Working for free - Is that a good idea in order to get a foot in the door?

SurreyBear

Unless it is a not for profit organisation you are asking the employer to break the law by not paying you for this work. Whilst many companies will / are not aware of the law / misinterpret the law it isn't the best way to develop your career. There are many voluntary organisations that need somebody with financial expertise - contact your local volunteering office to find out.

when_will_it_end

i did a similar thing to Mrs A

i worked for a volountry organisation, i was doing admin work, they recieved lottery funding a few months later and then took me on part time admitidly though i did it when DD was in school so at the time i was still entitled to income suport, i also did it because i felt unable due to illness to commit to a contracted job so it helped me get back in to the big wide world

so i would say in your situation no its not a good idea because as some one else said how will you live unless you have savings you can live off for a while but i do understand your need to find employment

can you do any kind of volountry work whilst waiting for the right job offer that will not affect your JSA as then at least you can put it on your CV

good luck

geek84

Hi

Thanks for your replies.

I think an obvious idea for me to increase my chances of gaining paid employment is to improve my interview techniques and tailor my cv to the particular job.

soupdragon10

Hi, if you go on to the Do It website www.do-it.org.uk and use the advanced search option you can use the keyword search to find accounts jobs. I just tried this and found a voluntary job in my area for someone to help a treasurer with accounts.

You might find something similar in your area which would give you up to date experience plus another job on your CV

MoneySavingUser

Most agencies won't help you find unpaid work - because even if they placed you they would still expect an agency fee from the company - so it wouldn't be free to the company!

(though if the experience got you a proper job in the future through the agency they would benefit in the long run but they don't think like this)

Infact the Hays website even states that they don't help with getting unpaid work

persa

Rather than say "I want to work for free", what about writing to some local firms and asking for work experience? Maybe a couple of weeks shadowing an auditor?

The Job Centre might be ok with you doing this, if you agreed that if you found paid work you would in theory stop the work experience? (Should be ok, because if you found a paid job, they probably wouldn't ask you to do such a thing.)

No expert on the rules though!

tim123456789

Whether working for free works depends upon what you are doing.
Working for free using your normal skill set, "just to get a foot in the door" is a mugs game.
Working for free doing something that you've never done before that is a useful skill set that you’d like to have on your CV is a different matter entirely
tim

bluesnake

Does not everyone have Office skills these days? Work for free to gain valuable skills. Don't be a mug and work for nothing.

Volunteering: it a bit like the people on this site. They give their input, advice and opinions for free. Often the person offers an experienced response or insite, takes the time to type out this valuable and worthwhile information, to persons asking questions, and the asker still does not even press the Thanks button. Yes, volunteering is often thankless