Friday, May 13, 2005

Want to work for free?

Sometimes it’s hard when you are young to get a big position at a company.  Would you be willing to take a job for no pay in return for titular compensation?  That’s the question Dave Morgan asked when he founded Real according to this article on Inc.com.  From the article:

With no reputation and no money to fund a payroll, Morgan’s biggest challenge was recruiting employees. Looking to keep costs low, he focused on recent college graduates eager to work for a technology company. Then, when they applied, he simply told them that he couldn’t afford to pay a salary.

Not surprisingly, most candidates withdrew their resumés immediately. But two twentysomethings eager to get their foot in the door agreed to work unpaid for six months. Morgan sweetened the deal by giving them both founders’ titles and a lot more responsibility than they would have received at an established business.

It can be hard to get an executive job without executive experience which you can’t get without having an executive job — I don’t know that I wouldn’t have turned down an opportunity like the one detailed above when I graduated from college.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I see your point, but are companies getting the best people if they are only looking at those rich enough to work for nothing? It's a big issue in the UK media industry at the moment.

Ross said...

Is it a matter of being rich enough? A lot of my friends took jobs out of college that didn't pay very much at all to work at ski resorts, etc. I'm sure you could probably find a way to make it work without being rich enough to do it.

Anonymous said...

I guess I don't see working 18 hours a day as reasonable