Pro-Bono: When Can Free Work Benefit Your Career?

As someone who spent nearly half of this year taking on photography clients at no charge, I learned a lot when it came to realizing the importance in being able to decide when working for free is beneficial and when a certain opportunity just won’t be worth the time in the end. When I started photography, I didn’t feel comfortable charging because I knew that my skills needed to be developed further before I charged someone. As a result, I used free photoshoots as a way to build interest in my work as an upcoming photographer while being able to build skills; it was a perfect trade — people like having photos to post on Instagram, I needed photos to take in order to build skills. At the time when I had no interest from others and it was pulling teeth to get someone to work together, working for free was a lot easier. However, after the interest started to build over the months and more requests came in, it wasn’t sustainable anymore. I was spending far too much on travelling to meet with clients, buying clients coffees and doing all that, while having no time off to myself.
Pro-Bono work, in my opinion, needs to be used as a stepping stone; as a means to get from one place to another in a mutual exchange, while still being mindful of your own situation.
In my own experience, working for free wasn’t for “exposure” for say — it was for growth and development. While I was flattered when friends would post photos that I took, it was never a requirement. I simply needed to have more styles to edit, I needed to have more to work with, and working for free gave me that. However, there was still a number of times where I turned down potential work because it didn’t work in my favour, and I had to be realistic. While I wanted the experience, travelling 4 hours outside of Toronto to shoot for free wasn’t something that I was willing to take on. While it was still work that I could use to build skills, it was work that was out of the way, and simply not worth the time.
Your Time is a Form of Currency
Many people don’t realize it, but time is valuable and every second that goes into planning work is time that could have been allotted elsewhere. The time that I spent commuting to shoots was time that I could have spent doing something else, and once I started to realize my time was valuable — I got more selective of who I was working with. The reality is that working for free requires a lot of trust, if someone knows that they aren’t spending their hard earned cash may not feel as inclined to show up at the end of the day. My time and energy was going into everything that I did, from finding people to editing. You have to recognize that your time is valuable, and when you may be wearing yourself thin for someone else. Just cause it’s free work doesn’t make it less important.
Do the Results Work in Your Favour?
We all deserve payment for our work and even for our time, but working for free at moments can be a smart move that helps bring further opportunity your way. If you are offering pro-bono work to a company that has a large following in exchange for using their work on a website, etc. The chances of other brands and companies in the same market may feel inclined to also reach out to you. While you may not be making a physical paycheque, there is the possibility in the future if you learn how to navigate this properly.
So when can free work benefit your career? When you choose to take on the opportunities that are worth it, instead of ones that will be more run you dry.
