Would You Work For Nothing If You Couldn't Find It

stevek93

Sick to the teeth waking up every morning knowing Ive nothing to get up for, going 19 next month haven't worked a day in my life except work experience. If I was to do this would want something that I enjoy not packing self waiting tables ect. I'm fairly good in IT so I would go for something in that sector. What do you think?

grizzly

Unless the experience was really valuable, I'd go abroad before I'd work for nothing in Ireland.

Mr. Loverman

When you say you've nothing to get up for, do you mean you are doing nothing all day?

Surely you could be teaching yourself stuff or pursuing hobbies?

I second the emigrate option.

PickledLime

Never work for nothing. It's a precedent that you don't want to set yourself, it completely devalues the point of even going to work.

I think if i was rolling into work for zero financial recompense, i'd fell like i had even less to live for than if i was unemployed.

Mr. Loverman

Well I think unpaid interns can be a good idea (if you have no experience) but I think working for free makes no sense if you already have the experience.

adrianjohn

PickledLime wrote: »

Never work for nothing. It's a precedent that you don't want to set yourself, it completely devalues the point of even going to work.

I think if i was rolling into work for zero financial recompense, i'd fell like i had even less to live for than if i was unemployed.

Depends on the situation. If you were to work for nothing, but be treated in the job like you were in a position of learning and trying to gain experience but also contributing to the company as opposed to being treated as free labour, then I would say its a worthy cause so long as it doesnt go on too long, and also, so long as the company is treating you with respect and giving you the right experience.

Mrs OBumble

PickledLime wrote: »

Never work for nothing. It's a precedent that you don't want to set yourself, it completely devalues the point of even going to work.

I think if i was rolling into work for zero financial recompense, i'd fell like i had even less to live for than if i was unemployed.

You might not have meant it that way, but this post really denigrates thousands of unpaid family caregivers, and hundreds of thousands of unpaid volunteers who do regular work for charities that they support.

All of us have a lot more to live for than our jobs - and if someone doesn't then they need to take a serious look at their work-life balance.

OP, if you emigrate - where will you go, and what skills and qualifications have you got that will help you get a job there.

Is there a charity that you could do some voluntary work for? It might not seem so galling if it's a non-profit. (Set it up properly thru FAS/JobBridge, so you don't run into welfare problems).

Skybox

The fact that you are only 19 next month would really stand to you in my opinion. If you are interested in IT, would you not look at going to college/university or doing a course in a PLC? I did my Leaving Cert, took a year out working and decided I wanted to go back to college. Went to the College of Commerce in Cork which is a PLC as opposed to a Univeristy. Did a diploma there and they had links with a university in Wales. Got my degree in IT after a few years and am now happily working full-time!

On the other hand, if you didn't want to go back to college, look for an internship! you will qualify provided you have been on Social Welfare for a set period (Think it's 3 months but open to correction!!). We took on an intern recently and told him that there is a 80% possiblity that there will be a job there for him at the end of the 6 months provided all works out! When we were looking at taking someone on, we looked at it from the point of view that it was a free 6 month trial for a prospective employee!

As other posters have pointed out, you could look at doing some volunteer work! It would give you something to get up in the morning for, make you feel good and look impressive on your CV when out job hunting!!!

Best of luck whatever you decide!!!

PickledLime

JustMary wrote: »

You might not have meant it that way, but this post really denigrates thousands of unpaid family caregivers, and hundreds of thousands of unpaid volunteers who do regular work for charities that they support.

All of us have a lot more to live for than our jobs - and if someone doesn't then they need to take a serious look at their work-life balance.

Good grief, of course i didn't mean it that way :frown:

I spent a year helping to care for my father when he was terminally ill and even moved back home to help my mother during the aftermath of that. I put 2 years of my 20s on hold for that, but it's not 'work', i see it as the most basic asking of a child. I don't do much charity stuff myself, but my brother does a good bit. I'm struggling to see how you even pulled those ideas out of my comment.

I'm a huge advocate of having a life outside of work - if you're so inclined you can go back through my post history and see that i believe work is only a fraction of what constitutes 'living'.

'Work' as i see it, is performing tasks for a company/person to help them make money, in return paying you some of this money. My interpretation of the OP's 'work for free' (seeing as they're 19 and talking about what skills they could bring to a typical work place) is to go out and do a 40 hour week for somebody to help turn a profit for nothing in return.

