If you accept a take-home task for the sake of learning or practice, then license your solution, publish it to your portfolio, and send the employer a link.

A take-home task amounts to free labor when I've already submitted proof-of-work in the form of a public portfolio. GitHub ( github.com/sqlxpert ) houses the open-source AWS cloud cost and security software I've been writing since 2017. A hiring manager can see the code, the changes I've made over time, the documentation I've written, and the stars from real users.

It's a large body of work, so with every job application, I provide three or four links to short excerpts relevant to specific requirements in the job description.

Everyone needs a portfolio!

The vast majority of job applicants are rejected, so the vast majority of take-home tasks are a waste of time. Accept take-home work only if there is some benefit to you, such as an opportunity to learn a new skill or to practice an old skill. Choose a strict reciprocal or non-commercial license (examples include the GNU General Public License for software and the Creative Commons CC BY-SA or CC BY-NC licenses for other works), publish your solution online (you can omit details that would identify the employer), and send in the link.

You made it for free? You own the intellectual property rights! If this employer doesn't hire you, you have a portfolio piece to show to other employers.

Thank you for reading. You are welcome to reply to the LinkedIn comment that became this article, or to e-mail me directly. You can also read Ekaterina's original LinkedIn post and people's stories of how employers stole their work but didn't hire them.