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I applied to a part-time contract with a design studio and they're asking me to work on a case study as part of the recruitment process.
I feel like we've been there, done that and I thought this was agreed in the industry that these kinds of practices are not okay anymore - working for 5 days on a project without any guarantee that they won't use it without your consent afterwards.
What do you think? 🤔
can you put me on, would love something like this
You're spot on, this is not the best way to approach hiring, ESPECIALLY if they haven't stated that they will compensate you for the time spent working on this. Pretty big red flag if they haven't and I would personally decline if ever presented with a similar scenario.
Of course there isn't any mention of a compensation! I'll decline, but sadly I'm sure others will agree to do it ☹️
Very sad to still see this in the wild 😔
Five days!? 😳 I think for an unpaid test task, 4 hours max
Anything longer starts to look like actual work. A company that values its own work should value the professionals they’re hiring too 🙌
The worst part is that it feels like they expect gratitude for allowing you to work five days 😅
haha what a privilege🙂↕️🏆
Test tasks should take a maximum of 4-6 hours of work and should be paid by mutual consent.
I totally agree, it’s the bare minimum. Here are the tasks details: it’s obvious 4-6 hours is not enough to do everything imo.
That is brutal! 😂
Basically work on everything we are hiring you for, but without getting paid 😂 as Arianna says, thank you next
We've always had a policy of paying for case studies in the interview process. I believe in this strongly as we want to compensate everyone for their time regardless the outcome.
This is how we recognize reliable and considerate companies 🤝
And I find this practice wrong and unethical; if your portfolio isn't sufficient for evaluation and they want to test more, you can have a paid trial.
Exactly! Plus I have projects in my portfolio that showcase exactly what they want me to create in this case study.
A recruitment process already reflects the culture of the studio. Requiring days of unpaid work is rarely a good signal of what follows.
Yes huge red flag 🚩🚩🚩
Think there is some misunderstanding going on or some context missing.
The test task says "you CAN spend up to 5 days" that's your deadline, not a requirement to work for 5 days. Depending on your skill - you can be done in 30 min.
How long do you think the task is going to take you?
Sure! Here are the tasks details. As you can see it’s pretty dense - brand identity, illustration, motion, design system. Of course some requirements are optional but also implied that it would be a plus.
It might take me a day or two, but some candidates will likely spend 5 days on this.
thanks for the context.. wow the company should be embarrassed creating unrealistic expectations, while half-assing tests like this with ChatGPT lol
Think it might be 3 things at play:
1) Person responsible for hiring - has little experience or care.
2) A red flag that gives...
I'm sensing it's a little bit of the 3 possibilities 😂
I wanted to send a naive "sure I'd be happy to work on this case! Is there any compensation for my time?" but I'm sure they will just ghost me so maybe I'll add a little feedback on these kinds of practices.
exactly! test tasks must be taken last after screening candidates through interviews, but most agencies & brands put it first to screen the candidates, save their extra effort, and get the most effort from the creatives. This should change.
Exactly! The portfolio should definitely be enough at first.
5 days? Red flag in my opinion
100% 🚩
Exactly. Seems they don't value your time
I have a strict rule: unless the time spent on a task is paid, I don’t do it. Especially five days of work, that’s a complete lack of respect.
Totally agree!
5 days? Seriously??
Nice!
You're absolutely right! Unpaid case studies as part of recruitment are exploitative. Companies that value design should value designers' time from the start. Thanks for speaking up about this! 💯
I agree, Long unpaid case studies feel outdated. A portfolio review, discussion, or even a short paid task says far more than days of speculative work. Respecting designers’ time should be standard practice by now.
It's not okay unless they pay for the work, even if they don't end up hiring.
I completely agree with you and everyone in the comments. Unpaid “test” work like this is a huge red flag. How a company treats candidates is usually a good indicator of how they’ll treat employees or contractors later on.
Asking for several days of work with no guarantee and no...
In my past, any situation like this typically included some sort of compensation. If they didn't mention a rate for the exercise, run.
where is the guy with the big red flag
Not in a million years. If that's their first impression, imagine how things would be later. Definitely need to find a way to educate these people somehow though, because clearly in their minds this is ok.
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