Mrs OBumble

PickledLime wrote: »

Good grief, of course i didn't mean it that way :frown:

... but it's not 'work', i see it as the most basic asking of a child. I don't do much charity stuff myself, but my brother does a good bit. I'm struggling to see how you even pulled those ideas out of my comment.
....

'Work' as i see it, is performing tasks for a company/person to help them make money,

You might not see it as work, but lots of caregivers and caregiver organisations do. Like I said, I don't believe that you meant it that way - but trust me, there are people around who would see your comments that way.

Do you realise that your definition of "work" excludes teachers, nurses, guards, every sort of public/civil servant - as well as people who do more commercial jobs (accountant, administrator) for non-profit organisations?

NakedNNettles

JustMary,

You have rolled this out before in another thread.

I think the majority of people understand the difference between 'volunteering' which is helping those less fortunate in life and 'working for nothing' which is lining some fat cat's pocket at your own expense.

Since when does anyone volunteering say they are going to work. It's kind of sad that you would equate volunteering to work, is it really that tough a slog to help those less fortunate?

Anyway it's a huge difference, so why don't you please stop implying that 'working for nothing' equals 'volunteering' because it dosen't. Stop trying to muddy the water by dragging in public/civil servents also, they are well paid for their time.

Eod100

Skybox wrote: »

On the other hand, if you didn't want to go back to college, look for an internship! you will qualify provided you have been on Social Welfare for a set period (Think it's 3 months but open to correction!!). We took on an intern recently and told him that there is a 80% possiblity that there will be a job there for him at the end of the 6 months provided all works out! When we were looking at taking someone on, we looked at it from the point of view that it was a free 6 month trial for a prospective employee!

''When we were looking at taking someone on, we looked at it from the point of view that it was a free 6 month trial for a prospective employee!''

I'm not sure if this is the right way of looking at it..Fair enough, the 6 month period may give you the chance to see if the intern has the right skills/attributes etc to work at the company but saying it was ''a free 6 month trial'' sounds fairly negative in my mind.

AFAIK the whole idea of JobBridge (I'm assuming the internship you're talking about is this but correct me if I'm wrong) is for an intern to work in an area that he/she may not have had the chance to work in before due to lack of experience etc. The company may not pay any payment to the intern but it's supposed to mentor the intern and help them progress in the internship..

It probably wasn't your intention but ''a free 6 month trial'' sounds like your company is using the scheme to find employees at a minimal cost when the emphasis should be on aiding interns with developing skills (and hopefully after find employment either at the same company or a different one).

Mrs OBumble

NakedNNettles wrote: »

I think the majority of people understand the difference between 'volunteering' which is helping those less fortunate in life and 'working for nothing' which is lining some fat cat's pocket at your own expense.

Since when does anyone volunteering say they are going to work. It's kind of sad that you would equate volunteering to work, is it really that tough a slog to help those less fortunate?

OP in case this post has made you confused, please note that voluntary work does not necessarily involve "the less fortunate" - you can volunteer for a political party, a sports club/refererring, residents association,youth club, or various other things, and find yourself helping people who are better off than yourself.

The point is that by doing things for an organisation in a voluntary capacity you get

• motivation / structure in your day
• experience of workplace disciplines (even though you're a volunteer, you cannot just walk out of most roles 'cos you don't feel like being there any more)
• specific experience / skills in the role you are volunteering in
• to meet a range of people, and make contacts within a workplace
• a reference from the person who supervises you

even though you are not getting paid. You will get most benefit if you treat it as "work", ie real commitment, rather than just something you do out of kindness.

It's really up to you whether you believe that this is worth it, and whether you would be willing to do it in a for-profit business.

arleitiss

I am working for nothing atm, I am just 2nd year student in college so I don't have a degree yet, though i got invited into project as programmer (php, mysql), for free for now if company starts off well I will be paid salary + work experience is coming as they are registering company as official.

stevek93

Just reading some of the posts here, don't have the funds to go abroad even if I did it wouldn't do me any good as I would need some what of a qualification and experience, only completed three FAS courses two which were in IT in the process of looking to start up another one. Say if I wanted to work in IT 99% of the time I would need some what of experience, which I don't have unfortunately.