Embrace the Benefits of Working at Night: A Comprehensive Guide to 17 Jobs! Traditional work hours usually take place from midmorning to late afternoon, but some jobs require employees to work at night. Night jobs can be advantageous for people with obligations during the day or who want to earn supplemental income, and they sometimes pay more than their daytime counterparts. If you’re interested in pursuing nighttime work, it’s important to know what your options are and what you can expect from these positions. In this article, we introduce and discuss 17 jobs that you can do at night, including information about expected salaries and job duties.
17 night jobs to consider
A night job can refer to a nighttime shift or a role that’s typically performed at night. Here are 17 such jobs you can consider. For the most up-to-date Indeed salaries, please click on the links below:
1. Custodian
National average salary: $24,137 per year
Primary duties: A custodian looks after a property or facility, typically in terms of its physical appearance. Custodial duties include cleaning surfaces and messes, washing exterior components such as windows, sweeping and mopping floors and picking up litter. In addition to these tasks, they also replenish necessary items, like bathroom supplies. Many custodians work the night shift, cleaning areas that would be occupied during the day.
2. Warehouse associate
National average salary: $28,108 per year
Primary duties: A warehouse associate, also known generally as a warehouse worker, is responsible for the inventory of a warehouse. When orders come in, they receive and process the items, ensuring that the order is correct. They then arrange and maintain the processed stock, which they later package and prepare for shipment when ready. Other duties include inspecting stock for damage or defects, filling and verifying invoices and keeping the warehouse organized.
3. Night auditor
National average salary: $29,523 per year
Primary duties: Night auditors fulfill a dual role for hotels, performing both accounting and front desk duties. Hotels operate 24 hours a day, but the business day ends at midnight. The night auditor’s primary task is to audit the guest ledger and track operating metrics to measure the hotel’s financial performance for the day. These metrics include the revenue made and the rate of room occupancy. In addition, the night auditor checks the metrics against other data to ensure accuracy, creates invoices for the following business day’s scheduled checkouts, greets guests, provides information and answers phones.
4. Office cleaner
National average salary: $29,832 per year
Primary duties: An office cleaner, also known as a commercial cleaner, is a member of a team that cleans and sanitizes commercial offices and buildings. Aside from sweeping and mopping, office cleaners generally perform in-depth cleanings of commercial spaces, using tools such as floor buffers and carpet cleaners. The other tasks of office cleaners may include dusting, polishing wood surfaces and disinfecting frequently used objects and areas—telephones, keyboards and bathroom spaces. As it’s necessary for non-members of the cleaning crew to be absent from the area, this job typically occurs at night, after traditional work hours.
5. Transport driver
National average salary: $33,642 per year
Primary duties: A transport driver is anyone who carries people, materials or other objects by vehicle to a destination. This is a broad professional category that comprises passenger vehicle drivers, rapid transit drivers, truck drivers and medical transporters. Regardless of specific type, the primary duties of the job are picking up passengers and driving them to a specified or predetermined point. For seekers of nighttime work, the most common employers are taxi companies and ride share companies. Limousine driving often involves nighttime work as well.
6. Loader
National average salary: $36,113 per year
Primary duties: Loaders, also known as loader/unloaders, help with receiving and shipping goods. Typically employed at warehouses, they primarily unload incoming stock and load freight for orders. As items constantly move in and out of a warehouse throughout the day, the role of the loader is necessary during all shifts, including at night. The job typically requires the operation of specialized tools and small vehicles for transporting materials into and out of trucks, trailers and containers. Loaders may also inspect orders to ensure they’re handling the correct materials.
7. Research assistant
National average salary: $40,531 per year
Primary duties: A research assistant is a member of a research team, often one within a university, hospital, laboratory, research institution or private company. Normally, research assistants work under the supervision of one or more senior members of the team, performing supporting tasks such as identifying research literature, recruiting participants, maintaining data and files, creating reports or conducting correspondence, carrying out interviews and helping with data analysis. Some research organizations operate throughout the day, and nighttime research assistants are often necessary to complete supporting tasks or prepare materials for the team.
