I was asked to do a trial edit for a YouTube channel. When I asked if it was paid, I was told, “We pay once you get hired and do the real work.”

As a freelance video editor, this is so exhausting. Everyone wants unpaid trial edits that reflect our best work. I’ve wasted too many days working on trial edits for clients who didn’t end up hiring me anyway when I could’ve been actually making money elsewhere. I’m done.