This week’s question from Mr N.S:
I would consider working for no renumeration for a trial period if that is what it would take to get my foot in the door. Is this a good idea? Do companies take on people in these circumstances?
Attractive as it may sound on paper I think you would be hard pushed to find a blue chip private sector oganisation willing to take you on in an unpaid role. There is no such thing as free, sure there is no wage bill per se but there are still costs associated with taking on a worker (unpaid or not) including the actual costs of providing the workspace you’ll operate in. The organisation’s time it would have to invest in you would also not be free – someone, somewhere in the organisation would have to spend considerable time and effort getting you up to speed so you could add value to their business. What business would seriously do this knowing that there is no long term investment from you – and why would there be – you’re working for free and no doubt keeping other irons in the fire, ready to jump ship when something better and paid turns up.
I also think another barrier to this idea is that it feels a little unethical and morally wrong to not pay a worker especially if its an organisation who can well effort to pay its workers – regardless of their experience and training levels. Some organisations do use interns – Interns are usually college or university students, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career (Wikipedia) and some internships are unpaid or expenses paid, but as the definition states they tend to be linked to education as a first step into the workplace. In your case – with a number of working years already behind you – you would be ruled out of intern opportunities.
There is one option available to you where an organisation may take up your offer and that is the charitable or third sector organisations who rely on volunteers (and therefore unpaid) to keep their organisation doing the good stuff that they do. There is some further information on why you should consider volunteering on the voluntary project management part of Arras People’s website.
My advice would be to carry on concentrating your efforts in finding paid work – exploring your own connections and networks – to see what opportunities are around rather than beating on doors and lowering the value of what you can offer an organisation.
Image – danielmoyle
