Trust your gut—seriously. From my first conversation with the recruiter, something felt off. He was cold, monotone, and read about the company directly from their website. When he mentioned the interview process included a written report and presentation, I felt uneasy. Curious, I googled the company and found multiple warnings from others who felt used—saying the company exploited the interview process to gather free work and ideas. I brought up these concerns to the recruiter and asked how the report related to the actual job. He dismissed the online reviews, saying something along the lines that they were opinions from people who were salty they didn't get hired. Despite my hesitation, I continued. My second interview with the department director only added to the discomfort—again, cold and disinterested. To my surprise, I was invited to a third interview, which went much better. The interviewer was kind and shared a very specific issue their team was struggling with—an issue I happened to have deep experience in. When I received the case study, it asked me to solve that exact problem. That’s when my intuition really kicked in. It took me days to complete (about 15 pages), and I hesitated to submit it, knowing I was potentially giving away years of knowledge and expertise. But I ignored my gut—again—and sent it. The final interview was the most telling. The hiring manager was visibly bored, even jokingly asking the director to help keep him awake. They didn’t let me present my work, said it was impressive, and ended the call without questions. Unsurprisingly, I later received a rejection email—which honestly felt like a relief. I strongly suspect this company uses the interview process to collect free solutions to their internal problems. Please don’t ignore your intuition like I did. My experience wasn’t horrible, but it was far from positive. The environment felt cold, impersonal, and transactional. Save yourself the time and don’t give away your expertise for free.