I applied for a graphic designer position at VeoRide in November 2019. Within hours of applying, a recruiter from VeoRide reached out via email to invite me to do a phone screen. I responded with my availability, and then heard nothing until the recruiter called me the next day and left a voicemail saying we had a phone screen scheduled at that time. This was news to me, but I called her right back and apologized, saying I had not received a response from her about scheduling a time to do the phone screen the previous day. She said, "oh maybe my email went to your spam folder" (I checked later; it hadn't). Anyway, we conducted the phone screen and at the end, she asked me to complete a 48 hour design exercise as the next step. As a professional graphic designer with years of experience, I have mixed feelings about these kind of things. I feel like it's like asking someone to work for free. My work is on display on my online portfolio, and if that doesn't convince you I'm worth talking to, then maybe I'm not the right candidate for you. But in this case I was excited about the company, so I agreed. I was then sent the instructions for the exercise, which was actually a complete rebranding of their company, including a new logo, mocking up a new website for them, etc. This is normally the kind of project companies spend weeks or even months on, not to mention tons of money. It seemed unrealistic to expect someone to deliver a complete rebrand in 48 hours. Nevertheless, I dived in, completed the exercise and delivered it on time. Was it my best work ever? No, but for a total rebrand with a 48-hour turnaround, I felt like it was pretty solid. I heard nothing back for a few days and sent a follow up email to make sure the company had received my work, especially considering the crossed wires we'd had in scheduling the phone screen. Again, no reply. Finally, a full week after delivering the completed exercise, I received a canned email simply stating they would not be moving forward with my candidacy. If I could advise VeoRide, I'd tell them to maybe only ask candidates to complete your design exercise if you are seriously considering them already, maybe after an on-site interview. It's really a lot to ask of people that they spend that kind of time and effort working on something for you, especially when they are on the job hunt, and then to blow them off after a week with a canned response. Think about how you treat the people who apply at your company. You don't want to get a bad reputation, and you may end up working with some of those people somewhere else someday. I would say it's probably also unrealistic to expect anyone to complete a rebrand of your company in the time allotted, although presumably they hired someone for this position based on this exercise, so maybe I'm the dummy.