is every W2 role now just free labour?

pixelperfect

i've been freelancing since 2023 and honestly, landing work was simple - one meeting, show my portfolio, maybe a second chat, and I'm in. No fuss, no free work. Now I'm having to go back to a W2 role because my freelance gigs dried up (put all my energy into one client account, then the CMO canned all third-party contracts). Great timing, right?

But the job hunt this time round feels like a scam. Every company wants me to do a take-home assignment that's basically a full strategy document. A couple of weeks ago I spent 4 hours analysing their campaign data and writing recommendations. submitted it, next day they had a meeting with the exact same client I'd written about - and then ghosted me. Got a boilerplate rejection a week later. Coincidence? I don't think so.

I get that some assignments are genuine - maybe 2-3 hours to show your thinking. But the ones asking for 6-10 hours of work? That's a free consultation. when I was freelancing, I'd never hand over a strategy without a signed contract. Why should companies get it for free just because I'm applying for a salary?

for the folks here who are in permanent roles - did you actually have to do these take-home projects? And if so, what did they ask? Because I'm starting to wonder if this is just the new normal for mid-level marketing gigs, or if I'm being too cynical

tiktokguru

Oh, I've been burned by this exact scenario. It's one of those lessons you only learn the hard way.

Here's what happened to me:

🔍 They asked for a deep-dive Google Ads analysis for an ice cream brand. Sounded legit.
📝 Spent a solid few hours pulling insights and laying out a strategy.
📱 Submitted it, and the very next day they posted about a "hugely productive" meeting with that same ice cream client.
👻 Then... radio silence. After a follow-up email, got a polite rejection.

Honestly, any interview stage that involves building out a full project for a real client? I now treat it as a red flag for free labour. If they can't evaluate you through a case study or a whiteboard session, they're probably just fishing for fresh ideas.

Would love to hear if anyone's actually had a positive outcome from one of these - because my experience says it rarely ends well.

communityfirst

Absolutely-take-home assignments have become part of the process for most mid-level roles and up. I've done a handful myself when moving from contract work into permanent positions.

they're usually framed as, "Here's our current campaign data-what would you tweak?" or "Sketch out a 90-day go-to-market plan for this product." If you keep it focused, it's about two to three hours. The real trick is giving just enough insight to show how you think, without handing over a full-blown strategy for free. That's where the line sits.

digitalnomad

Absolutely - both jobs I've landed in the last five years had a take-home task. ⏱️ Usually clocked in around 6-10 hours. Worth it but intense!

gmbpro

For most jobs in the last 10-15 years. I have a couple of rules:

assignments can only be late in the process (the final round)
i will not spend more than 60-90 minutes
nothing reusable (bullet points of a plan or KPIs is fine. Maybe a short email, but not deeper). Think slides not docs.

The good companies make the assignment a skills test but for something fictional. I had an interview where I made a launch plan for a product out of a science fiction movie. That was fine.

I declined interviews where the request was a 5 page plan based on their business problems. Absolutely not.

If the test takes more than 30-40 minutes, and I am the hiring manager, I negotiate for a paid assignment. Not the full rate per se, but maybe it is a 3-4 hour assignment and I’ll have a flat rate of like $200 or something, depending on level/role type.

splittester

It's depressingly common now. For my last role, I had to build an entire pitch deck from scratch and deliver it live - painted a whole brand story, curated visuals, the works. Then they left me hanging for weeks.

tagmanager

Honestly, I'm with you on this. take-home assignments that demand real-world data and prospect lists are just free consulting work dressed up as an interview. The worst part is, even if you do a stellar job, there's no guarantee they'll use your insights ethically - but they absolutely will use them.

That bit where they asked for five non-customers with a full SWOT analysis plus three internal prospects for outreach? That's billable strategy work, pure and simple. You were right to make that doc private the second they passed on you. I'd have done the same, though by then the damage is probably done - they've already screenshot or noted whatever they wanted.

it's a shame because when assignments are clearly fictional and designed to test thinking rather than extract value, I'm all for them. shows how you approach a problem without giving away the farm. But this? This is why I tell brands to treat their own customer data like gold and never hand over raw lists in an interview process.

you're not a classic Redditor for setting that boundary. You're just someone who understands that your work has value - even before you're on payroll. I'd only break that rule for a role that pays enough to make the risk worth it, and even then, I'd scrub the data first.

roichaser

I had to for my current gig. I've had to three before. One other I got , the other I didn't, one I dropped out because another offer. I cap it at 10 slides.

I've also had two companies ask me to present on previous work.

That's over 16 years of a marketing career, so I'd argue it's an uncommon ask.

My preference would be 10 slides on a fake company's fake problem. If you are really testing how pur brains work, you should be able to get that from a plan on how ACME can sell more anvils. But c'est la vie.

brandvoice

Never done one. Wouldn't touch it - our time's too valuable for that kind of spec work, especially in email marketing where every hour could be spent on a real campaign that actually moves a subscriber's feelings.

leadgen

Oh, I feel this one. Last time I was job hunting, I had to do two take-home assignments back to back - one for a seed-stage startup, one for a Series B. Both times I spent a solid weekend building out a full marketing plan, audience breakdowns, channel strategy, the works. Then I got ghosted on the first and a generic "we went with someone else" on the second.

What really gets me is the double standard. I can't picture the VP of Sales doing a "here's how I'd sell your product" deck as a test. They get coffees and chats and rapport. Meanwhile, I'm expected to hand over my strategic thinking for free, with zero guarantee of anything. It's like we have to prove our value on paper while everyone else gets to prove it through conversation.

And you're right - what's the alternative? Refuse and you're out of the running. Do it and you're resentful before you even start. I've seen people in the thread say "just say no, it shows you value your time." But in startup land, that's basically a suicide move. They'll just move to the next marketer who's desperate enough.

I don't have an answer either. It's broken, and it's getting worse.