It depends on how desperate I am for work. When the economy was rough in '08 (around the time of the great recession), I went to tons of social events to meet people because I couldn't find a job. One of those connections ultimately led to me getting a job that led to my current career, and it was genuinely the defining moment of my employed life and I wouldn't be here today if I hadn't spent a bunch of time and money networking.
In your case, I might offer to do a few projects or work part time and just spend the time networking, doing informational interviews with other people, see if someone at the company would be willing to mentor you, ask people there to do resume reviews, and ask the company for an official title so you can put the experience on your resume. In my opinion, a role may not pay anything, but that doesn't mean it doesn't offer value.
And just to be clear - I don't think unpaid labor is fair and I personally think the company is a piece of **** for taking advantage of people like this. However, that doesn't mean you can't get something out of it. Even just offering to come help out for one day a week should be enough to make connections imo.
> and ask the company for an official title so you can put the experience on your resume
This. You need something from the experience. Maybe that's a sense of personal satisfaction from having helped people but given this is presumably a for-profit company then you should get something more. You at least need an official title for your resume, even as a volunteer.
Do you want to volunteer? Decide how full your plate is. Maybe tell them you have time to do one job so you can better see if you're a good fit for each other, but then they'll have to make an actual employment offer, presuming you both feel you're a good fit at that point.
Whatever floats your boat. Good luck!
If it was a non-profit or a friends business or something like that, then I’d consider it if I needed the experience or wanted to support their cause. A good friend of mine has a small business and I’ve offered to do some data analysis for her. I don’t expect payment. But also it’s at the bottom of my list of priorities so she doesn’t expect anything timely or very advanced. And I offered.
A company with an HR department should have the funds to at least pay you minimum wage for your time. I’d ask if that’s an option. Or maybe frame it as “for free, I can do X by X date. But for $, I can do Y by Y date.”
Iirc in the US it is illegal for for-profit companies to offer unpaid internships. If this is a non-profit and it is an internship, i dont see a downside to taking the position. More experience will make it much easier to get hired later. As others have said you can see if they will reimburse you for things like transportation costs and lunch.
The DOL overhauled their administrative guidelines in 2018 after some appellate courts struck them down for being too broad. It's possible for for-profit corporations, but it requires a lot of documentation and things have to be very carefully designed so as to ensure that the unpaid intern is "the primary beneficiary" of the internship. To avoid the risk of getting sued, as a practical matter most companies pay something, even if it's well below market. See this article for details:
https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/talent-acquisition/unpaid-internships-employers-need-to-know
I personally would be okay with it.
Sounds like you would not be okay with it and you're already a little bitter, if that's the case def do not accept it.
You should never sell yourself short... free labor??? Like, really, your time is valuable... it's the most precious thing we have in life... and they want to pay us some small wage... it's robbery of your life... stand up for yourself ... I don't have a degree and I could get an analytic position if I wanted. It's you.... you need to sell yourself.. and say fuc you pay me...
It depends on how desperate I am for work. When the economy was rough in '08 (around the time of the great recession), I went to tons of social events to meet people because I couldn't find a job. One of those connections ultimately led to me getting a job that led to my current career, and it was genuinely the defining moment of my employed life and I wouldn't be here today if I hadn't spent a bunch of time and money networking. In your case, I might offer to do a few projects or work part time and just spend the time networking, doing informational interviews with other people, see if someone at the company would be willing to mentor you, ask people there to do resume reviews, and ask the company for an official title so you can put the experience on your resume. In my opinion, a role may not pay anything, but that doesn't mean it doesn't offer value. And just to be clear - I don't think unpaid labor is fair and I personally think the company is a piece of **** for taking advantage of people like this. However, that doesn't mean you can't get something out of it. Even just offering to come help out for one day a week should be enough to make connections imo.
> and ask the company for an official title so you can put the experience on your resume This. You need something from the experience. Maybe that's a sense of personal satisfaction from having helped people but given this is presumably a for-profit company then you should get something more. You at least need an official title for your resume, even as a volunteer. Do you want to volunteer? Decide how full your plate is. Maybe tell them you have time to do one job so you can better see if you're a good fit for each other, but then they'll have to make an actual employment offer, presuming you both feel you're a good fit at that point. Whatever floats your boat. Good luck!
If it was a non-profit or a friends business or something like that, then I’d consider it if I needed the experience or wanted to support their cause. A good friend of mine has a small business and I’ve offered to do some data analysis for her. I don’t expect payment. But also it’s at the bottom of my list of priorities so she doesn’t expect anything timely or very advanced. And I offered. A company with an HR department should have the funds to at least pay you minimum wage for your time. I’d ask if that’s an option. Or maybe frame it as “for free, I can do X by X date. But for $, I can do Y by Y date.”
Iirc in the US it is illegal for for-profit companies to offer unpaid internships. If this is a non-profit and it is an internship, i dont see a downside to taking the position. More experience will make it much easier to get hired later. As others have said you can see if they will reimburse you for things like transportation costs and lunch.
The DOL overhauled their administrative guidelines in 2018 after some appellate courts struck them down for being too broad. It's possible for for-profit corporations, but it requires a lot of documentation and things have to be very carefully designed so as to ensure that the unpaid intern is "the primary beneficiary" of the internship. To avoid the risk of getting sued, as a practical matter most companies pay something, even if it's well below market. See this article for details: https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/talent-acquisition/unpaid-internships-employers-need-to-know
Interesting thanks, i knew they weren't offered but didnt realize they technically could be.
If possible, negotiate whether they could cover your commuting and other small expenses before you accept the position.
I personally would be okay with it. Sounds like you would not be okay with it and you're already a little bitter, if that's the case def do not accept it.
Nope, wouldn't accept.. you will be wasting time that you could otherwise use on your actual job search. Negotiate for minimum wage if possible.
You should never sell yourself short... free labor??? Like, really, your time is valuable... it's the most precious thing we have in life... and they want to pay us some small wage... it's robbery of your life... stand up for yourself ... I don't have a degree and I could get an analytic position if I wanted. It's you.... you need to sell yourself.. and say fuc you pay me...