Still, it’s too much of a disconnect between the work you did for someone else and the work you can do for them. That’s why I much prefer to generate actual samples that’s related to their company, their project, their industry (that’s the essence of that 3rd “Finally” point.)

Yes, give a little for Free, not the whole store. Some managers who see you do too much may think you’re too desperate to make a sale and will give too much away to prospective client. We’ll give you 2 free pieces of chicken, and if you want the whole bucket, ya gotta pay!

Kudos to you! Working with the candidate during the interview is the best way I know to figure out whether they can do the job… It also often frees them from their nervousness because they get to “do the job” rather than just do an interview.

I often ask for work samples — I actually prefer new work samples created just for the interviewing process, but I’ll take prior work samples in many cases, such as if it would be time-consuming to produce something new. I think it’s good for both the employer and the candidate, since it’s to the candidate’s advantage too to make sure he/she is well-matched with the employer’s expectations before signing on.

Great post.

I love what you said in the last paragraph about offering to do a bit of work to prove this person’s ability in place of giving up something that contained confidential information. I’ve told a couple of clients in the past with similar situations. In those cases, one got hired, one didn’t.

I think it is pretty crappy that an employer demands proof of actual work when their own work is just as private. A substitute should suffice, but I guess it doesn’t.

Interesting topic.

Anyone into programming, system administration or similar techie-related areas can easily create a portfolio of work by helping out on an open source project. The very nature of open source means that you can show your work around anywhere.