Working for free

When I come home from work, I usually play a YouTube video before I do chores. I stumbled upon a video from Peter Mckinnon titled “Working for Free.” I was intrigued, so I continued to watch the video, and it made me think about the concept for days on end.

Why work for free anyway?

Like everybody, during my initial years in the software engineering industry, I did not have a lot of experience and projects to show employers/clients what I was capable of. Most of the job postings require some proof of experience just to get an interview, which makes it feel impossible to be a “professional.”

During those years, I took a different approach to getting noticed. Instead of applying to jobs and freelance projects first and then showing my work, I remember deciding to do the projects first since I was willing to do them for free anyway to build out my portfolio. Only then did I send the portfolio to the potential client. If he/she took it, I’d get recognition and hopefully money, but that was not the goal. The goal was to build my portfolio.

That landed me my first freelance job, and the client relationship lasted for a couple of years.

Well, that’s my story. Returning to Peter Mckinnon’s video, a friend mentioned what made me ponder for a couple of days. He said he lived his freelancing career of the 3 “Bs”.

He continues that with everything he does, he either builds a “Bridge,” “Book,” or “Bank account.”

That was a strong message. It inspired me to think more about the non-monetary aspect of my work rather than just looking at it at face value, which is the monetary aspect of it.

To end, I am not saying everyone should work for free all the time, but I now encourage people to think more about the connections that you can build and the stories that you could tell if you just take the risk.

What do you think about working for free? I know not everyone will agree, but I'm happy to have discussions.

Cheers!