In addition to Postmates, you have numerous other options to earn money as a delivery driver. Despite the popularity of Postmates in the US, it might not work for you at all for some reason. Maybe you don’t meet all the requirements, or people in your city love another app much more. The number of platforms facilitating deliveries is still growing and well-established companies don’t stop expanding. Check out what companies cover your area here, or simply go through the list below to learn about some of the most popular delivery companies of today. Some of these platforms have developed a feature built in their apps that allows delivery drivers to request payment on the same day.
Check out our other blog posts written for delivery drivers and others working as independent contractors or freelancers. It’s worth diving into our community stories. Aside from tapping on your screen, get in touch with other delivery drivers in your city—or online. We’re sure longtime delivery drivers have come up with some other strategies and tricks.
Postmates delivery drivers work as independent contractors. Although Postmates and other companies have started to offer some benefits for drivers and delivery drivers, you won’t receive those given to full-time or part-time employees. You need to file your taxes on your own. Save at least 30% of your earnings to have enough money to pay your taxes during tax season. Research what items you can deduct from your taxes.
To make the most money with Postmates, you must cut on your expenses: don’t drive extra miles between deliveries. To join the fleet of Postmates, you don’t have to own a posh car, just need one in a good condition. Some tools, specifically designed for freelancers and independent contractors, can help you find the cheapest gas stations in your city. What else can you do to save money on gas? Switch to another vehicle whenever you can. With Postmates, you can deliver by bike, scooter, car, van, truck, etc. The available options vary from city to city.
It’s easy to miss something important during an interview. It’s also sometimes very difficult to interrupt without an embarrassing mess of overlapping sound bytes. Avoid weird situations by jotting down keywords or short reminder phrases if you want to remember a point or circle back to ask a question. Try not to let your note-taking interfere with the flow of the interview. If you do miss something that was said, make sure you ask. Pro Tip: Sometimes devices have speakers that don’t get very loud. You may want to consider connecting your laptop to external speakers or even headphones to get clearer sound. If you have any gaming or podcasting microphones, using one could really improve the quality of your voice for the call.
It’s always worthwhile looking for ways in which you can improve yourself. In that regard, it might be useful asking your co-workers or even your manager ways in which you could improve—or if there are particular aspects to your job that you’re slightly ‘weaker’ in. This gives you the opportunity to address your weaknesses and hopefully strengthen them. You could always look into finding yourself a mentor, e.g. a manager or colleague that you admire who might be willing to give you tips or advice along the way.
Don’t just stick to what you know—change can be a good thing, especially in relation to jobs. It’s worthwhile trying something new—whether it’s a new workstation or a different design process. If you can add a new CAD program to your list of skills on your resume, or even certification, it might give you access to a higher job position that you previously couldn’t apply for. Alternatively, see if there are any opportunities in your current job. For example, if there’s a presentation or team project, or if there are any additional responsibilities you can take on board to gain extra experience.
One of the best ways to be held in consideration for a promotion is to further your skill set. The most common way to do this is through further education. For example, if you have an associate’s degree, the next step would be to obtain a bachelor’s degree. Or, if you already have one, you could look into pursuing a master’s degree. Alternatively, you could look into the types of certification that are available in your industry sector, e.g. an ADDA certificate for drafting.
A career timeline is exactly what it sounds like—it’s a timeline listing where you want to be in five or ten years time. You could make it as detailed as you want—include monthly goals. Once you have a trajectory in mind, you can set yourself clear tasks. For example, if you want to be a Project Manager, you might need to obtain certification and work under an experienced manager—these are doable goals that you can add to your timeline.
I once placed a candidate into an engineering role with a company that manufactures packaging equipment. He was competing head-to-head with another engineer, who had similar talents and wanted the job just as badly. My candidate sent a thoughtful, non-robotic thank you note to each person with whom he’d interviewed, within about two hours of leaving their offices. The other candidate sent nothing. Guess why my candidate got the job offer? Yep, the thoughtful, non-robotic thank you notes. They sealed the deal for him, especially considering the other front-runner sent nothing.