More Companies Are Asking For Free Work During The Interview Process — Here's How I Handle Those Requests
A few months ago I saw a job opening on Linkedin for a fully remote Content Strategist/Technical Writer position that listed a salary range of $140K to $160K. It was the perfect example of my weird half-and-half background of working as both a writer and engineer. So, obviously, I applied right there and then.
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Days later I had an interview scheduled, with another follow-up interview a week after. Then, they hit me with ~The Catch~ — something they explained would be required if I wanted to continue to the next stage of the process.
They wanted me to complete an assignment. I was to write a blog post on a technical topic of my choice, create a content strategy around it, and travel to their office to present the project to a panel of interviewers. In all, the project would take me anywhere from four to eight hours to complete, plus additional time for travel and going into their physical office.
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Even with my resume, portfolio of past work, and what I had already talked about with their team in the first two interviews, the company still insisted I complete this project. From there, they would decide if I got the job or not.
When I asked if I would be compensated for my time spent on the project, they said they didn't have the budget to pay for interviewee projects.
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Then they stated if this wasn’t something I could do, that I would have to stop in the interview process and they would have to continue forward with other candidates.
I chose to not continue forward with the assignment.
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Their request for free work up front gave me a clear indication that I may often be expected to do extra unpaid work while on the job.
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Even if it was fully remote, I know that startup cultures demand a lot from employees and it wasn’t something I was willing to do. I’ve been in situations like that before and it didn’t pan out well for me.
This wasn’t the first time I've been asked to complete free work during an interview process, either.
Shortly after that, I had another recruiter from a well-known tech company contact me on LinkedIn for another technical writing position.
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This one listed a salary range of $90k to $115k.
Even after I applied with my resume and portfolio, and had the introductory interview, they asked me to write another sample that they could review.
This one I actually decided to do because they agreed it could be a short guide. So, I wrote a short user guide that took me maybe 30 minutes. However, I didn’t end up getting the job — and that time spent could be considered wasted. One way that work can go unwasted is if I add it to my portfolio. That practice can also be considered skill-building.
But still, unpaid labor is wrong. WRONG.
I've been working in tech and I.T. for the past decade and started writing about six years ago. Free work during applications and interviews is nothing new, but in my opinion, it's getting out of hand.
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Throughout my interview experiences, it is common for engineering interviews to include a mini quiz, questions about code syntax, or ask to explain a specific solution to a common problem. But all of the above was work that took place within the actual interview. I've had to complete a 30-minute quiz outside of an interview before, but that was it.
Writing jobs are a different story. I normally see more unpaid work being requested for writing and creative positions — both for full-time, part-time, contract, and freelance work.
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Ever since I started writing, I've only had a handful of clients ask me to write a trial sample. Most of them paid me my rates for that sample.
However, in the past six months, I've gotten more requests for free work and free sample writing than I've ever experienced in the past. All were from companies and not from individual potential clients, which are usually online creators and small online businesses.
You'd think the larger companies would have a bigger budget when compared to the smaller companies that have no problem paying me.
If a job interviewer requests me to complete any sort of free work, the first thing I ask is if the work is paid. If it isn't, the only way I'll do it is if it requires a maximum of one hour of my time.
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Anything else is a waste, unless it's a job I REALLY want.
Something is changing with company hiring procedures, and it's not great.
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Sure, it's a smart way to hire — but it also wastes so much of both the employer's time and the potential employee's time. I can't imagine the amount of time that's wasted on both sides if they are making several job candidates go through this process.
It's like the five-plus interview round process at some companies. Like, WHY!?
Didn't that job listing indicate they wanted someone who can start as soon as possible? Their intentions aren't matching up with their actions.
This had me thinking: how many of these companies are using an interviewee's unpaid work for their own gain in their day-to-day business operation?
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Another concern with asking job applicants and interviewees for free labor is how do they know that the company isn't going to turn around and use it since they don't have to pay for it? This is something I've unfortunately heard of happening when a company ghosted a few folks after they provided unpaid work.
Everyone deserves respect for their intellectual property, especially in a job interview.
Companies need to realize this and have an explicit agreement set up where they must compensate the job applicant for their trial project. If they want to also use that project later on, usage rights to that intellectual property should be included in that agreement.
In my opinion, unpaid labor has no place in the future of work.
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The people who have the resources to complete unpaid work, or even consider completing it, are people that are financially well off and have a sound support system at home.
What happens if they don't? Companies would then be preventing them from economic stability.
