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Subject:Re: Will work for free From:"Comeau, Lisa" <Lisa -dot- Comeau -at- MOH -dot- GOV -dot- ON -dot- CA> Date:Thu, 4 Feb 1999 16:32:37 -0500
Ben Kovitz said
...working for free has a way of setting a precedent... I think that it's
not the end of the
world if you do it...the more you charge, the more people value what you
give them...
Marj Hermansen-Eldard said
...don't work for free. Besides, most companies are not allowed (by law) to
accept work done for free. Heck, make 'em pay you something!
As a former Program Manager of an IT Specialist's course, my students were
required to work for 3 months unpaid. These work terms occurred for one
month at a time, at the end of each semester.
As a result of these work terms, many of my students got experience (and job
offers) from the companies they worked for. Their end-of-semester grades
were (in a large part) made up of the review their employers gave them.
I went through the same program several months before - with one major
difference - the entire time I was in school, I did "free" work for several
companies along woth my co-op placements. As a result, I had job offers up
the wazoo compared to some of the other students who ended up going back to
retail to pay the bills (after paying $15,000 for the course...)
I say:
Based upon my experience, people DO value what you give them, give being the
important word.
Free doesn't necessarily mean less quality.
Some people enjoy helping others get experience - if it's free, it's even
better.
Many companies are allowed to accept work for free.
Many companies take advantage of free work, and free workers.
Of course paid is better, but think of working for free as paying out what
you would get as a wage to further your job prospects.
Besides, if it stinks that bad, you can leave without worrying too much.
(And you've just evaluated a place to work without all of the hassles and
paperwork.)
My 2 centavos
Lisa Comeau
Office (416) 327-1112
Pager (416) 715-9198 mailto:Lisa -dot- Comeau -at- moh -dot- gov -dot- on -dot- ca
