Build Your Personal Brand by Working for Free
After reading that headline, you may think I’m insane or tell yourself that working for free is out of the question. 
There have been millions of layoffs since the end of 2007 up until now and for college graduates, the competition might make you comatose. The NACE reports that 41% of students haven’t even started the job search and 27% of graduates are going to graduate school because of the bad economy. Of course, going to graduate school is going to put you in more debt and you’re betting on the economy coming back in two years. If you’re trying to get a job right now, you’ll notice that many employers are cutting down salaries of current employees and offers to new hires. Although, your education is a factor in you getting a job, what’s more important is your work experience. Just like content is king on the internet, your experience is king when it comes to getting a job. Today, I’m going to explain why you might need to work for free for at least part of your time each week.
When interviewing, experience trumps income
Have you ever noticed how resumes don’t have salaries next to each job you’ve had? You’ll ies ever find a resume that lists salaries or internship compensation. Salaries are negotiated if there’s a job offer that doesn’t meet the applicants standards. Corporate salaries are based on job title and you can salaries at various companies by doing to Glassdoor.com. Since, salaries aren’t listed on resumes, your experience becomes the most important element in getting a job, aside from how you present yourself online and in an interview. I took two non-paid internships while in college to gain more experience, thus building my personal brand to become a stronger applicant.
When I applied for jobs, the experience I gained at those companies really made a difference and it was well worth the compensation sacrifice. Since it’s hard to get a job right now, start focusing on building your credentials, enhancing your resume and acquiring skills that can help you in future job searches. It will pay off and you’ll forget that you had to sacrifice compensation.
Work for free so you remain active
The worst thing you can do right now is sulk on your couch, with some potato chips, and a coke. Well, there could be worse, but the point is that you need to stay active at all times. Recruiters don’t want to talk to people that have been out of the job market for a while, without remaining relevant to their industry or at least trying to acquire some experience. You never want to get into a situation, where you’re in an interview and you’re asked “so what have you been doing recently, I noticed that your last job ended six months ago,” and then not have a good answer.
Find people in your network that can help you stay active, by working for them for free if they can’t pay you. Also, you can do community service or start your own company to at least make it seem like you haven’t given up and that you are aggressive and actually care about your career.
Work for free while having a side job
If you work for free to gain experience, you’ll still need a side job to make money. Work for a company for free part-time to gain experience and also work for another company to get paid. If you want to get money, and things are getting tough, then it’s not a bad decision to do retail or work at a restaurant to pay the bills.
If you do that, and you invest time in building your personal brand online, gaining experience by working for free part-time and job searching constantly, you should be in a good position to get a job when it becomes available. A lot of college students are making these hard decisions right now because they realize that they don’t have a choice. If you want to stay ontop during tough times, you’ll have to make tough decisions, but you’ll want to make them before everyone else does for yo.
WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY
Dan Schawbel
Dan Schawbel is the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He is the author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, 09), as well as the publisher of both the award winning Personal Branding Blog and Personal Branding Magazine.
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Comments
SeanOverseas says on May 21st, 2009 at 10:07 am
You point out various ways to stay active and engaged and even highlight the options of volunteering (community work) and entrepreneurship (starting your own company) but I would hardly call these “working for free.” In fact, a person would benefit from thinking of these activities as ‘working for the experience.’
The idea of “working for free” could distract from the benefits that a person gains from spending their time building new skill sets or simply engaging in new networks or activities. People don’t go to school “for free” – they are earning a degree or engaging in professional development.
I certainly agree with the main idea that staying active and connected to information, projects or specific industries/sectors is much better than laying about bemoaning the difficult job market.
Rory C says on May 21st, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Right on Dan, glad to hear my Branding guru’s opinion on this. I am currently working for free after job elimination this winter, and getting some incredibly good experience. In an interview last week, I talked about this work as my current job, because it is, regardless of pay grade.
