Ask HN: Unpaid job at a startup. What can be done to get the most out of the xp? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Unpaid job at a startup. What can be done to get the most out of the xp?

6 pointsbiznerd8 comments

My friend has no professional experience but has been coding for several years. Through networking, he was able to land an unpaid job.<p>It's a dating startup, which means the competition is fierce. The founder has a programmer and a couple people in India on board.<p>They have not discussed anything like being paid in shares. What's the best strategy to maximize this?<p>Also what can he do to get the most out of the experience? We both thought he should stay at least 3 months.<p>Thanks!

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The most productive thing is to quit. Anyone who, in 2014, is still not paying interns is most likely not someone who can teach you anything. There is still plenty of time to find another internship for the summer.

Well the thing is he's never used the framework so he won't be hitting the ground running. He's not in school.

Doesn't matter. Unless it's for a short period of time to fulfil a requirement for an educational course, then there's no need to be doing this. If your friend wants to work for no direct monetary incentive, tell him to contribute to open source, as at least he can build a reputation and also reuse his efforts in future.

Most employees starting at a new business have no idea what the internal processes are. That applies to programming frameworks just as much as the procedures for refilling the coffee maker.

That basic learning is takes place in the first days/weeks of anyone's new job. There is no basis that the employer should not pay him just for not knowing how to 'hit the ground running'.

He would be much better off taking the time to look for other opportunities.

I agree, you would be shocked at how much value businesses' can get when they don't pay people - especially in IT.

If it's unpaid, then he should be getting lots of educational value even to the extent that it interferes with the business of the employer. I'm not making that up, it's one of the requirements of an unpaid internship [1]. If he's not getting education out of it, then he's working for free and he should not be working for free.

So the best strategy is to sit down with the boss and outline a plan that either a) clearly explains the things that your friend is going to learn during this internship (and it is an internship) and a timeline for learning them.

That's a lie, actually; the best strategy is for your friend to find somebody who's willing to pay him money for services rendered. But assuming for some terrible reason he absolutely has to stay with this startup, then he should figure out what he's going to get from it and the timeline for said getting.

[1]: http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm

This is the most ridiculous thing I have heard of. Why not just apply for jobs on elance, odesk or guru.com?

The question for me is whether the friend is in it for the earning or the learning?

See this for more: http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2009/11/04/is-it-time-for...

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