Is a multi-day unpaid 'trial task' normal?

Question

Applying for design jobs. A small agency asked me to do a "trial task": redesign their homepage, three pages of mockups, and a short write-up on the brand. They estimate it'll take "a couple of days".
It feels like they're getting free work. Is this standard in design hiring now? Where do people draw the line?

thecozycoder · Answer

A short test (an hour or two) is common in a lot of fields. Several days of real work on their actual product is not something I'd do unpaid. That's a project.

nina_vt · Answer

You can ask whether the task is paid. Some companies do pay for longer trials. If they say no, you can offer to walk them through your existing portfolio instead.

marcoruiz · Answer

Redesign "their homepage" specifically is the bit I don't like. A fair test uses a made-up brief, so there's no question of them using the work.

sofia.g · Answer

Asked if it was paid. They said no, so I offered a portfolio walk-through instead. They agreed, which tells me the task wasn't really necessary. Interview is next week.

Is a multi-day unpaid 'trial task' normal?

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