This was the strangest and most unprofessional interview of my life. It started out fine- an online application, a phone interview, a thorough writing test, and finally, an in-person writing test. I was asked to stop by the Morning Brew HQ for 4 hours so I knew it would be an intensive process. There’s only about five employees total in the small WeWork space, and first impressions were great. The staff was friendly, informative, and straightforward. They asked me to complete a writing test and if I had brought a computer- no one had asked me to bring my own computer with me, so I borrowed a laptop from one of the other writers. He informed me that he bought himself a new Mac with his own money for the job, and I found it strange that they don’t even supply their employees with computers. I left the interview feeling positive, until I checked my email the next day. They had taken my responses from the writing test and published it in their daily newsletter, aka their main product, without my written permission. They also had no plans to pay me. I felt manipulated and taken advantage of. There, sandwiched between writing from the two writers who supposedly make $60-70k salaries, was my intellectual property; the free labor of a someone who didn’t even have a job offer. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. They seemed disorganized, but everyone was very nice towards me. Maybe it was an honest mistake. I sent them an email signing off my permission. They reached out and asked for me to complete yet another writing test over the weekend. Monday morning, I woke up to a new issue of the Morning Brew and a friendly email from the CEO. “Hope you were glad to see your piece in today’s newsletter!” Once again, they used my writing without my permission and without payment, publishing it to their thousands of subscribers. This time, I was really upset. The CEO wanted to jump on a call, so I assumed I was receiving an offer. Surely, after FIVE writing tests, they had reached a decision. It was not an offer. They wanted me to freelance for “no longer than two weeks” to see if I was a good fit. As a woman, I wondered if the two male writers, who come from no direct journalism experience and have far less credentials than me, were given the same vetting process. I agreed, giving them my hourly rate, but also stood up for myself and asked for compensation for the writing they had published without my permission. As I began freelancing, there was already some awkward tension. The team seemed surprised that I wasn’t okay with them taking my work from the interview and making money off of it without giving me the job. That is literally the definition of stealing. After three days of freelancing, I was asked to jump on a call and was told they would not be moving forward with my application. Phew. I invoiced then for my freelance work, including the work they attempted to use for free, and the CEO paid me via Venmo. Venmo!!!! This should be interesting once I do my taxes.