Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart
If I am really interested in working for a company, is it a good tactic to offer to do a project or a trial basis for free?
I have been seeing more press coverage about “adult internships” lately. These refer to experienced professionals who take on a short-term project for little or no pay. Sometimes, these adult internships are for career changers to break into a new target sector, but sometimes experienced, unemployed professionals use internships to get a foot in the door at a new company in their same sector.
I’ve read about adult internships but I haven’t seen widespread practice of them, so I suspect (but don’t have data to prove) that they are not as prevalent as the press coverage warrants. So I don’t recommend targeting these adult internships or offering free work to employers, whether projects or days on the job. However, savvy, proactive jobseekers absolutely work for free, just not for specific employers.