Was this a job interview or a free marketing consultation? The first question I was asked when I got into the interview was “If I hired you Friday what would you do on Monday to get us more customers?” I told him I’d need to know more info about their current strategy and who their customers are. His reply to that was “if you can’t think on your feet then you’re not a real marketer.” So I created a strategy on the spot that had the owner’s eyes light up and they never even heard of that style of marketing before. Magically I was being taken more seriously, but the sly comments kept coming. At the end I was asked to create a $20k marketing plan for them to present it on Wednesday. That’s already a red flag, but I’m a team player so I developed an elaborate strategy that night. Monday comes around and I get a phone call from my recruiter and she told me, “they would actually prefer you to email them the marketing plan so you don’t have to come back in.” At the point all of the grace I tried to have for their company flew out the window. So you want me to email you free work that you will have u limited access to? Really? So you can steal my ideas and not pay me a red cent? If you look at their current marketing strategy it is abysmal and my plan would have turned them around in 2 months at the latest. Not to mention the position is on the specialist level but the amount of responsibility is on the director of marketing level. Needless to say, they aren’t offering director of marketing salary. If a company hands you a take home assignment, it should be a generic assignment that is not applicable to their business so they can see your aptitude and proficiency in real time. That’s perfectly understandable. The problem here is they tasked me with the assignment of solving a very real marketing problem that they are currently facing. It’s an easy way to have seasoned marketers funnel them marketing strategies and not have to hire them. It’s disgusting, but pretty genius. They said “if we like your idea we won’t steal it. We would hire you”. Sorry, but there are too many instances of that very thing happening to people. It’s borderline exploitive, especially in this job market. At the end when I was leaving I was told “this isn’t a no. It’s closer to a maybe.” Well it’s a no from me. Run. Don’t walk away.