Inflation is high. Rent is high. Compensate people for their work. No one wants to perform free labor. The interview process is not a place to mine for ideas. Not only is this practice unethical, it’s an inaccurate depiction of how it would be if you were actually to work with a person.

Unsure of candidate qualifications?

🎤 Interview them.
That’s literally what the process is for! Ask questions that will give you a sense of their strengths, gaps, etc.

📄 Look at their docs.
Request professional references, website portfolio projects, review their resume, etc. These all exist to establish whether a person can do the work.

🔍 Ask for a case study review.
Conduct an in-depth walkthrough of 1 or 2 portfolio projects. This is deep dive into how they think, problem solve, etc.

💼 Employ the candidate as a “Contract-to-Hire.”
This way the potential hire demonstrates their skills and delivers project work while being compensated and getting real experience. If after 90 days they are performant then you can extend an offer to move them to full-time. Everyone wins! 🎉

🚫 Just don’t request for them solve your use cases for free.