UXdesign #jobinterview #lawyer #intellectualproperty #ceaseanddesist
Hey everyone! 🌟 Have you ever found yourself in a sticky situation with a company that used your work without compensation? This UX designer shared their experience of completing a test for a company, only to have them go with an "internal UX person" instead. 😡 Here are some key takeaways:
- Always be cautious with take-home exercises for companies, especially if they seem unclear or too demanding.
- Consult with a lawyer if you feel your work has been used without consent or payment.
- Consider sending a cease and desist to protect your intellectual property and seek compensation for your work.
What do you think about getting a lawyer involved in situations like this? Any tips or advice to share? Let’s discuss! 💬✨ #designcommunity #careeradvice #protectyourwork
Thank you for doing this. Hopefully it will discourage them from taking advantage of others in the future. They need to understand that theft = risk
Thank you for taking the time to do something about it.
This is yet another post that can be shown in response to the people who think take home tests or assignments are acceptable.
Sorry this happened to you OP and I appreciate what you did to get them to stop using your work.
Send the letter today!
Normally, I’m not one for pettiness at this level.
However, I think it is warranted, and the fact that you’re leveraging your network to get access to legal resources is the icing on that cake.
By all means, do it. I hope it has a chilling effect on even that one organization’s subsequent efforts in that regard.
This is absolutely something I would love for candidates to normalize. Don’t send invoices — send cease and desist letters. (If they promised to pay, add the invoice, certainly.)
Sounds like potentially straight up theft. A decent lawyer would have you register your copyright ASAP. If they haven’t, find someone better.
This same thing happened to me several months ago. Had 3 great interviews with a company. They asked me to do a “take home task”. I reluctantly agreed. The task turned out to be oddly specific to their product. Every fiber of my being was shouting: Don’t do it! But I did the work, really hoping to impress them. I knocked it out of the park. I not only completed it, I went above and beyond. They were super impressed with my work, which was a simple, but elegant solution to a cx problem that had plagued their product for years. After that, I heard NOTHING. THEY GHOSTED ME. I tried contacting the recruiter: NOTHING. I tried reaching out to the hiring manager through linkedIn: NOTHING. NEVER AGAIN.
What are you getting out of this? It sounds like they wasted your time and now you are spending money for them to not use your work, which they still can even though the attorney sent a letter. Unless you previously had a copy write on your work I don’t think anything will stop them from using your work.