Pro Bono work

[Tasslehoff]

Thanks all.

Message coming through loud and clear.

[Ramrod]

I do pro bono work from time to time - it's a question of balancing risk/reward.

However I never do work for free on the basis of getting "a foot in the door" - been there done that and it didn't come to much.

Don't shy away from pro bono altogether, but do give careful consideration to how it can impact you further down the track.

[Willapp]

I can only see two real reasons to do work for free:

1. It gives you an opportunity to learn a new skill/technology in a "real world" setting.
2. You get recognition by having your name attached to something that has wide visibility in the industry (think open source projects).

Otherwise as others have said, usually if you start working for free it doesn't make people think "hey this guy's great, we need to pay him!". It's more like "Hey this guy's willing to work for free (and he's great) let's keep asking him to do free stuff!"

[vwdan]

The other thing I forgot to add here is that in my experience the people who pay the least are the most demanding. Back when I was in account management I had a customer that couldn't afford to renew their service, so they were offered it for free (Company didn't want the 'bad' PR due to the nature of what they did and other reasons). Despite being the smallest, they ranked 3rd in my most difficult/demanding customers.

My experience with charities and the like has been pretty similar.

[jmo21]

The other thing I forgot to add here is that in my experience the people who pay the least are the most demanding.

There are a lot of self titled "digital agencies" in the area I work. I've heard nothing but bad things about them, and they pay way below my normal rate.

[psychocandy]

Never do free. As someone said, if its crtitical then surely its worth paying for otherwise its not critical is it?
Also, I'd be thinking that if do it for free once then they'll expect it forever and never pay as well.

I've stopped looking at IT things for family/friends now. You can't win - you do people a favour and then they bitch about it afterwards or moan its taking too long.

On a similar note, when I first started contracting I learnt a lesson about free. Client wanted some urgent work done the weekend, so asked me but said they couldnt pay me (even though it was in the contract) but would see me right. Stupidly I said yes and you can guess - they never did 'see me right' and then a few months later asked again for the same thing with no payment.

This time I insisted that I needed paying this time and that I'd done them a favour last time so fair play. Suddenly, the urgent issue was no longer urgent. In the end, they got permie to do it a few weeks later - probably for free.

[tractor]

...

There are a lot of self titled "digital agencies" in the area I work. I've heard nothing but bad things about them, and they pay way below my normal rate.

What is a digital agency? Is it just another layer of money grubbing scum between the contractor and the client?

[flipFlop]

Long story short, I am considering offering to fix the issue pro-bono on the provisio that they would consider me for further paid work

There's one born every minute.

[jmo21]

What is a digital agency? Is it just another layer of money grubbing scum between the contractor and the client?

It's a "trendy" name for a company that builds web sites.

[rob s]

The furthest I'd go is to do a proper analysis and review of the app calling out recommendations. Some of these could be quite short and easy to implement, others are longer and more involved. Write up as a swanky report in your company logo and deliver it with a discounted invoice (to zero) for compiling and delivering the report - may then help them get the budget to hire you and you may have helped set the groundwork for fixed deliverables* rather than just being an employee.




*is this still a positive factor in IR35?