The assignment required significant time and creative effort — easily 6-8 hours of work to complete properly. I submitted within 24 hours. Received a generic rejection: “Unfortunately, we’re not moving forward as the task was not approved.” No feedback. No explanation of what didn’t work. Just a blanket rejection after hours of unpaid creative work. If you’re going to ask candidates to produce this much work upfront, at least provide constructive feedback. A simple “this wasn’t what we were looking for” after someone spent hours on your assignment feels like free labor, not a genuine hiring process. I understand companies need to evaluate skills, but this felt more like extracting free creative ideas than assessing fit. If you’re asked to complete this assignment, decide if the time investment is worth it without any guarantee of feedback or progression. Set boundaries on how much unpaid work you’re willing to do.