The initial phone screen was just 15 minutes, during which the interviewer seemed unsure of the role’s responsibilities, almost improvising them as we spoke. She mentioned that if I advanced, I’d be asked to complete an “assignment”, not for a current client, but based on a past one, purely to evaluate how I think. I agreed, thinking this was a fair ask. I dedicated several hours to the assignment and shared access with the three people I was told would be reviewing it. Over time, four additional team members requested access, which raised some eyebrows. Eventually, I was told the team was impressed and was invited to interview with the director of creative. That’s when things took a turn. During the interview, I was told (contrary to what I had been led to believe) that the assignment was actually for their oldest and most important active client. This meant I had unknowingly done unpaid work that the company could now leverage. The conversation itself was disorganized, and I was told there would be at least two more interviews if I continued in the process. An extensive ask for a role with a surprisingly low compensation. After hearing from multiple people that the team loved my work, I was ghosted for over a week and then finally received a generic rejection email. To top it off, they revoked my access to the project, preventing me from removing the work I had produced for free. Overall, the process felt disingenuous and exploitative. I’d advise future applicants to proceed with caution and ask direct questions about how their work will be used.