But that’s not what caught my eye about Jobnob. For a site all about making salary information more transparent, the founders are doing something surprising -- encouraging people to work for free. Just as I’ve been plugging adult internships as a way to build skills, connections and experience, Jobnob has organized happy hours in San Francisco to bring together jobseekers with cash-strapped startups looking for part-time help. The pitch on Jobnob’s website targets both the jobseekers and startups.
To the jobseeker it asks: “Are you willing to work at least 5 hours a week for free or minimal pay?
To the startup, it asks: “Are you willing to buy a smart, talented, unemployed person a drink.”
Jobnob co-founder Julie Greenberg thinks it’s a winning recipe, and I agree. She says she started the happy hours because she was meeting lots of people with terrific credentials who’d never been unemployed before and have now been going on months of joblessness. “That’s when the depression starts to set in,” she told me. At the same time, she was coming into contact with “tons of startups (including Jobnob), which can’t get funding right now, yet have a ton of work to do.” The happy hour to bring the two groups together seemed like a natural solution. So far, they’ve organized two events, each drawing approximately 300 people. Next the company is focusing on happy hours geared to alumni of particular universities.
What do you think? Good idea or exploitation of the unemployed? Has anyone seen this kind of part-time unpaid arrangement turn into a paying job?
