When applying for jobs, standing out from the crowd in a competitive field is tough. The good news is that employers typically don’t rely solely on your resume to get a feel for your skills—they know that one or two pieces of paper can’t be indicative of your background and experience in their entirety.
It’s becoming more common for prospective employers to ask applicants to complete a project as part of the hiring process. In the communications world, these can come in the form of writing press releases, creating social posts, and more. These assignments provide an opportunity to showcase your critical thinking skills, creativity, and even personality.
But other times, employers may ask you to do an intensive amount of work or ask for ideas on an ongoing project without assurances they won’t use your ideas without credit or payment.
Throughout this article, we’ll cover this common hiring practice in detail and provide real anecdotes from communications professionals (who have requested to remain anonymous) to get their take on this widespread industry practice.
When do work assignments come up during the hiring process?
Work assignments are typically assigned after the first interview. After you’ve submitted this assignment for review, they will invite you to a second interview if the assignment was done well.
In some cases, you will be asked to present your assignment at the second interview or at least speak to it in some way.
“When applying for a PR role at a tech company, they asked me to write a short press release based on a past service they launched and pick one journalist I would pitch the story to. This assignment was sent along with my resume, and when I was called for an interview, it felt like they were signaling that they liked my work, which gave me confidence.
But employers have never made it clear what they plan to do with my work. If you’re going to assign these tasks, there need to be some clearly stated guidelines. Such as: how many hours they expect you to put in and how they will dispose of the work after the hiring process has ended. Otherwise, I am always paranoid they are going to use the work that I did and was never compensated for.” — Social Media Specialist based in Toronto
You may have noticed in some job descriptions, companies will ask you to submit some work along with your resume right up front. This is common for social media positions, and the assignment is usually social media mock-ups that demonstrate the kind of work you would do for the company if hired.
If you’re annoyed by the idea of doing work before this company has given you any indication that they’re interested in you, just try to see it as an opportunity to overcome some of the gaps in your resume.
But stay realistic. You shouldn’t be spending hours perfecting copy before you even have an interview guaranteed. Spend an appropriate amount of time on the work assignment and give it your best try.
“I was asked to do a variety of small assignments. These included drafting social media posts, a press release, and a media pitch. It took time to complete, however, it was also representative of the work that I would be doing and it opened me up to what my life in that role would really be like. It was just as beneficial for me, as it was for them. This project also followed the interview, letting me know they were still interested in me.” — Communications Associate based in Toronto
When employers ask for too much
Sometimes, these work assignments can be problematic in more ways than one. In some cases, employers expect too much from applicants. Remember: they haven’t yet hired you yet.
If you’re given an assignment that requires several hours of your time, chances are this company doesn’t have an accommodating work culture. If they’re expecting this much from you now, you can bet they will ramp up the workload if you do join the team.
And keep another thing in mind: this is a totally grey, unregulated area. While we have laws that prevent employers from asking discriminatory questions during job interviews, we have no laws in place to regulate these work assignments.
“A smaller startup company […] asked for a much more time-consuming project. This included social, media pitches, as well as my creative ideas. That’s where I feel the line can get crossed, where they are almost using the hiring process as free consulting based on our skills. The interview then followed the ideas, so people who were not even selected to interview gave over their intellectual property in a way, for nothing.
The interview then continued to ask for my ideas; how I would strategize the issues that the company was facing, and a step-by-step guide for how I would organize and plan campaigns. I felt uneasy at this point because it was clear that they were trying to take advantage of fresh ideas and desperate students who were about to graduate and needed a job.
Whether or not they are using the ideas and projects of those from the hiring process is not confirmed, but it definitely doesn’t make their intentions seem any less questionable.” — Media Relations Associate based in Toronto
Truthfully, we don’t know what employers do with these work assignments. You have to imagine that if they’re asking candidates to create marketing presentations filled with new ideas, some of those ideas might appeal to them, even if the candidate doesn’t.
What stops the employer from taking advantage and claiming a person’s work without giving them any credit or compensation? We simply don’t have any protections for candidates who are put in this position.
“What I did for my take-home gave me something to work off of when I got the job. That being said I think companies should provide some sort of compensation when they ask interviewees to do a take-home, especially if they might use what is given to them in the future.” — Communications Specialist based in Toronto
When to say yes to work assignments
It can be hard to turn down an opportunity, especially when it comes to a job. But some requests are simply unreasonable. So, how can you tell if an assignment is fair game?
Here are some guidelines I’ve learned along the way.
The assignment doesn’t require an excessive amount of your personal time
It’s common for an interviewer to ask for an hour or two of your time to complete an assignment. Sometimes, the assignment will even say: “This should only take an hour.”
It is not, however, normal for them to expect you to donate 15 hours of your time. In situations like these, the best-case scenario is that your potential new boss doesn’t care about work-life balance and doesn’t see why demanding that you complete such a time-intensive project is inappropriate.
They’ve given you a reasonable deadline
To complete work assignments, I’ve typically been given about a week. In some cases, the interviewer allowed me to submit it on my own time. For an assignment that would take a couple of hours maximum to complete, this is reasonable.
If they ask you to submit it within the next day or two, they’re simply not respecting the fact that you may (and probably do) have other responsibilities and engagements. They are putting their own hiring needs above your personal needs, which is not a great indication of what kind of employer they would be moving forward.
You’ve been given outdated material
Many employers will assign old tasks to applicants in the form of projects. For example, they may give you an old press release and ask you to write a pitch off of it. If the documents aren’t dated, determining whether these are old projects or not might require some research.
Check out their site to see their current clients or Google around to see if the story in the press release is old news. If you find out that the story is too old to be relevant for them to recycle your pitch, then you can breathe a sigh of relief.
When to say no to work assignments
Most of the time, it’s totally legit (and wise, in my opinion) for companies to assign a project as a way of observing your skills. But what do you do if you’re not sure if the request is fair or legitimate?
They won’t answer your questions
If you’re not sure that your intellectual property is safe, ask the interviewer what they plan to do with your completed assignment. This is a completely reasonable question that they should be glad to answer. If you find that they don’t have an answer for you or they are unwilling to walk you through their process, you can estimate that they have dubious intentions.
You aren’t allowed to modify the assignment
If the workload assigned seems overboard, ask if you can just do a portion of the assignment. Your employer should understand that you have responsibilities and obligations apart from the job that you must respect.
If they push back and insist that you complete the entire assignment, inform them how much time you will devote to doing the work (and again, 1–2 hours is enough) and ask them to judge the work keeping that information in mind.
Final advice
If you’re looking for a job and have been assigned a project, congratulations! You’re likely to have moved on to the next stage of the hiring process, which is no small feat. Take it as an opportunity to show what you’re capable of.
Many people feel they have a better shot at the job if they are judged on the quality of their work than on the quality of their answers to generic interview questions.
Just remember to always take a moment to evaluate the scope of the request from the employer and don’t be afraid to ask questions and stand up for yourself.
Just as they’re interviewing you, you’re interviewing them. You can politely let them know that you’d like to withdraw your application at any point if you’ve decided this position isn’t for you.
