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free work

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In the last ten years, I’ve worked for free many times.

“Uh, no shit. It’s called an internship.”

Not so fast. I’m not just talking about internships (though of course, I did those too).

I’m talking about working for free outside the safety umbrella of a university. Without the structure of an internship program. As a grown-ass man with man bills to pay:

  • I worked on sets for indie movies and music videos.
  • I read scripts.
  • I researched for authors.
  • I watched Youtube videos.
  • I did casting.
  • I consulted on marketing plans.

All free work. In rare cases, yeah, it was an absolute waste of time. But in most, it fell somewhere in the spectrum of “best career decision ever” and “glad I did it, but never again.”

What differentiated work from landing on one side of the spectrum versus the other?

Recently I wrote about working in restaurants. And how my best work happened after pre-meal meetings, and I was reminded that “this work is important.”

In this case, rationally I’m aware the better I work, the better my service, the more I’ll make in tips. Logically, I know this… BUT in this case, there’s a second incentive at play here, more powerful than the money.