In today’s competitive job market, we have noticed a phenomenon that has not existed in the history of the economy. This includes internships or training periods for jobs. Sometimes unpaid work does not offer remuneration to the employee in financial means but sometimes may or may not offer remuneration through other benefits.
How did unpaid work opportunities arise?
Too much competition for jobs:
With a boom in the population and a greater number of educational institutions and opportunities, there are more skilled graduates than there have ever been in the history of the world. But unemployment rates have been rising, and there have not been enough new jobs to meet this increase in demand. There is an increase in competition for a few precious jobs. Companies have exploited this by making people work without paying them either with promises of placement with the company or by promising to provide a certificate or letter of recommendation
Higher requirements for entry-level jobs:
Nowadays, even entry-level jobs are to designed for freshly-graduated individuals who are joining the workforce and require some minimum experience. In turn, candidates are forced to work for companies for the sake of gaining experience in their prescribed roles.
Factors on which it is based
How do you decide whether the unpaid work that you have been given in worth it or not? There are several factors that you simply got to consider:
Experience:
It is not just about the duration of experience that you will earn from this job, but about the quality. Will you be given some actual responsibility or duties, or are they simply hiring you for namesake? Make sure to clarify your role and get answers to your queries from your manager before accepting any unpaid job.
Are they dumping their work on you?
Companies know that individuals who accept unpaid work positions will be a little desperate and have little to no leverage. They are more likely to overwork you or dump other people’s work on you. Do not let them take you for a ride; do the work that is only prescribed to you, and if you feel that you are being overworked, take it up with your manager. Do not use confrontation. Instead let he/she know that if they want to give you additional duties or responsibilities, they also have to pay you for it.
Certificate/ Letter of Recommendation:
It is all right if you are temporarily doing unpaid work in pursuit of experience, but also make sure that the company you’re working for gives you a certificate to serve as proof of employment or at the very least, a letter of recommendation. You can use this in future job interviews to show the prior experience that you have. In conclusion, you must analyze all these above factors before considering taking an unpaid job position. Unpaid job positions may not pay you, but you need to make sure that you make the best of every opportunity presented to you.
