Had an interview with a startup, they’re just ramping up they recently raised some money now they’re expanding team and building new products. In an interview the person asked general questions like how would you design this what requirements or specifications would you consider for this scenario etc etc. Which was very normal, until they just sent me an email of next steps, asking me to do a full presentation with deep analysis with cost analysis etc. I don’t mind doing it but what I got vibe is they’re interviewing people, taking in designs from candidates and they would go with best design. Because interviewer mentioned twice during call that they’re interviewing many candidates in next two weeks. So I felt like they were giving a signal that don’t keep your hopes too high, just share the design process and we’ll take it from there. Am I overthinking? Or is that how it’s very normal.
Name & Shame the company! Went thru the same recently with a company called Validate Health. Too many start ups doing this nowadays and taking advantage of candidates.
Might seem like you are providing free work but at the end of the day your analysis does not matter to them if they can not execute. Likely case is they need you to both set the technical strategy and execute it because they would not be able to do it themselves.
Not saying it’s normal but they probably will not build their business on your interview answer
what role?
Free crowd sourcing and its for real, you have nothing to lose is how I would think about it.. but it's definitely their gain
If you don't see your time and effort valuable, then yes, you have nothing to lose. Btw it's possible they don't have any intention of hiring anyone, they're just fishing for free expertise. Wouldn't be the first time a company did this.