How to offer to work for free?

Hey guys, I will have a second phone interview with ING investment Management this Tuesday.

If I feel like they may not offer me the job after tomorrow's interview, should I offer to work for free? How should I go about asking? On the phone at the end of the conversation? With the thank you email? Or wait for a possible rejection letter, then reply to that?

I am a freshman at a non-target with more than average experience and a passion for investing since early highschool (which I showed on my resume and is why I got the interview I think) however the internship is more geared towards upperclassmen I believe so this is why I am not sure if I will get it.

Thanks in advance.

6 Comments
 
CaliforniaAnalystso much desperation...

Just focus on doing well on the interview. I don't believe that offering to work for free will help to make your case. I agree with CaliforniaAnalyst that this will come off as desperate and would likely hurt your chances.

"I am the hero of the story. I don't need to be saved."
 

The only way this would work is if you were the most qualified candidate that the firm would otherwise hire- which is something they'll let you know before the issue of compensation even comes up. Working for free doesn't really make you any more attractive as a candidate; on the contrary, actively offering to work unpaid when others don't signals a degree of insecurity. And based on past experience, if firms unable to pay interns will usually be upfront about it. Long story short, I wouldn't use this as a strategy.

 

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