I applied for a mid-level cloud engineer role at a mid-sized tech platform last week, and the initial automated response seemed promising. Yesterday, a recruiter reached out via email, but instead of scheduling a quick fifteen-minute screening call, she attached a massive PDF document containing a mandatory technical evaluation task that I need to submit within forty-eight hours. The task requires me to design a highly available, multi-region AWS infrastructure architecture from scratch. They want full network diagrams, cost optimization estimates, a detailed disaster recovery strategy, and even working Terraform scripts to provision the environment. This isn't just a simple quiz; it's a full-scale architecture blueprint that would take me about twelve to fifteen hours of solid engineering work to complete. What frustrates me the most is that I haven't even spoken to a real person at the company yet. They are asking candidates to invest a significant amount of time doing free consulting work before determining if my background aligns with their needs. I replied to the recruiter, stating that I would be willing to do a live design session or a small technical test after an initial interview, but I can't justify creating a complete production roadmap for free. The recruiter responded with a generic message saying that the assignment is non-negotiable. I decided to archive the email threads and close the tab. The entitlement of tech companies in this market is outrageous. They know people are desperate for roles and are trying to extract free labor from applicants. Instead of working on their assignment, I’ll spend my evening developing my own lab environment.