The college life can be very demanding, both financially and mentally. For some students, finding a job can be a difficult process. Whether businesses aren’t looking to hire or there are too many scheduling conflicts with school, a job with scheduled hours doesn’t work for some people. With food delivery companies, like Instacart and DoorDash, employing individuals with a simple background check, anyone has the capability of being their own boss. Other requirements to become a driver for these companies also include being at least 18 years old and having a valid driver’s license. Food delivery jobs are also a fantastic way to supplement your income if you already have a job and need more money. The food delivery apps as mentioned allow for drivers to deliver food and groceries at all hours of the day. While there are peak popularity hours to consider for each app, the flexibility to work at any time of day makes delivering food a fun and convenient side job.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, food delivery services have gained more popularity. With ordering out becoming an increasingly popular choice for people all over the world, food delivery companies have been working to meet this new demand. In a time where contactless is the safest option for many restaurants and food retailers, delivery jobs have been on the rise lately.
Out of all the food delivery companies, DoorDash continues to dominate the industry, earning “58 percent of U.S. consumers’ meal delivery sales” in the beginning of 2022. If you’re looking to earn more money, DoorDash is likely to be one of the more popular food delivery services in your area that you can deliver for. Meanwhile, Instacart is an up-and-coming delivery service and has seen great success amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, the company has experienced tremendous growth and added around 300,000 drivers in the span of a month to meet the demand of incoming orders. With DoorDash mainly specializing in delivering food items from restaurants and convenience stores, like Walgreens and CVS Pharmacy, Instacart offers delivery for grocery retailers, such as Target, Sam’s Club, Kroger affiliates, and many more.
DoorDash drivers, also known as dashers, log on to the dasher app and can begin picking up orders immediately. From accepting an order, to picking it up at the restaurant, customers are able to follow the dasher’s progress on the app up until the dasher delivers the food to its final destination. For students interested in becoming a driver for these food service apps, the amount of money earned for shifts can vary. According to ZipRecruiter, the average hourly wage for a student DoorDash driver is about $18/hour. However, if you dash during special promotions, this hourly wage may be higher.
With Instacart, customers have the ability to pick a local store and shop their groceries from their personal device. Once an order has been placed, personal shoppers employed by Instacart are able to claim the batch of groceries and shop for it immediately. Like DoorDash, customers are able to follow the Instacart shopper step by step during the process. Currently, the average wage of an Instacart delivery driver is about $16.29/hour.
While DoorDash and Instacart are a few of the favored food delivery platforms, there are many others to consider working for if they’re popular in your local area. These include companies like Postmates, Grubhub, Uber Eats, and GoPuff. Depending on where you live, some of these food apps may be more well known than others in your area so it’s best to check and see which ones will be the best to work for.