Often you might hear of or come across jobs that promise you “exposure” as a reward for your work. It might seem like we all know this isn’t always right but some people need to hear it again and again so here we go.
As someone just starting out in their career, your current state is not an avenue to offer free services to everyone. In fact, most people who are just starting out just need money to climb up the ladder in their career.
Being a newbie or an upcoming expert in your field might make employers or clients devalue the service you are providing. And this can manifest as them paying really low or not paying anything at all with promises of exposure on their page.
Here’s the thing– if your service is good enough to be used by someone, they should pay for it. You have the right to decline anything that does not add value to you or reward you for your efforts.
Except you are volunteering or working for a non-profit organisation, every other person engaging your service should pay their dues. And most times working for the aforementioned set is to gain some sort of experience or to actually give back to the community.
Unpaid long periods of probation for a job is not also healthy, and people tend to forget that. This is because effort, time and other resources are being put into providing this service. You can even start to despise the job and underdeliver in your tasks, making the situation worse for both you and the employer.
Your work cannot always be compensated by exposure alone. Repeat after me: “Money is the reward for labour.”
So listen, you don’t have to work for free just because you are not as good as other people in your field, or just because you haven’t made a name for yourself yet. Yes, there will be exceptions and you should decide this for yourself.
Do not devalue your services just to accommodate requests that are not equal to your standards or what you offer.
Opting to do a job for free might even be a red flag to whoever you are looking to work for because they might think you are not competent enough to get the work done that is why you are offering to do it for free.
It might look like you are doing your employers a favour, but at the same time you are reducing the worth attached to your job.
The only time you should ever consider working for free is :
- If you are really going to get valuable exposure- Some of these organisations just pay lip service to the said exposure. And some of them aren’t even popular enough to give you that edge you need for the future.
- If you are gaining useful experience- Truth be told, some of the experience you get when doing a job or working for certain people can be life changing, so if you are sure you are getting that experience, go ahead.
- If it is going to make a useful contribution to your resume- Having some sort of history with certain companies and showing it on your resume might actually create a good impression on your future employers.
A word is enough for the wise. Have a lovely week ahead!
Remember, #ESolutionsDeyForYou
