Ever since I started my HR business marketing blog, and particularly since I started my podcast for HR companies, I’ve been contacted by many full-time employees asking me how to get an HR side job as a Human Resources professional.
In my time, I have done the various HR side hustles myself and helped others set up their side HR projects.
I’ll show you ten HR side jobs and HR side gig ideas further down in this article.
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When you join my private newsletter group for HR-related consultants, you’ll get a quick summary of HR-related side gig ideas.
Now I’d like to turn to someone I greatly admire for both his HR knowledge and his business acumen.
Alan Collins On Freelancing and Doing Side-Gigs While Still Employed In An Internal HR Role
I asked Alan Collins of Success In HR to share his thoughts on how to get a side job as a Human Resources professional and whether it’s worth doing in the first place.
ALAN COLLINS: My thoughts are that just about everyone in HR should have a side hustle. There are a variety of benefits one gains from doing it:
- a) Source of extra income…The additional cash is the most obvious benefit and, by extension, the diversification of your income, as well as the potential to grow to replace your income entirely.
- b) Utilize your HR expertise in a different way… Even if you’ve been in HR your entire career or have mastered your current role, side hustles inevitably will increase your skill set in some way or another. As you grow your side business, you’ll undoubtedly grow or develop as you likely enter into unchartered territory.
- c) Enhance your confidence…starting a side hustle while still in your corporate job helps to assure you of your worth on the one hand (thanks to the responsibilities and the respect you have at work), while your regular salary means you won’t be dependent on money coming in through the new business. This gives you the confidence to charge higher prices and a willingness to walk away from a project if necessary. Otherwise, when you have nothing else on, you’ll find yourself feeling compelled to say ‘yes’ to anything that comes your way.
- d) Instill a sense of purpose….a common feeling that people get when they’ve been in an HR role for a long time is that they have lost the meaning of their work. Having a side hustle allows HR pros to reinvigorate with a new sense of purpose and energy as they focus on something they’re really passionate about.
Alan Collins Answers: What Types Of Side-Work Can HR Professionals Do?
ALAN COLLINS: Here are a few examples of side hustles people that I know are doing successfully on evenings or weekends…while balancing the demands. of their full-time gig.
- Teaching HR classes at a local university or community college.
- Providing job search advice, resume-writing services or career coaching.
- HR consulting on the side with small businesses, churches and non-profits.
- Writing for blogs, websites or for national magazines.
- Writing books, ebooks, and special reports.
- Teaching English (Spanish or any other language) to those wanting to become bilingual to help their job search or excel in their current jobs.
- Giving speeches and presentations — for a fee or for free to raise their visibility.
- Conducting training for other organizations on programs they’re certified in (Myers-Briggs, DISC, Kolbe, etc.).
- Ghostwriting: employee handbooks, policy manuals, special reports, HR books.
- Becoming a paid fundraiser for local charities.
- Doing event planning for local organizations.
- Selling real estate, renting out properties or flipping them.
- Buying stocks that pay annual dividends.
- Selling personal photography or art.
- Buying and selling merchandise on eBay.
- These are just the examples I know about.
And I’m sure this only scratches the surface.
You’ll notice, some are related to HR, but some aren’t. And while the people doing them won’t become as wealthy as Oprah, Mark Cuban or Lady Gaga, they’re finding the extra spare-time income helpful.
Suggested Next Steps – How To Get An HR Side Job
Thanks for the excellent advice, Alan!
Remember to check out Alan’s website, Success In HR.
As I mentioned above, I have either done the following HR side hustles myself or helped others set up their HR side projects.
These HR side jobs and HR side gig ideas include:
- Consulting (after hours, on days-off, or by phone/email). You could register yourself on consulting project platforms such as Clarity FM, Expert360, PWC’s innovative Talent Exchange, and more.
- Get a remote job/flex job after hours. See FlexJobs. Angel Co, and the usual job vacancies websites.
- Create information products such as templates, How To guides, Ebooks, and so on.
- Write a book. There are plenty of examples of HR professionals who have written books to either demonstrate their thought leadership, to generate client work, to produce revenue, or combinations of these. Alan Collins and Ben Whitter are good examples to follow.
- Provide training or coaching. Again this can be after hours, on days-off, or by phone/email.
- Start an industry blog to build up contacts, develop future sales content, sell advertising space, or build up your mailing list for when you launch. This blog runs on WordPress and I normally recommend you buy a website domain name
and use WordPress if you plan to run an HR business in the future but you can also make a new blog or website using Wix (these are referral links but I use both services for clients and am happy to recommend them both).
- Start an email newsletter for sponsorship or to get clients. I used to use Mailchimp but switched to Mailerlite which has a free plan but the paid plan is very cheap and has a lot of powerful features which are worth the small investment. If you ever plan to start an HR business, you should start your mailing list right now. Seriously.
- Lecture in HR-related topics after hours at colleges and universities. It’s an excellent way to crystallize your ideas whilst also generating a little extra revenue.
- Develop and sell online training courses. This is an area that will continue to grow strongly over the next few years. Check out Ben Eubanks’s online HR training as an excellent example and look at Tame Your Tech for further advice.
- Write HR-related content for websites. Check the remote work sites I listed above or look at People Per Hour and ProBlogger.
The key is to take action.
You may not have the perfect solution just and it’s ok to do a little research but the sooner you take action, the closer you’ll be to your end goal.
Hope that helps!
Download The Quick HR Side Gig Ideas Summary
When you join my private newsletter group for HR-related consultants, you’ll get a quick summary of HR-related side gig ideas.
All the best,
Article updated 15 September 2023. First published September 2019.
