing - such tasks are rather technical than creative. They require attention and diligence. Lifehack: use different applications in several stages, and only then proofread the texts personally. The same AI tools and proofreading services do a great job with such tasks.
Virtual assistance - help with tasks, information retrieval, research, proofreading, all this needs to be done by someone. It's not profitable to pay professionals for this. But novice freelancers can. These are not always high-paying tasks, rather the opposite. But they will help without experience and education to start your way in freelancing.
Where to find your first freelancing job? 12 sites
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, not all platforms allow minors to register. But it is still possible to find suitable freelancing exchanges for teenagers.
Foreign freelancing exchanges for teenagers are
Fiverr and Upwork . There are only 18+. It's technically possible to create an account on Fiverr from the age of 16, but the account must belong to a parent or legal guardian who provides permission. Cheating is bad, but if the parents are willing to take responsibility, they can register the account for themselves and the teenager will do the work. You should start with small projects to build up positive reviews and rise in the rankings.
Freelancer and PeoplePerHour . Teens under 18 need parental permission to work on these platforms, but in general the policy is not as strict as on Fiverr and Upwork. Most assignments are posted on a competitive basis, where freelancers offer their price and deadlines - set an affordable price and respond quickly, then you'll be happy. A lot of projects are related to simple processing and inputting of information, there are also often tasks on photo retouching, text checking, video editing.
Reedsy . A platform specifically designed for aspiring writers, editors, and marketers. By the way, the platform offers free courses, you can take advantage of that. You can publish your fanfics here. And also professional writers can hire young freelancers to work on their projects, such as editors.
Ukrainian freelance exchanges for teenagers
Freelancehunt . One of the most popular freelance exchanges in Ukraine, where you can find projects in IT, design, copywriting and other spheres. A rating system works here (try not to screw up) and safe transactions between freelancers and customers.
Freelance.ua . Ukrainian freelance exchange that offers projects on development, design, translation and other services. You can take orders and cooperate with both Ukrainian and international clients.
Weblancer.net . International freelance exchange, popular in Ukraine among others. Work in different directions from design to programming. Here the emphasis is on long-term cooperation, so with proper effort you can find permanent projects.
Kabanchik.ua . This is a platform for a variety of tasks, from repairs to online services. The service allows teenagers to take simple online tasks, such as translation, data processing and content creation. There are also “fetch-and-deliver” type tasks, performing tasks that require physical participation, not only online.
Exchanges (platforms) specifically for designers
Behance is a platform where designers can create and showcase their portfolios. It is popular among beginners and professionals in graphic design, illustration and photography. Behance also allows you to share your work with the community and find clients.
Dribbble is a social network for designers focused on creating and showcasing short, “visual” projects. The platform provides an opportunity to showcase skills in UI/UX design, web design and illustration, as well as connect with potential employers.
99Designs is a platform where designers can enter competitions to design logos, packaging and other graphic elements. 99Designs offers competitions in which customers choose the best design among those submitted, which is especially appealing to aspiring designers who want to prove themselves in a competitive environment.
We still have a separate piece with a selection of freelancing exchanges , check it out.
How do I build my first portfolio?
We emphasize portfolio creation in all our courses. Because it's the most important thing for a freelancer. And especially for a teenager in freelancing. It is much more important for a client to see examples of work (websites, layouts, illustrations) than just to read that he has 5 years of experience in web design. And especially no one is interested in age if you work like a pro. Prove it and there will be no orders.
You don't have to look for real orders to start. You can start creating a portfolio while you are still learning, for example, on a free online course “Web Designer: Explosive Start” . Or you can come up with your own projects. Or you can make orders for your acquaintances. This is both practice and a way to create examples of work.
You should also pay attention to creating an attractive profile on freelance platforms. Here are a couple of tips:
- Be concise and specific. Describe your key skills and experience in a concise and understandable way. Highlight strengths and unique competencies.
- Customer focus. Write how your skills can help a potential customer solve their problem.
- Show examples of your work. Your portfolio should contain at least 3-5 projects that demonstrate your skills.
- List the tools you own. For example, if you're a freelance designer, list not only “design” but also specific programs or areas (Adobe Photoshop, UX/UI design, etc.).
- Gather testimonials. Sometimes they're already built into the platform. If not, it's worth asking clients to leave reviews and publish them.
- Update your profile regularly. You'll quickly gain experience, expand your capabilities and services. Write about it, update the information.
- Literacy. Watch the grammar and design of the text. This is important for everyone, but for teenagers especially - your profile should not give the impression that the customer is dealing with a child.
Freelancing - temporary or long-term?
Often teenagers choose freelancing as a part-time job, but then it becomes the main activity, far beyond school and uni. It's not the only way to go. At a young age, you can try yourself in different professions and work formats. But freelancing will give you the necessary experience and start. Already with experience, it will be easier in any direction, even if you choose to hire or start your own business.
In fact, freelancing offers many advantages, freedom of choice is one of them. WAYUP has a great experience in training such specialists, we have had many teenagers who have become adults and have chosen freelancing and have not regretted it.
Freelancing can be combined with studies and hobbies. And you can earn good money even long before adulthood. Here, for example, is the story of one of our students, who already at 16 can boast of great achievements:
Freelancing helps you become a professional at an early age and decide what you want to be. You don't have to sit around in college and wait for something to happen. Act now.
How to get a teenager started on freelancing fast?
For a teenager who wants to start freelancing quickly, the key factor will be to choose niches in which it is relatively easy to learn basic skills and offer your services. Copywriting, rewriting, proofreading - these are simple areas that do not require deep technical knowledge. You can start by writing articles, product descriptions or simple text editing. To stand out, it is important to show literacy and attention to detail, it is enough.
If interested in building a career specifically in design, we recommend developing in UX/UI. Get started with the free online course “Web Designer: An Explosive Start” . See what kind of work beginners do in this course:
Don't wait until you're 18. Start now!
Today, teenagers have a unique opportunity to start earning and developing as early as their school years. The world of freelancing is open to everyone, and you don't have to wait until you're 18 to become a successful freelancer.
Freelancing is freedom of choice: you decide when and how much to work.
There are many directions: text work, graphic design, app development and more. Choose what is closer to you.
Skill is the key: the more practice you have, the better your results and higher your earnings. Start with simple tasks to gain experience.
You can start today. Don't wait for the right moment, create it yourself. You can get the knowledge to start with paid and free courses, check out our selection of educational programs and let's go!