A job I applied for is asking me to submit a work sample, but I no longer have access to any documents from past employers.
My only option seems to be to recreate a document myself, which I am able to do. Is this how most people approach such a request?
I assume it would not be necessary to reveal that it isn’t the actual document unless prompted nor would they be able to tell.
There is also a possibility a writing sample might be requested if I advance to the next round, but again I have no samples in possession.
I usually take a request for a work sample to mean “an example of something you created” rather than “an example of work you did for a past employer.” The latter could serve as the former—assuming you’re allowed to show it, which it sounds like you’re not in this case—but it’s not the only way to go about it.
You could make a sample or mockup of something similar to what you’ve made previously without including proprietary information. If you need branding guidelines or a set of content to work from to get started (maybe you’re building a website or something), you could search online for publicly available versions of those documents from other companies to demonstrate that you’re able to follow guidelines when requested.