How to respond to a request to work for free

Every freelancer from time to time finds himself in a situation where he is asked to do work for free. The reaction to such a request can be different for everyone – from sincere indignation to no less sincere enthusiasm. It all depends on who asks for help and under what circumstances. If this is a stranger who has just started freelancing, then it is obvious that you will not be able to get a job without appropriate payment. But if this is a relative or friend, then everything becomes much more complicated.

Sometimes it becomes impossible to refuse a loved one, so a freelancer has to work for free. The problem with relatives, friends and close work colleagues is very complicated, so there are no universal tips here – each freelancer decides for himself how to act in this case. But if an outsider asks to work for free, then you can consider several interesting options.

How to properly respond to such an offer

Let’s say a freelancer receives a sentence like this: “Hi. We are a representative of an organization that helps homeless animals. You need a company logo. But, since we are a non-profit organization, we will not be able to pay for your services. However, we may place a link to your portfolio on our website indicating that you designed this logo. Thank you in advance.”

How to respond to this offer to work for free. The reaction in this case may be different:

1. “Oh, that’s very interesting. Surely, in my works there is something that is suitable for their concept, and they also offer to place a link. This will help me grow my client base. Why not help in this case?”
2. “Something is clearly wrong here. It may be a commercial organization, but it may also be a scammer who wants to make me do the work for free.”
3. “Of course, I feel sorry for homeless animals, but I value my time and am not ready to work for free.”

Many freelancers react in one of the above ways. But the reaction must be professional and balanced. Of course, no one likes to work for free, but sometimes such help can be useful in the future.

Before agreeing, answer a few questions. What benefits will you get if you accept this offer? Will this activity bring good publicity or practice to you? Can completed work be added to your portfolio? Do you want to help this customer? If you answered yes to one of these questions, then you should take the order. This is especially true for beginners. Free work stimulates the imagination and frees up the hands, then the freelancer then has more opportunities for creativity, so even such free work will be beneficial.

It often happens that the customer finds himself in a difficult situation. He can’t solve the problem in any way, and for a freelancer, this is a couple of trifles. In this case, help is definitely needed. Surely, a grateful customer will tell his colleagues about his savior and, who knows, maybe this act will bring new customers.

Even free work should be profitable. Treat it as a definite investment, or to prove to yourself that money isn’t everything. A good mood and a feeling of satisfaction from a good deed means a lot, because with a positive attitude it is much easier to work on future projects.

When you need to unambiguously agree

You can agree to a request to work for free if:

1. If this is a job for your main profile. If you are confident in your own abilities and know how to help the client, then you should agree to such an offer.
2. If a free job offer helps you promote your own services. Portfolio links will only be effective if they are published on popular resources.
3. If the work does not take up much of your time. If this task harms the main work, then you do not need to take it.

As you can see, in this case, the reaction of freelancers will be quite calm. Many do not mind helping the customer, they are even interested in doing the work for free. But sometimes you have to give up free work. For example, if a client asks for a large and time-consuming favor. Often customers are so inexperienced that they do not realize the complexity of the problem. Try to explain things to people in a tactful way. In most cases, they understand everything correctly and pay for the work.

It is worse when it is not clear who the customer is – a misunderstood beginner or, on the contrary, a cunning swindler. He can promise a freelancer that if his concept suits the client, you can count on a large and long-term order. This is a great temptation, especially when the customer inspires confidence and speaks very convincingly.

To agree or not? As practice shows, it is better not to take risks. Too much risk of being scammed. And they are quite resourceful. If you doubt the customer, then it is better to immediately answer with a categorical refusal.

In what case is it better to refuse immediately

In some cases, it’s better to just say “no” to an offer to work for free:

1. If the client is too strict or doesn’t know exactly what they want.
2. If you doubt the usefulness of the work and that it can bring you at least some benefit.
3. If the offer is very profitable, but contrary to your ethical principles, it is better to refuse it.

There is nothing special and life-giving about free work. Sooner or later, every freelancer faces this proposal. Sometimes you want to help, and sometimes you have to do it due to some circumstances. Of course, such work must be paid, but do not forget that payment is not always a material benefit. If such work increases the reputation of a freelancer and if he likes the project, then you can agree.

Refuse only when the free activity takes up a lot of your time and drains your energy. Or, when it becomes clear that they want to deceive you. In this case, the refusal is absolutely justified and you should not worry about feelings of guilt.

But if a freelancer wants to attract potential clients and move forward, then he needs to consider all the possibilities. Including free work.

