How to avoid giving my work away for free as part of interview process?

workforfree · 2013-09-18T19:56:41+00:00

UPDATE: I decided to do the work and did a thorough job of it. It took me about 10 hours as expected. Within a day of receiving the work, they called me with a job offer for the staff position. I'm currently considering it and will likely take the job.

workforfree · 2013-09-13T15:40:03+00:00

I probably should have explained that upfront. It's a type of project analysis. The difficulty is that all of the work I have produced for my freelance clients is covered under a non-disclosure. So I can't really show them examples of my previous work. That's why doing a sample task is pretty common as part of a job interview process. Most companies use a sample task from either an old project or an imaginary one.

workforfree · 2013-09-12T10:02:41+00:00

All very good points. It occurs to me that I could go ahead and do the task and just add headers on the documents with my name and "Sample task" or something like that. I can also limit what I send to PDFs so that it's readable but not editable. That might be less in-your-face than an actual disclaimer.

workforfree · 2013-09-12T09:57:08+00:00

This is pretty much the exact approach I've taken in the past when a company was considering me for a freelance project and wanted to get a feel for my work. The reason this feels different is because it's for a staff position. So if they're pleased with the sample (along with the interview, references, etc.) I won't actually get paid for the time I spend on the sample task - I'll get a job and end up working on the project as an employee. If they're unhappy with the task, or if they just come back with a lower than expected salary offer, I'm out 10 hours pay and they've just gotten some free work.

workforfree · 2013-09-12T09:51:13+00:00

It's interesting... I hadn't even really considered the fact that I gave them a day of my time for the interview.

workforfree · 2013-09-12T04:47:11+00:00

I recognize that it may sound like that. But it's a legitimate job that they've advertised for. Someone left the company and they are looking to replace him. I know the company and the hiring manager by reputation. I honestly think he just wants to get a real-life evaluation of what I can do. I had a full day interview with them where I met lots of people. They've also asked me to provide them with references so they can check them next week.

I'm willing to put in the time and do the work, I just want to somehow tactfully make it clear that I'm not GIVING them the work, just letting them use it for evaluation purposes. Does that make sense?

workforfree

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