Work for experience not money

[3a45fe81]

Good day all.  I have completed my legal studies in South Africa and I am currently busy with my NCA exams. After completion of these exams I will be eligible for the Canadian bar.

My question is if it is acceptable to do free freelance legal work (such as legal research or document drafting) in order to obtain experience before immigrating to Canada, or, is there a set minimum fee which I am required to set.  I would also greatly appreciate any reccommendations on where I can obtain any relevant experience. I am not looking to make money (yet) rather I want to gain meaningful experience.

Any help on the matter will be greatly appreciated.

[elisa_b · Accepted solution]

Since I have no experience in this field, I have no recommendations for you. However, here on Upwork free work is not allowed, so you can set up your own fees - as long as you work with a regular contract and get paid for that.

Best of luck!

[spectralua]

Paid job is a must. Feel free to set any low price. You can explailn low price with studying, it is not a problem. You can not work for free.

[martina_plaschka]

Upwork is not the place to gain experience, get trainings or internships. 

Decide what services you are able to deliver perfectly now, and concentrate on those. Set your rate accordingly. (Starting with super-low rates to gain experience will almost always backfire, since all clients can see all your prior work history and rates. Don't set your rate so low that clients will not take you seriously.)

[bilal1983]

You can look for work in your field, and offer low rates. This could be a good way to attract clients to choose you over other freelancers. But like others have mentioned, free work is not allowed. 

You don't really have to mention why you're offering low rates, but you could probably mention this on your profile that you've completed studies, and busy with exams and looking forward to bar exams in future. They can put two-and-two together. There are lots of scavenger clients looking to exploit new freelancers, so this could work in your favor.