8. Line cook
National average salary: $43,573 per year
Primary duties: A line cook is a culinary professional who prepares ingredients, cooks menu items and plates dishes for diners. They work in dining establishments such as restaurants, diners and hotels. Some of these establishments operate 24 hours a day and require nighttime kitchen staff to feed customers. The “line” on which line cooks work refers to a series of stations, each responsible for a segment of the kitchen’s output, such as grilling, desserts or salads. Aside from culinary duties, line cooks also arrange their stations, clean up messes, label foodstuffs and sanitize their work areas.
9. Maintenance technician
National average salary: $45,264 per year
Primary duties: A maintenance technician is responsible for maintenance and repairs in a facility. They often work for residential or commercial building owners, performing general upkeep of machinery, equipment, structures, heating, cooling and plumbing. The maintenance technician for an apartment building, for example, may test and replace the smoke detectors within units or address simple clogs in pipes. For complex maintenance issues, they may be responsible for contacting outside specialists. Maintenance issues may arise at any hour of the day, so buildings usually keep nighttime technicians on staff.
10. Customer service representative
National average salary: $48,511 per year
Primary duties: Customer service representatives interact with customers who have questions or comments to direct to an organization. Their duties include answering questions about the organization or its products, resolving complaints, processing orders and initiating refunds. Though there are customer service centers within retail establishments, customer service representatives more commonly work in call centers, receiving customer communications via telephone or email. Many call centers operate 24 hours a day, so nighttime representatives are often necessary.
11. Psychiatric technician
National average salary: $48,609 per year
Primary duties: Psychiatric technicians work in institutions that specialize in mental health or substance abuse treatment, including psychiatric hospitals and residential facilities, which operate 24 hours a day. Their primary duty is to provide care for the people in these facilities, with tasks that include admitting and discharging patients, observing and recording patient behavior, listening to and speaking with patients and helping them with activities of daily living.
12. Security officer
National average salary: $50,169 per year
Primary duties: Security officers are responsible for protecting property against damage, theft and other illegal activities. Businesses and building owners hire security officers to work in shifts throughout the day, during and after normal operating hours. Some of the primary duties of security officers are patrolling the facility and monitoring the surveillance system, deterring unauthorized access into the facility or specific areas within it, responding to incidents and creating reports about these incidents.
13. Freelance writer
National average salary: $54,195 per year
Primary duties: A freelance writer produces written content for various clients. As a freelancer, they can set their own schedules as long as they can submit their assignments before the deadlines. Some writers work with one or two primary, long-term clients, while others prefer to work with numerous clients for short periods. Aside from finding assignments and clients, the job primarily involves researching material and writing pieces based on a client’s specifications. In some freelance writing roles, the writer may pitch ideas for content and negotiate payment details with a client.
14. Online ESL teacher
National average salary: $55,697 per year
Primary duties: ESL is English as a second language, a subject taught to non-native speakers. In countries where English is less commonly spoken, academic institutions and education companies often hire educators based in the West to provide English lessons to pupils via the internet. Because of the time differences between countries, online ESL teachers often work nights to accommodate their pupils’ schedules. Aside from providing lessons, the primary duties of the job include lesson planning, creating a rapport with the pupils and writing progress reports.
15. Stocker
National average salary: $56,188 per year
Primary duties: A stocker, also known as a stock associate or replenishment associate, is responsible for stocking items on the shelves of retail establishments. Many stockers, specifically called overnight stockers, work the night shift, replenishing shelves after hours or during times of diminished customer traffic. Additional duties of stockers may include placing pricing labels on items, setting up or removing displays and identifying and separating damaged items. They may also process shipments of stock as they arrive and communicate with vendors about issues relating to orders.
16. Virtual assistant
National average salary: $58,475 per year
Primary duties: A virtual assistant is an administrative support professional who works remotely. Their primary duties are those of an in-office assistant or secretary, such as making phone calls, setting up appointments and reservations, handling emails and other written correspondences, booking travel tickets and arranging itineraries. Companies that hire virtual assistants for clients typically provide flexible scheduling options, and nighttime shifts are common.
17. Registered nurse
National average salary: $79,760 per year
Primary duties: A registered nurse is a health care professional who provides support to doctors and other health care providers in hospitals, nursing homes and other care facilities. The duties of registered nurses are essential to the operation of these facilities, so their presence is necessary throughout the day, including overnight. Their primary duties include monitoring patients, recording their past medical history, administering treatments, consulting with patients about their conditions and working with doctors and other specialists to create effective care plans for patients.
