Michelle Tran was fortunate to land a job she loved right out of college in 2022. She worked in digital marketing for about a year before personal reasons led her to resign. When she started searching for a new job last year, she found the job market far more challenging. Now, a year later, she's still unemployed.
Tran has turned job hunting into a full-time endeavor, applying for 30 jobs each month. Much of her time is consumed by lengthy work demonstration tests. "It's very time-consuming," she told Business Insider, "but I do try to give myself weekends off if I can." Although she understands the necessity for companies to assess candidates' skills, she sometimes feels like she's providing "free consultancy," especially when tests involve creating social media plans for the company's existing clients.
Surprisingly, some companies compensate candidates for the time spent on these tests. "It's the respectful thing to do to compensate you for doing this work on a project," Tran told Business Insider. One agency even gave her a $90 gift card for completing a two-hour test. She sees this as a significant positive indicator about a company, suggesting it might treat employees well.
However, the decision to offer compensation is ultimately up to the employers. Job seekers are expressing their frustrations online about the increasing number of hiring obstacles. The current hiring landscape is rapidly evolving. The era of the Great Resignation, when many people left their jobs to find new opportunities, has shifted to what is now called the "Big Stay," with more people holding onto their jobs. As a result, fewer positions are available for those unemployed.
Economic difficulties have prompted companies to tighten their budgets, shifting power back to employers. "There has been a dramatic shift in the employment market over the past few years," Chris Abbass, founder and CEO of recruitment firm Talentful, previously stated to Business Insider. This is why some candidates, like Tran, appreciate and are surprised when employers compensate them for test tasks.
Still, Tran participates in unpaid hiring tests to keep her options open, despite the power shifting back to employers, who have little incentive to offer such perks.
From an employer’s perspective, some find that paying candidates for their test time helps attract top talent and makes the process fairer. Data people, a New York-based company, prides itself on providing a "more human hiring experience" and compensates every candidate for work demonstration tests, regardless of job level. Amit Bhatia, the company’s co-founder, explained that the compensation depends on the task's effort, not the candidate’s title. He believes this approach is necessary for an inclusive interview process, as some candidates might need to pay for childcare or face other barriers to performing their best without payment.
“Candidates who are normally hesitant to invest time in work demonstrations are thrilled to hear they will be compensated,” Bhatia added. However, experts don’t think this practice will become standard anytime soon.
Carolin Chmielewski, founder of talent acquisition agency Talent Cove, told Business Insider, “I think it won't become a norm anytime soon.” She pointed out that while candidates used to be more accepting of unpaid tests, this is changing. She has had candidates drop out of interviews because the required test was too time-consuming. Chmielewski believes companies need to consider offering compensation for extensive tests to avoid losing candidates and facing high dropout rates.