If you’re any kind of creative, or even if you’re not, you may have encountered the problem of free work: you want a job?

You have to do all the work first… and then see if you get paid.

Such as in this story, when a would-be employee is tricked into making templates for a company… that they then use without hiring him!

Let’s see how he seeks his recompense here.

Tell him he knows my rates.

A long time ago, when I was first getting started in Graphics, a company listed an ad looking for someone with my EXACT skills.

Sounds like a match made in heaven. But something tells me it takes a heated turn…

I applied and the guy said he wanted some proof saying I needed to work for him – on spec – and show him what I was capable of.

This was a company wanting to make templates for sand blasting to put logos on such things as glasses and such.

The templates were produced on a large laser printer that melted holes in plastic sheeting to create the stencils.

The problem was that they couldn’t figure out how to create a stencil in this process.

Seems like a pretty critical problem. Will they have the solution?

I figured out the problem in a matter of hours and produced two or three usable templates.

The owner gave me a list of items to create, but refused to actually hire me.

He called a couple of days later and said to return anything I had created – no pay.

Hm… kinda sus, don’t you think?

I had a lawyer friend create a letter explaining my rates for personal work and how we would expedite to court.

He paid me for the work.

Job well-done. But what about the future of this company?

About a week later, some girl calls and asks me to explain to her how I created the templates.

I knew without asking that she was probably also working for him ‘on spec.’ I told her simply, “Tell your boss to call me. He knows my rates.”

Ha! Way to get the last word (etched) in.

Wish I had been there when she got off the phone. His company went out of business a few weeks later.

Interviews can be a pain, and a long, drawn-out process.

Especially here, when they literally had to draw things out… for no money.

What do the comments have to say?

This person says free work is an oxymoron.

Someone else says, that ship was sinking.

This poster is like, bullet: dodged.

Someone else says, there’s always gotta be a limit.

Another person sees a sea of red.

Was this glass half-hired or half-fired?

It can be tough to tell.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.