I would hate for the coldness of the world to turn you into a cynical person, but it is healthy and essential for everyone to set boundaries! There are a lot of sleazetastic people around who will try to get you to work for them for free.

Some of them are employers who will give you lengthy and complicated ‘assignments’ to complete during your interview process. Be suspicious! Sometimes there is no job available. The employer just wants to get free consulting work. I sat in a meeting with a not-for-profit executive who blithely told the group of us in the meeting that she interviews candidates for non-existent jobs a couple of times per year “to get ideas.” Even principled people don’t always think about the ethics of their actions.

When you’re interviewing for a job, don’t create a presentation or a marketing plan for free. You can say “It sounds like you’re interested in having me perform some consulting work for you. Shall we talk about fees?” If there is a written component of the interview process and you want to participate in it, go ahead and donate one hour of work — no more — to your possible future employer.

Don’t accept an invitation to go the their office and present your work. Our client Natalie did that and found that the room was full of team members who had no say in the hiring process. Her own manager, the one who had assigned Natalie to create a plan and present it, didn’t even have the courtesy to show up. Natalie had never been in that situation before. She gamely gave her presentation and then, since no one was there to talk with her after the presentation, started packing up her things to go.

One of the employees told Natalie “Please leave your flash drive with the presentation on the table.” That was Natalie’s cue to get out of the building and take her flash drive with her!

Not everybody deserves your talents. People who want you to work for free before they’ve even hired you are not people who will respect your talents or your time once they’ve hired you.

Sometimes our own ‘friends’ can misuse our time and attention, too. Every consultant has heard from at least one slight acquaintance who says “Since we’re friends, you’ll do this project for me for free, right?”

https://dantewest./2016/02/10/dont-get-suckered-into-working-for-free/