Beware! Hiring manager requested spec work as condition of hiring. Asked to design a billboard for the company’s product. I submitted an appropriate narrative response. All professional associations advise against this practice. Clients risk compromised quality. Little time, energy and thought can go into speculative work, which precludes the most important element of most design projects—the research, thoughtful consideration of alternatives, and development and testing of prototype designs. Designers risk being taken advantage of. Some clients may see this as a way to get free work; it also diminishes the true economic value of the contribution designers make toward client’s objectives.