When, after many sleepless nights, the diploma is finally ready, I want to pass it and forget it. But the university will not lag behind the student so easily. After all, the full text of the diploma was read only by the supervisor, and a whole commission will gather to evaluate it. Therefore, in many respects, his assessment depends on how a student defends a diploma.

So what is a successful defense?

• Competent protection text
• positive diploma review
• confident answers to commission questions

In the introduction to the course it is necessary to indicate many important points. One of them is methodology. The student is required to indicate what methods he will use in the study of the topic. This is not the easiest task, and often students cannot cope with this task themselves. In this case, you can contact us. Our specialists will write you a paper of any complexity, and you can discuss the price with them personally.

In the introduction to the course it is necessary to indicate many important points. One of them is methodology. The student is required to indicate what methods he will use in the study of the topic. This is not the easiest task, and often students cannot cope with this task themselves. In this case, you can contact us. Our specialists will write you a paper of any complexity, and you can discuss the price with them personally.

In the introduction to the course it is necessary to indicate many important points. One of them is methodology. The student is required to indicate what methods he will use in the study of the topic. This is not the easiest task, and often students cannot cope with this task themselves. In this case, you can contact us. Our specialists will write you a paper of any complexity, and you can discuss the price with them personally.

In the introduction to the course it is necessary to indicate many important points. One of them is methodology. The student is required to indicate what methods he will use in the study of the topic. This is not the easiest task, and often students cannot cope with this task themselves. In this case, you can contact us. Our experts will write you a paper of any complexity, and you can discuss the price with them personally.

Speech structure

Of course, what exactly to say in the defense depends mainly on the topic of the thesis and on what exactly is written in it, but there are general recommendations that are suitable for everyone.

• First of all, we need to greet the members of the evaluation committee. (“Dear members of the attestation commission! Your attention is presented to the final qualifying work on the topic …”)
• Introductory part. Here you need to reveal the topic and identify the issues that are raised in the work.
• Relevance of the topic. At this stage, it is important to prove the relevance of the chosen topic and the degree of its development in other people’s works. Indicate the subject, object, objectives and purpose of the study.
• Theme disclosure structure. Here you just need to list the paragraphs that are in the work and briefly describe them.
• Problem statement. To confirm the relevance of the topic, it is necessary to state the problem and indicate the debatable opinions on this matter.
• Conclusions. At the end of the speech, the commission should hear the conclusions that the student came to in the course of writing the diploma, in which there are ways and methods for solving the stated problems.

On the one hand, it seems that it is much easier to write a graduation speech than the diploma itself. However, high-quality speech is a skillful squeeze out of the work, as well as its competent presentation. And it often happens that a diploma is written with the highest score, and a student gets a worse grade. Therefore, if there is a lack of self-confidence, you can order a speech on our website. And then the probability of failure due to bad speech will disappear. After all, we give a twenty-day guarantee for the work, and if something does not suit you, you can demand that the author finalize the order for free. We make sure that students are satisfied, so if the final version of the work does not meet the stated requirements, you will get your money back.

Formal requirements

When writing a speech for a thesis, you must also take into account that there are purely formal requirements.

• Time. Do not forget that there are many students, but only one commission. Therefore, the time for a defensive speech is regulated and ranges from 5 to 7 minutes. At the same time, you should remember about the time that will be spent on commission questions.
• Intonation. Where, no matter how on the defense of a diploma, is it important to win over listeners? Therefore, it is better not to read the speech monotonously, making accents with intonation.
• Style. When presenting a speech, it should be remembered that the main goal is understanding on the part of the commission. Therefore, you should not be too smart, but you can’t switch to colloquial speech either. In this matter, you need to observe the golden mean.
• Pronouns. As in the diploma itself, it is important to remember during the defense that although the author of the diploma is clearly spelled out, there are a lot of true owners of knowledge reflected in the work (the authors of all the sources the student relied on plus the supervisor), so first-person pronouns are not appropriate here.
• Questions. After the end of the speech, questions from the commission will inevitably follow, and you need to be ready for them. Suggested questions should be written down in the course of writing the thesis, work through all the questions that arose during the pre-defense, and you can also look at the questions at the end of chapters from textbooks on this topic.
• Pre-protection. In such a matter as defending a diploma, it is better not to be presumptuous and neglect pre-defense. On it, you can practice giving a speech and write down possible questions from the audience. This will allow you to feel more confident in the official defense.

Of course, these are only recommendations, and no one forces you to strictly follow them. However, the rejection of some positions during the defense will create additional questions from the certification committee, which is not always loyal. Therefore, it is best to think through all possible questions and answer them in advance in a defensive speech. Then the teachers will have a minimum of questions, and they will be grateful for the saved time.