Swig Life interview questions

It started out with a short 15 minute interview with an HR director. I have been working as an art director for the last 4ish years so it was stated that I was well qualified and maybe over qualified. I was asked a couple of questions to basically figure out if we would be wasting each other’s time but ultimately I was asked to do an assignment. This is where my issue lies. They asked for so much work; a campaign through email, web banners, Instagram story and an extra credit MMS. They strongly suggested for it to all be in motion. And not only was I responsible for design but copy as well. They put this under the guise of “we think this should take approximately 4 hours but that’s up to you! :)”. I’m sorry, but a campaign assignment, motion, copy, and light strategy is not a 4 hour assignment. Not to mention they didn’t send a brand guide so I had to research that myself. I spent about 8-10 hours on this because I wanted to do well which was ridiculous on my part because this was all UNPAID aka free work. I sent off the assignment and didn’t get a chance to walk through my work. I got a canned rejection email from a no reply account. Just a ton of work and effort without at least a real “thank you for your time”.

The process started with a short phone call with the recruiter. After that I was asked to complete a design assessment that included an email mockup, homepage header, a 3 part Instagram story with animation, and optional MMS promo based on a fictional product launch. I spent several hours completing the test including strategy, design, animation, and a full presentation. After submitting I had a video interview with the design manager. After waiting for much longer than I was told, I received a generic rejection email with no feedback. If you are going to ask creatives to put in that kind of time the least you can do is follow up with some decency. A short call. A little insight. Something that shows you were not just making us do work for the sake of it. Design tests can be valuable when they are respectful. But when they are unpaid and treated like throwaway work it says a lot about how companies view creative roles. This was a clear reminder that your portfolio and your experience should speak for themselves. If you cannot tell what I am capable of from the work I have already done then it probably is not the right fit.