How did you get to where you are now? Both Henrietta and I worked for companies for free earlier in our careers so that we had the all important ‘experience’ on our CVs. Without this we wouldn’t have got to where we are now. An entrance into many sectors (or a change from one sector to another) can really benefit from volunteering time either completely free or for a low wage. We have also provided this opportunity for people who have kick started their careers or changed sectors as a result. Although we did provide some remuneration, we didn’t pay as much as we might because the relationship was beneficial to them and because they didn’t have the experience. It’s back to that all important experience and how you get it..
Oli is doing ‘work experience’ at the moment. He’s an incredibly talented person whose work you can see profiled here on our blog and on our website, the design of which is all his work. I’m not going to go into how much he is paid for what he does but I can tell you that we couldn’t do without him. Our business thrives because of the contribution that he has made since the outset of our project and let’s face it, the work that he does would cost us a small fortune had it been done by an established graphics design company.
There’s been quite a lot of talk in the news and elsewhere about companies using young talent in their businesses in the form of internships and together with the fact that it is time for businesses to pay the right sum of money in return instead of just their travel expenses. I for one think it really is time to take into account that very few young people have the luxury of being funded by their parents and being able to give their time for free. We here at YOUYOU are great believers in the development of talent and it’s your talents that can be seen by London based companies profiled on our site!
