My first real jobs were in radio, where frequently people will 'intern' at a
station, the theory being that they will eventually get hired. Nobody I know
of that interned at a radio station ever got paid for anything, or ever got
hired on full or part time. It probably happens, but it has to be rare. And
yeah, there's the really rare guy out there who interned and got to use the
equipment to master his record which he sent off to the record company and
became a rockstar, but I think that was actually only one guy, and he died
on a toilet after an overdose. If this is the fate you choose, so be it,
but...
My evaluation... a company looking for free IT staff, if it finds a free IT
staff, will expect to always have a free IT staff. There's really no such
thing as 'moving up the ladder'. It's actually more like 'well, my job
sucks, I'll apply for one that I'm underqualified for and see if there's a
company that will let me grow into the role'.
If you are currently getting paid to work in IT, first, I recommend quitting
your job, so I can take it over. Next, if you are getting paid, and you go
from that into a free position just to learn, you're really just putting
yourself out to pasture.
The interview you have for the big job afterwards will be like this:
"Ok. I see on your resume that you were making $52k a year. And then you
went on to work for free so you could learn things you could probably find
out over the internet. And how much would you like to make working for us?"
Try not to go backwards in your career just to learn things. Get the
knowledge from somewhere else. Buy a book.
Now, here's a different take on it, perhaps one you could benefit from... I
would only work for free if it was for a good cause. If I knew that there
was a need, say, the local homeless shelter needed their computer to work
and I was aware and around, I'd have no problem spending a little time on
it.
Mine will be like this: I was working for a large company and making a
decent salary, I wanted to expand my horizons, so I decided to try my own
hand at a few business opportunities, and to find different ways to help
people out.
One of my favorite bars up north, the owner was a total meth-head, and did a
really terrible job of running the place. He let the computer go out of wack
for a while, to the point that the bar couldn't accept credit card orders,
and to the point that the employees couldn't get paid. Well, the bartenders
and chef were friends of mine, so I fixed the modem in the thing... The
bartenders, incidentally, were what I consider to be attractive young
ladies, so when I told them that it was fixed, I might as well have had a
big red S on my chest. I got more than a few hugs of gratitude that day, and
a free bloody mary. Not a job opportunity, but a chance to help other people
out in their lives, and a little respect from the opposite sex for what I
could do with my brain. Suit yourself.
Microcephalic S. Bob
http://www.roblindman.com/ -
