What you've all been waiting for. I'm here to provide the update to this post.
First up – thank you to everyone who sent wonderful words of encouragement and support.
I really was just venting my frustrations but Reddit rallied around to prop me back up after experiencing yet another company for the third time in a row asking me to do unpaid work for a real client (as opposed to a dummy client for the sake of the tasks) as part of the job interview / hiring process despite the fact I am very qualified with a lot of extensive expertise and experience in my field, with proof and examples of this across my portfolios and websites.
Asking job hunters to do a list of unpaid tasks for real clients as part of the job interview is something that sadly is becoming increasingly common – even though it is essentially a scam to get free marketing ideas, free designs and free media strategies from hundreds of applicants then vanish into thin air.
I've seen it happen dozens of times to applicants. One poor guy created designs for free as part of the hiring process. They ghosted him. 2 weeks later, his designs appeared across their social media platforms with no credit to him. When he chased it up with them, they ignored him.
Do not get burned by these tricks folks. Do not get Brewdogged.
If you plan to do unpaid tasks – write up a contract specifically highlighting the fact that you do not give them permission to use your ideas unless you're offered an employment contract at the end of the hiring process. That way if you do get the role (if the role exists – as many that ask for this kinda thing aren't real) you can share your ideas with the team and create together. Rather than just be robbed blind.
So here's the update. I basically told them to go f** themselves and asked if they were legitimately joking that they were asking me to do an extensive range of strategy design, ad campaign management tasks and consulting work for free after they ghosted me for an entire week despite 2 follow up emails.
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Their response:
Hi,
We're sorry you feel this way. We will as requested remove you from the applicant pool. Just so you're aware, we only expect applicants to spend around 60 minutes to 90 minutes on these tasks.
Best of luck with your search.
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I again emailed them back telling them that regardless of how long it takes to fulfill these tasks, they are still asking applicants to produce work for free.
I also pointed out how sending me their actual real Meta ad campaign data and earnings made me laugh because I could easily sell this information to their competitors.
Amazingly, Reddit came through and produced magic. A redditor (I'm keeping them anonymous for their privacy) actually reached out to me saying that the tasks and company sound familiar.
Much to our surprise, it turns out this person worked for this exact company for 8 months. And the managers were a total nightmare that took advantage of multiple people and despite advertising high salaries, the employees were living off food banks to make ends meet. So a bullet firmly dodged.
So thank you Reddit. And job seekers, stay safe out there. Protect yourselves. And do not work for free. Your skills are your greatest asset.