When Should You Work for Free?

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• April 5, 2013
• By Team Brazen
• 1 Comment

If you’ve ever had a potential employer/friend/fill-in-the-blank ask you to provide work free of charge, chances are you’ve been torn.

Should you do it as a gesture of good faith , to demonstrate your skills or to gain experience? Or should you put on your pro hat and refuse to share your skills with anyone unless they make it rain?

If you’re in need of guidance, check out this graphic by designer Jessica Hische that we absolutely LOVE. It’s dated 2011, so it’s not exactly new, but since it’s new to us, we figure it will be new to some of you, too. And the advice it offers is (hilariously) timeless:

Should I Work for Free?

(Start in the middle and work your way out.)

What do you think? Have you ever agreed to work for free? What were the circumstances? How did it turn out for you?

Brazen powers real-time, online events for leading organizations around the world. Our lifestyle and career blog, Brazen Life, offers fun and edgy ideas for ambitious professionals navigating the changing world of work.