7 Reasons You Should Work For Free

Posted on | July 30, 2009 | No Comments

The job market is in a sad state, with jobless claims at 584,000 for the past week and unemployment destined to reach 10%. While there are jobs available, there is a lot of competition, especially for higher-paying jobs. What to do? Well, you could join millions of others and get a part-time job, if you can find one. You could join the millions who’ve decided to sit it out and return to school, if you can afford it. You could curl up and give up, if you can live with the consequences. Or, you could do what a cadre of savvy job-seekers and careerists are doing–you could land an internship or externship to ride out the storm.

Obviously, most of us would rather be paid for our work. But, in this market, finding a paying job is starting to feel a bit like winning a lottery. Even companies that have posted job vacancies are hesitant to hire quickly, and are paying less when they do. Internships and externships are just one more viable opportunity in a market that is rewarding so few.

You’re probably familiar with the term “internship”. Many of us no doubt have memories of filing, stapling and stuffing our summers away in internship programs. But, you may not be so familiar with “externships”. Externships are a lot like internships except that, while internships are unpaid jobs you take for the experience while in college, externships are unpaid jobs you take for the experience long after you’ve graduated college. Externships are like internships for grownups.

Unlike internships, externships are generally not formal programs. Most companies that you contact will likely never have had an extern. It will be up to you to educate them on externships and on the benefits of having you as their extern. Depending on the firm, landing an externship can be challenging, to say the least. Larger firms may be wary of experienced workers trying to sneak into a job, and may not allow you to speak or meet with a live person to make your case. Other firms may be nervous about violating state laws that prohibit allowing workers to work for free if they are training for a job. Laws vary from state to state, but the work-around is usually an agreement between you and the company that you are not training for a job, but are instead, being allowed to gain experience for your own personal gain. Still, other firms may say “No” because they simply don’t understand the externship concept or how it would play out in their environment.

As an adult job-seeker you will have to make a solid and compelling case for hiring you as either an extern or an intern. Externships have the issues above; Internships are designed for students and new grads with little or no work experience, and you’ve presumably got plenty. You’ll have to make a case in either case. If all of this sounds like a lot of work to work for free, it is. But, it’s worth it!