Not long ago I received a phone call from a consultant doing some work for another company wanting to know if I provided my services on a pay per performance basis. She went on to tell me that she wanted to get publicity for her client and while she was happy with any type of publicity she really wanted to get them a spot on one of the morning shows.

She essentially wanted me to create a media release, submit it to the press and do enough follow up to get a spot on TV. If they didn’t get any publicity, especially on TV, I wouldn’t get paid. I was really surprised by this request.

Most people know that generally consultants get paid quite well for their services and any consultant worth their title should know that the work I was asked to do was time consuming. I believe everyone’s time is valuable and that no one should be expected to work for nothing. I was further taken aback by her surprise when I told her that no one would probably take her up on her offer to be paid solely on performance. I don’t know if it was arrogance on her part or she truly felt her request wasn’t unreasonable.

In all professions, there is so much work that goes on behind the scenes that may not seem significant to outsiders but is important and time consuming. I just hope there aren’t professionals, especially those just starting out that feel they have to comply with such a request just to get work. No one should be asked to work for nothing. I’m sure that consultant would not have considered being paid per performance for the work she was doing!

As a small business owner I appreciate the service that freelance sites such as Upwork, Freelancer and Airtasker provide. But a recent email from Airtasker had me wondering if they are doing more harm than good to a future workforce.

The email I received from Airtasker was a job alert from someone needing marketing assistance. When I looked at the job description, the poster actually wanted someone to complete their marketing assessment for them. I found this really disturbing as I wondered did this person really hope to pass someone else’s work off as their own and possibly pass a subject not on their own merit? Is this person going to obtain top marks which may lead to a great job but not know at least the fundamentals of marketing? Do we suddenly have an unfair playing field among students? Does a student who completes their own work and usually performs well suddenly see themselves struggling to keep up with students that have had experienced professionals complete their work?

These freelancing websites are great especially for small businesses that don't need an office full of staff but at times could use help on particular projects but I can’t help but wonder if they are inadvertently destroying a future work force.