I was recently laid off and going through the whole job hunt process. Never been laid off before, trying to find something quick so I don't burn through all of my savings.
I normally have a rule to pass on anything that requires 'free work'. I am in software development and product management so I come across stuff like, create a presentation based on this… create a roadmap based on this. Previously, those would be a hard pass for me because of horror stories of companies just stealing work but… desperate times. I am in the final round for one company, startup with a niche product in a fast growing market. Stuff I really enjoy diving into.
The final 'interview' was presentation style with 3 prompts like those above. Despite my better judgement, I went through and spent probably about 20 hours 'showing what I can do'. When I gave the presentation, everyone on there seemed pretty disinterested and asked generic follow-up questions. Not the participation I was expecting given the work I did. And, it's not like the room died per se. They joined the meeting very… aloof and disinterested. Like, let's get this over with. They recorded it though. But, I didn't think anything of it because they recorded all the interviews up to that point. I followed-up within 48 hours, the whole 'recruiting etiquette thing' and haven't heard back.
Starting to think I just gave this company a free development plan and roadmap for the next year, and depending on how many people did this, they basically would have enough to hold them over for the next 18 months or longer.
Lessons learned though, I guess. Just sucks. Was pretty excited about this one.