Being unemployed comes with a unique set of difficulties. There are many things to worry about, with one of the most important being how to obtain money while you are looking for a new job. Avenues for making additional money may be limited because you are already working with limited funds, but there are some ways to make money without having to spend a significant amount. One method that many unemployed individuals are turning to is taking online surveys for money.
What You Will Need
Taking online surveys for money is simple. All you need is an internet connection and a computer. In some cases, the survey company will ask you to download a small program onto your computer that can help them obtain information about how you use their program or to anonymously collect information on the websites that you visit, but this is only done with your permission and the company will have a disclosure available that will tell you exactly what the program does and why the survey company is collecting the information that they are collecting. While it is entirely your choice whether to allow the survey company to track your actions in this way, you may not be able to participate in a particular survey panel without allowing their cookies or downloadable software.
Getting Started
To get started, the survey company will have you fill out a profile so that you can be matched to surveys that fit your lifestyle, health, or interests. Some of the companies have a relatively short list of profile questions to answer while some others have multiple pages filled with questions that take a considerable amount of time to complete. Once you have filled out the profile information and confirmed your email address, the survey company will begin to send survey links by email for you to fill out for them.
Things To Consider
Different survey companies have different compensation plans, so it is important to review the compensation plan thoroughly before you decide which survey sites to sign up with. The best companies to sign up with are the ones that provide cash payments for each survey that you take for them. While it is also possible to earn a good amount of money through survey companies that pay for each survey with points that can be redeemed for cash later, it may take so long to build up enough points to cash out that you might as well be working for free. After trying many of these survey sites in the past, I currently only sign up for survey sites that pay a predetermined amount of money for each survey that I take for them.