Is it normal to be asked to do free, trial work?

July 10, 2007 7:11 PM

My friend's wife is currently trying out with a new employer, and the interviewer said she didn't like typical interviews so would give her a trial, but it sounds like too long, and is this normal?

She had her try out a bit the other day, but the interviewer now wants her to go back in Thursday and Friday to try out. She's concerned that this is going to mean two full days work/training for no pay, and is thus tempted to just go and find something else as it's only for tuition fees.

It sounds like they've been let down by an applicant in the past. The woman said to her face that 'she might be lying on her resume so wants to see her work', and even checked which Starbucks she worked at and dropped by...

Is this normal? Can they expect her to do two days work for them for free and then not get the job?

posted by opsin to work & money (21 comments total)

people do this. not sure about the legality, but it's utterly classless and the sign of an awful, awful employer.
posted by drjimmy11 at 7:15 PM on July 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

No, that's fucked up -- especially the Starbucks thing --- and betokens a very controlling and paranoid boss.

And for a job with such little compensation, your friend's wife should be paid for anything beyond a normal interview of an hour or so.

I'd stay away from that job, if I were here.
posted by jayder at 7:16 PM on July 10, 2007

my wife, who's a copyeditor has gone through week long tryouts--which is common for the business. i'm pretty sure they got paid.

but starbucks? if this woman is going to work for another coffeehouse type place, then i'd say no. this employer is just trying to get someone to cover for a few days.

and the bit about 'might be lying on her resume ...' i probably would have walked out on the interview. that's pure bullshit. she doesn't need a job that badly.
posted by lester at 7:27 PM on July 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Thanks.
It really did sound fucked to us all, but just wanted to check whether our reaction was right first. She figures she's going to go in and if they want more than an hour unpaid she'll tell them where to go.
posted by opsin at 7:32 PM on July 10, 2007

if she's going to be paid for the days that she works, it's not unreasonable, but the employer doesn't sound like a great boss. too paranoid.
posted by thinkingwoman at 7:32 PM on July 10, 2007

Normal? No, but not unheard of, especially if it's a very small business doing food service. Though most of the businesses I know doing this are doing it with illegal workers and didn't expect them to complain to the law.

Does she really want to work for a person who treats her like this? Because it only gets worse from there. And no one wants a paranoid boss. Much less one that has accused her of lying before she even started.

However bosses like employees they can abuse and do things like make them work for free.
posted by Ookseer at 7:33 PM on July 10, 2007

Run.
posted by LairBob at 7:38 PM on July 10, 2007

Agreeing with Ookseer, and adding that they might be using this method of hiring to see who is a big enough sucker to be treated this way for a living.
posted by 4ster at 7:45 PM on July 10, 2007

Do "free" trial work? Oh heavens NO. We sometimes hire people and call a certain period a trial, but if they are working, they always get paid for their time, even if it doesn't work out.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:55 PM on July 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

FWIW, I was looking for work once a number of years ago and dropped a resume at a coffee shop. The woman asked me if I had any experience with espresso machines, and I admitted I didn't. She thanked me for at least being honest--apparently a lot of people think 'how hard can it be?' and lie about having experience in coffee shops.

Still, it seems like a single shift of maybe 2-4 hours would be more than enough to tell that the person knows how to work the machine.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:57 PM on July 10, 2007

I should have said, the job she's now interviewing for isn't even a natural follow on from a Starbucks, it's an admin job. So the checking-up-on-her-barrista-ing is just that bit weirder.
posted by opsin at 8:26 PM on July 10, 2007

Yeah, I had a prospective employer ask me to do a "trial" as well. They said they were having trouble with people quitting right after getting them trained. I did the trial, exceeded their expectations and was given the job along with being paid for the trial period. Only then did I discover that people were quitting because it was an awful, awful job where all the horrifying grunt work was passed onto me while the other workers did nothing but gossip all day. Needless to say, I quit a week later. I'm with everyone else, tell her to run.
posted by Ugh at 8:29 PM on July 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

That employer just failed the trial.
posted by flabdablet at 8:29 PM on July 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

hell no, it's not unreasonable to have a probationary period after which you are evaluated and are now either a full member of the team or let go, no muss no fuss. But a trail period of no pay seems like it could well be illegal. If she is doing work and not getting paid things are remiss. I'd walk away and make a call to the state department of labor to enquire about the legality of such practices, if they are not report them.
posted by edgeways at 8:33 PM on July 10, 2007

Seconding maybe calling the state department of labor. I believe that at least in California, you have to be paid for every bit training, meetings, every minute you spend at work must be on the, so that would be seriously not kosher.
posted by mostlymartha at 9:10 PM on July 10, 2007

[i]Yeah, I had a prospective employer ask me to do a "trial" as well. They said they were having trouble with people quitting right after getting them trained. I did the trial, exceeded their expectations and was given the job along with being paid for the trial period. Only then did I discover that people were quitting because it was an awful, awful job where all the horrifying grunt work was passed onto me while the other workers did nothing but gossip all day. Needless to say, I quit a week later. I'm with everyone else, tell her to run.[/i]

Ha, this is what happened to me while I was in college at a small retail store. When lots of people seem not to "work out" it's often not those employees that are the problem.

N-thing the "Run" sentiment.

Do post this interviewer's reaction, though, it sounds like it might be hilarious.
posted by tastybrains at 9:31 PM on July 10, 2007

Um, oops, pardon my fake tags.
posted by tastybrains at 9:32 PM on July 10, 2007

You guys seem a little harsh. Maybe for this sort of job...but I will most certainly never hire a developer again without a trial period. And for my last position (which I was at for 5.5 years) I did a one week trial period. This seemed perfectly reasonable to me for them to ask for this, since they flew me there and put me up in a hotel and, after I demonstrated a good level of skill & productivity, paid me contract rate for the week. I worked productively, got the job, and was pretty happy with it, leaving only because I eventually really wanted to come back to Canada.
posted by lastobelus at 10:05 PM on July 10, 2007

I was asked to do this for a summer job at a computer-mending shop. They wanted to see what my ability was so it made sense. Except it transpired that the person I was on with that day didn't have the first clue. It was about lunchtime it became clear the manager wasn't showing up that day so I began to make noises about the value of the trial. "Oh, he'll probably ask you to come back again tomorrow."

I walked there and then. I'd urge avoidance.

Telling her straight up that she was concerned she was lying is a big alarm bell, too. Your friend's wife would probably go nuts working with this woman who would probably follow her to the stationery cupboard with a videocamera every time "just in case".
posted by nthdegx at 12:01 AM on July 11, 2007

just my two cents, i once balked at a "free trial" situation when the small business owner wanted me to "play around on the computer for a day and show me what you can do".

eventually i felt like it was fair and did it, because the work i was doing was a pure junk demo to illustrate my ability to learn things quickly, and couldn't be used as a sell-able product.

i was really skeptical about the employer wanting this, but i did it and he hired me, and then ended up being really generous with raises and such after he knew i was working hard.

your lady does sound paranoid, but maybe a similar situation would work out. if i were in your position, i would call this lady before going in and say something like "my skills are very valuable and so is my time - i would like to work for your company, but not without compensation for both. i will do a paid trial of a couple days, but i won't work for free, and after the 2 days we can discuss whether we think it's a good fit"
posted by white light at 12:57 AM on July 11, 2007

The only time I think an unpaid trial is okay is when the work can't actually be used, but is just a mock-up to show you know your stuff and nothing else. Two days still seems excessive. Combined with the comment about lying, I'd run run run.
posted by joannemerriam at 3:26 AM on July 11, 2007 [1 favorite]