Hiring-process patterns
What counts as unpaid work?
On Ghostedcheck, unpaid work is a take-home, case study, or assignment that went well beyond a reasonable skills check — nights of production work, a live project, or a spec package — not a short exercise. It is a hiring-process pattern, not a wage claim and not a verdict.
An unpaid-work filing stays held until independent connections describe that same pattern at the same company enough times to meet the live bar. Ghostedcheck does not decide what “reasonable” is in court. Recurrence is not proof the work was reused.
How to spot it
- The take-home is a live business problem, a spec package, or several days of production work.
- They want source files, working product, or customer-ready copy — not a bounded exercise.
- There is no paid trial, no NDA that you chose, and no clear end date for the assignment.
- You never hear whether the work was reviewed.
These are things you can see. They are not a finding. Run a listing check.
On the public ledger
Companies below have public reports of this pattern that met the live recurrence bar. Unverified. Not a background check.
Nothing public yet
No company has met the live bar for unpaid work reports. A filing stays held until independent first-hand accounts of this pattern at the same company recur.
Questions about this pattern
Short answers search and answer engines can quote. Recurrence is not proof. This is not a background check.
What counts as unpaid work on Ghostedcheck?
- A take-home, case study, or assignment that went well beyond a reasonable skills check: multi-day production work, a live business problem, or a spec package. A short, bounded exercise is not automatically unpaid work. File what you were asked to do. Ghostedcheck does not litigate wage claims.
Does Ghostedcheck verify that a company used my take-home?
- No. Recurrence is an automatic ranking threshold, not an investigation. Ghostedcheck does not compare files, does not contact the employer, and does not adopt a report as its own speech.
How do I file an unpaid-work report?
- Name the employer and role, pick Unpaid work, and describe the assignment and what happened after — not people. Do not paste the assignment, source code, or confidential material. Names and contact details are blocked. The filing is held until independent accounts of that pattern meet the live bar.
Other patterns
- Ghost job
The role was posted with no real intent to hire, or the requisition was already filled.
- Re-posted listing
The same or nearly identical job was re-posted after interviews or assignments.
- Ghosted
The company stopped responding after interviews, a take-home, or a promised decision date.
- Bait and switch
The posted title, pay, location, or seniority did not match what was actually on offer.
- Endless process
Round after round with no decision — a process that keeps the requisition looking active.