I recently went through a challenging interview process for a nonprofit organization where I was asked to complete two separate take-home assignments. After making it through reference checks and two rounds of interviews, the second round required me to prepare a list of ideas for their communications and fundraising efforts. I was informed that it was down to me and another candidate, and to break the tie, we both had to complete another assignment. This time, they wanted us to come up with strategies to increase ticket sales for their upcoming annual fundraiser, which was just a week away. The assignment was quite intense; I received the email at 2 PM on a Thursday and had to submit my response by 9 AM the next morning, giving me less than 24 hours to work on it. I was also working from 3 PM to 10 PM that day, so I had to stay up late to finish it. Unfortunately, I ended up being rejected because the other candidate had better ideas. This experience left me wondering if this kind of rigorous assignment process is becoming the norm, especially in nonprofit sectors. It felt like they were extracting free labor from us without any real intention of hiring. I’m exhausted from being expected to work for free during interviews, and it seems like a lot of companies are taking advantage of candidates in this way.
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