The company asked for a 15-hour take-home project before meeting the team. Is this a normal test or free work?
Any take-home assignment demanding more than 3 to 4 hours of uncompensated work—especially one asking for real solutions to the company's actual current product or marketing problems—is a major red flag known as "brewdogging" (soliciting free labor under the guise of an interview). Legitimate companies use standardized, synthetic case studies that take 2 hours or offer a paid stipend for extensive technical assessments.
What Actually Happened Behind the Curtain
The 60-Second Self-Test
Check if any of these conditions match what happened to your application:
- ✓Is the assignment based on the company's real, live product data or code repository? If yes, they are getting free work on their actual roadmap.
- ✓Have you met the actual hiring manager yet? If an automated email sends you a 10-hour assignment before you have spent even 20 minutes with a human being on the team, decline immediately.
- ✓Does the prompt specify a strict 2-to-3 hour cap? Professional companies state: "Please spend no more than 2 hours on this exercise; we evaluate thought process, not perfection."
The Before & After Evidence Fix
Spending 16 hours over a weekend redesigning the company's mobile onboarding flow and emailing them full Figma source files with editable assets.
Why it fails: Gives away hundreds of dollars of free design work. If they reject you, they still have your design files and can implement them next month.
Setting clear professional boundaries: *"I am excited about this role and eager to demonstrate my product thinking. To respect both of our schedules, I will spend a focused 2 hours outlining the architectural framework and decision matrix in a view-only PDF, and we can dive deep into the trade-offs during our next interview."*
Why it passes: Demonstrates executive seniority, respects your own time, protects your intellectual property, and signals that you are an in-demand professional.
How to Fix This Tonight (Action Plan)
- Never complete a take-home assignment before having an initial screening call with the actual hiring manager.
- Cap your time strictly at 2 to 3 hours, regardless of how open-ended the prompt is.
- Deliver deliverables as view-only PDFs or high-level architecture maps, never editable raw source files or production-ready code.
- Prepare for structured live interviews using CareerWin's Tailored Application Packages instead of doing unpaid homework.
Ace Live Interviews Without Unpaid Homework
Master the frameworks and metrics that prove your value in live conversations so you never have to do free labor again.
Explore Tailored Application Packages →Frequently Asked Questions
What if the company refuses to proceed unless I do the full 15-hour project?
Walk away. A company that disrespects your time before hiring you will disrespect your boundaries, work-life balance, and compensation after you sign the offer.