Last year, I applied to work for a marketing firm. As a part of their interview process, they asked me to write a communications plan for a new social media management service they were going to offer (they focused on SEO). I wrote a 5 page launch plan, and they loved it!

Unfortunately they decided that they no longer had budget for the role. So I removed their access to the google doc, thanked them for their time, and went on my merry way.

About 3 days later they emailed me LIVID that they no longer had access to the file, as they had planned to roll out my plan the next month and had scheduled a meeting to go over it with the team. I advised them that since the plan was a skills assessment for a role I did not receive, they would not be able to use anything in the plan without compensating me at my freelance rate of $100 /hr.

Needless to say, they were not happy.