I write a blog about my own search for free work opportunities, covering a lot of topics, at:
http://willworkforfree.wordpress.com
Rory
@WillWorkForFree
Jared says on May 21st, 2009 at 2:20 pm
If you live in NJ, find a state agency and offer to work for well below the going rate of the job. For example, if you work for a township you can get into the State pension system. Although you won’t get a pension that is worth anything, you will still get credit applied to toward the pension system. After 25 years, you can stay in the insurance program after you retire. Lot’s of politicians have figured this out and “double dip” by taking jobs that only pay a few thousand a year but gives them extra credits toward the pension fund and medical benifits.
Laurie | Express Yourself to Success says on May 21st, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Internships are a great way to gain experience and make contacts. It’s like going to school without having to pay the tuition.
molds says on May 21st, 2009 at 11:30 pm
It looks that you are insane, but it’s for someone,not everyone.Maybe I will do it like you.
switch says on May 21st, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Some people always have some good point, you are.
jon says on May 22nd, 2009 at 2:06 am
I liked the article but please proofread your article. There is at least one thing there that couldn’t understand bed of misplaced letters or something.
Mandar Vaze says on May 22nd, 2009 at 8:54 am
Great advise !!
There are several typos – I guess the author did not read the entire article before posting e.g
1. “.. going to put you in more dept” should be “debt”
2. “sulk on your coach, with some ..” should be “couch”
Twin XL says on May 22nd, 2009 at 9:16 am
Yeah, this isn’t for everyone. Certainly not for me!
Dan says on May 23rd, 2009 at 1:26 am
I totally agree with working for free. I am a recent graduate who has just come into a job with a major multi-national corporation.
The first 5 months of searching for a job in the global financial crisis where amazingly bad. So what did I do? I voluntarly worked at a financial firm for 2 months.
People where saying “they should pay you, they are rotten”. I got a great reference out of it, they where able to say to my prospective employers – I was dedicated, and giving my time up for free. Others that went for the Job had 10-15 years more experience than me.
If you want something, you have to show people your passion and drive, otherwise don’t bother.
Chris Perry says on May 26th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Dan, some good points.
This is definitely a good thing for high school, college and grad students to consider for they can often afford to take unpaid internships during the academic year and/or during the summer.
If you are a student and need to make some money to support yourself, try to find a 10-hour-a-week unpaid internship or something that doesn’t take up your entire working week/weekend within your industry or area of interest so you can make some money, but also add relevant experience to your resume.
If you cannot “work for free,” then find some ways to gain some more relevant experience or valuable experience through volunteer work inside and/or outside of your current job, your professional organizations, like Kiwanis, Rotary etc. you name it.
Tara Rodden Robinson says on May 28th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Great post! In this economy especially, getting a foot in the door by volunteering, doing an unpaid internship, or other meaningful work can be a boon. A couple of suggestions for folks who are willing to try this. Be clear about what you’re doing, the limits (i.e., your boundaries), and what you’ll get in return. You may be unpaid, but you’re not working for free: you get valuable experience, mentoring, and (if all goes well) a dynamite recommendation plus referrals and introductions. (As an aside, I’m looking for an intern! :)
Best wishes,
Tara
Robert says on May 31st, 2009 at 7:37 pm
For those with extra time on their hands this is indeed excellent advice. I would also advise people to spend time working on their communication skills, particularly writing. As this article demonstrates, poor writing and proofreading will undermine your ability to effectively communicate your ideas.
Travis says on June 14th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I think the author makes a good point at experience being king when it comes to finding a job. http://personalwebguide.com/ I’ve recently taken up writing this blog, but the longest while, even once I had finished up school with a bachelors in IT, finding a job was pretty hard thing to to.
Despite have a ton of credentials behind me and a diploma from a very well known school, most employers were looking for someone with years and years of experience, not some kid who had just walked out of University. I think the key however is “working for free” while you’re in school. More volunteer-esque work, so that your resume will cover not what your formal education is, but your past work experience too. Good luck to anyone on this track!
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