Why you should never work for free

I am a bit sad while writing this post. I am sad that we have to talk about this. But I keep seeing job ads (mostly for PR interns) that don't pay you anything. And every time I am just thinking 'Really?'.

Ok, this is a charity. STILL!

This is even worse: a permanent unpaid position. Really?

Another charity. Not very charitable to not pay your interns...

These are just three examples. I'm sure that I'd find many more if I dug a bit...

You may have found yourself considering to do an unpaid internship because, clearly, you need the experience and you can't get anything paid. Don't! Let me explain why you should NEVER work for free:

1. Money

The most obvious one. You do work and therefore deserve to get paid. It's as easy as it gets. Everything else would be slavery. This article hits the spot by saying that unpaid internships are 'a worrying form of modern slavery accepted both on the left and right of politics, journalism, fashion and big business.'

You simply can't live on love and air alone. Oh, so you can afford living and working in London without a single penny of income for a couple of weeks or months? Then let me get to the next point:

2. Equality

Unpaid internships (or work in general) - especially in urban areas like London - limit the chances for everyone to gain experience, as only the upper class can afford to do this. It also means that this practice decreases the diversity in a work place.

3. Profession

You've probably heard that PR has a professional issue. No? Then read THIS. So, we are apparently not (yet) a profession. PR is often undervalued, as we also have measuring issues (but this is another topic) so we're making it hard for us to prove the value of our work. Do you really think working for free would contribute anything positive to this image? Then think again.

We are damaging our profession if we do unpaid work. People go like 'hey, she's working for free, then PR can't be that valuable/important.' Might have exaggerated a bit, but it proves the point.

To all students/graduates/interns out there: Don't ever work for free! Don't let someone exploit you!

To all employers out there: Go and pay your interns! If I hear one more excuse that you can't 'afford' to pay them, then don't hire them!

Work deserves pay!

Rant over.

PS. Ok, I'm going to make one exception to this, but only a small one: If you choose to volunteer for a charity for the good cause. Like, proper volunteering and not this bullsh*t internship disguised as volunteering like in the examples.

PPS. If you want to read more: Unpaid PR Internships and the Law