By Max Milano (Tech Writer)
Let’s be honest, job seeking sucks, but it seems to suck more for digital marketing experts for several reasons. First, everyone thinks they are an “insert social media channel here” expert. Just because you’ve posted a couple of TikTok interpretative dances doesn’t make you a branding expert. But I digress.
The corporate world attracts its fair share of amoral sociopaths (double that for Silicon Valley), and one of the best ways to encounter them in their natural habitat is during the hiring process, particularly if the position being hired for is in digital marketing or social media creative.
One particularly insidious practice that has always existed (but that seems to get much worse with each interest rate hike) is the sick thrill said sociopaths in the corporate world get from preying on the desperation of job candidates by requesting free work disguised as “tests.”
They particularly like to drop this request for (fill in the blanks here: Social media posts, a full content calendar, or digital marketing strategy, all specifically tailored to their brand) after multiple rounds of interviews.
This insidious practice not only exploits the time and skills of hopeful applicants and represents a broader issue of ethical misconduct within the industry. But when you have Elon Musk used as a shining example of free-market capitalism in Silicon Valley, where’s the hope?
Free Work For Corporations: Don’t Do It, Kids!
Digital marketing professionals who push back or resist these requests are always gaslit. Corporate sociopaths will swear on a stack of Bibles (or Bhagavad Gitas) that the candidate’s work will never be used by their corporation. But wait. The issue is that they do use these materials and pass them off as their own without acknowledgment or compensation. They’ve been doing this for a long time and do it often since these practices have become ubiquitous.
Corporations are obviously getting a sick thrill doing it because: “Why pay someone for their work when you can get a whole stack of social media posts, hashtags, a complete social media calendar, and a full digital marketing strategy for free?”
Before you claim that these digital marketing professionals are just bitter because they didn’t get the job, let’s review a few well-documented cases that have made the press lately. Better still, ask any digital marketing pro who has gone through the gauntlet that the hiring process has degenerated into nowadays, and you will soon learn that the practice of soliciting free work from job candidates is alive and well today.
Cases That Made the Press
Now, let’s be clear: Digital marketing pros are being asked to provide free work in the form of “tests” during job interviews every day. Worse still, everyone in the business knows that these materials will be used by the corporations that solicit them, even if just for research purposes or to “get fresh ideas” or, as in the following examples, posted on their social media with minimal changes, if any.
Brewdog Steals Job Candidates Ideas
BrewDog has become infamous for being the poster child for having its recruiters request demos, presentations, and social media posts as tasks during job interviews, only to ghost the candidates and later use their material on their social media.
Heiress Beverly Hills Asks For A Free Social Audit
Clothing company Heiress Beverly Hills asks for a complete audit of their social media channels, complete with suggestions to make improvements, all for free, from desperate job candidates. This can easily be a 30-hour task.
Google Steals Candidate Idea
I guess Google decided to just be evil by stealing a job candidate’s idea and patenting it!
Alessandra’s Case
This particularly egregious example of asking for free work from digital marketing job candidates is making the rounds in the press and deserves an honorable mention.
The Rise of the “Test Task” Trend
It’s been known in the industry for a very long time that job applicants in digital marketing have been asked routinely to complete so-called “test tasks” as part of the hiring process. In theory, these tests are intended to assess a candidate’s skills and suitability for the role. However, as most digital marketing pros know, in practice, it morphs into unpaid labor, with no guarantee of further consideration or feedback, and even worse, straight-up theft.
Candidates are being asked to invest hours, sometimes days, working on these tasks in the hope of landing a job. The issue is that these tasks are so specific to the hiring company that it’s not defendable to say that this is the best way to access a candidate’s skills. Why? Any digital marketing candidate worth their salt will have a portfolio, and you know what? I have a novel idea: Hiring managers can spend five minutes reviewing the candidate’s past work (portfolio) and then a few more minutes speaking to potential candidates to assess their skills. I have another novel idea: The hiring manager can ask pertinent questions about the candidate’s portfolio and draw conclusions from that.
If you are a hiring manager and you can’t assess a digital marketing professional and their skills without asking them to produce stacks of free material for your social media or your digital marketing strategy, then you shouldn’t be involved in the hiring process in the first place.
In the most egregious cases, as seen above and in everyday practice (ask anyone in the business), it’s well-known that companies implement these unpaid test strategies directly into their marketing campaigns, effectively stealing intellectual property from those who can least afford to give it away.
The Impact on Job Seekers: What Can Be Done?
The widespread nature of this practice sets a dangerous precedent. It normalizes the expectation that candidates should provide free labor to prove their worth, further skewing the power dynamics in favor of employers. This exploitation perpetuates a cycle in which only those with the financial stability (or desperate enough) to work for free can afford to participate.
Advocating for Ethical Hiring Practices:
We know we’re screaming into the void and that it’s going to get worse before every human digital marketer is finally replaced by AI (the wet dream of corporations). But for now, what can digital marketing pros do to stem the tide of unethical free work solicitations that the hiring process has degenerated into?
Let’s Raise Awareness:
Job seekers should share their experiences on professional platforms like LinkedIn (maybe not there, as LinkedIn seems to attract the worst corporate sycophants). Better use Glassdoor to warn others.
Set Industry Standards:
It won’t happen, but professional organizations and industry leaders should establish clear guidelines regarding the ethical treatment of candidates. This includes discouraging unpaid test tasks and promoting fair compensation for any requested work. However, with a simple peruse of the kind of sociopathic posts Silicon Valley leaders like to post on LinkedIn daily, there’s little hope of change in that direction.
Time To Update Company Policies:
Companies committed to ethical practices should transparently outline their hiring processes, ensuring candidates know they will be compensated for substantial test tasks.
Public Accountability:
Since sociopaths in the corporate world won’t change and since, ultimately, all they really care about is the price of their stock options, maybe naming and shaming companies that engage in these practices can deter others from following suit. But we live in the real world and know that exposing these practices will probably have the opposite effect and help their stock price! We all know what happens during mass layoffs; Wall Street rejoices.
Final Thoughts
The practice of extracting free work from desperate candidates under the guise of “test tasks” is a deplorable tactic that exploits the vulnerable and the desperate. By raising awareness, advocating for ethical standards, and holding companies accountable, we can all aim to foster a more equitable job market where talent and hard work are fairly rewarded. Job seekers deserve respect, fair treatment, and compensation for their efforts.
Digital marketers stand firm and demand what you rightfully deserve. Don’t work for free! Your skills and time are valuable.
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