What job would you do for free?
Don’t waste your time on people who don’t appreciate you.
Author Unknown
That said, if I had to do a job for free, it would involve children, dogs, or both. So, the ideal professional titles would include a version of Kindergarten Teacher and/or a dog sitter (dog walker). If you can combine the two in the same location, then you just made things even more interesting for me. If not, I will still do one of these for free. For a fixed amount of time. Before you ascribe a label, let me explain I’ve finished my Post-Graduation in Communication Media and have worked with Advertising agencies (awesome job, initially lousy pay, no quality of life, tough on relationships), Companies in the corporate sector (Software companies have no quality of life, pay is little better, but the boss may be a heel!), Freelance projects (interesting projects, strict timelines, pay is mediocre as company budgets don’t extend to pampering freelance consultants, quality of life is pathetic). By this point in my life, my hobbies included, reading, writing, dogs, DIY, art, and photography. Although I only worked in writing or content, if any of the companies I worked for, required photographs to be taken, then I offered my services for free.
And then I had the kids and decided to complete another Post-Graduation Certification in Early Childhood and Childcare Education, to become a certified Kindergarten Teacher. Tough course, but I finished it and started working in a kindergarten school. At this point, my hobbies included photography, writing, reading, art, DIY projects, Puppet making, and dogs. So, for the schools I worked in, every event they hosted, I worked with the teachers to create experiences that would be fun and unique for the children. Like painting lamps on the glass panels in the class during Deepavali (scene setting), creating a large cut-out of a boat, so the children could sit on the other side, and pretending to row the boat during Onam (set design, photography, videography), or decorating the dahi handi for Krishna Janmashtami (art, photography, videography). Kindergarten schools celebrate many events to foster a positive atmosphere for the children. It’s like a constant party atmosphere with a very discerning target audience. Children have no filters, no social mores, or expectations, and reflect/reciprocate what they receive. It’s a very rewarding but tremendously exhausting profession. The best thing about this job is that no two days are alike. Every day is a day of wonder, discovery, unpredictable stress, and unmanageable trauma. Every day is unique, and children are the most appreciative audience you will ever find. And I would do this for free any day.
Pet/dog sitting coupled with house sitting, is the second job I would do for free. I love dogs, and I find that like children, they give as good as they receive if not more. They have no expectations apart from the basic care in the provision of food and necessities. Treats are indulgences provided when they behave. They don’t talk back. They don’t misbehave. They are not manipulative. And they are the givers of the best hugs. Dogs come closest to letting you experience the feeling of unconditional love. A couple of years ago, I house-sat the siblings’ dogs, (2 retrievers and a boxer) for a few weeks and these were the best weeks of this decade. The dog-sitting was not the job, the free job was managing the family that was employed to run the estate, which I would describe as being tedious at best. But the dogs, and the house, were a pleasure. Of course, in the previous decades, I had my dogs, and doing anything for yourself does not qualify to be called a job. Dogs form bonds. I experience anxiety when I must leave them behind. As freebies go, the only limit on them would be time.
The value of freebies today has diminished. Shops offer freebies when they have excess stock, old stock, or stock that’s occupying space they require for the new stock. So today, if I were to offer to do a job for free, I would think about it again. Because,
Nothing is ever so expensive as what is offered for free
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Just a little more 