I recently had my first interview which was a phone screen. The interview lasted 45 minutes and I thought "went well". Next steps were to discuss product design + development. After 2 weeks, I was informed that in order to move to the next level, all prospective hires had to submit 20 design ideas on their Halloween/Christmas inflatables and yard sign decor. 20 designs as images or "simple sketches with callouts" (per their words) on a mood board due the following week. 20 designs!!! All FREE SPEC WORK EVEN IF JUST IDEAS AND IMAGES. To compete against other hires. Apparently an extensive portfolio, resume and interview was not enough. I was not told of this on the phone screen. The utter audacity and unethical red flag behavior from this person and company. The fact I emailed about this afterward and have received ZERO responses to this unethical behavior. They actually think it is ok to be abusive in this 2023 bad and competitive job market. I am SURE I am the only one who refused. And that too, bums me out. The fact they are using people and their design ideas. Who is to say they won't use those as potential designs?! Epic Studios — you should be ashamed of yourselves.