A man who was rejected from a job after failing to perform a bizarre task in an interview has issued a warning to others. After weeks of painstakingly crafting his CV and cover letter, plus extensive interview prep, he applied for a position at a leading UK energy firm.
But nothing could have prepared him for the curveball that saw his chances of bagging the job dashed. Sharing his story on Reddit, he recounted: “Made it through the phone interview and was asked to come to a hotel for the next phase which was an aptitude test, there was about 30 of us in a big conference room, around 20 were sent home and the final 10 were asked to stay on and do a face to face interview in a hotel room.
“It was going quite well although I found it strange that they were filming the interview, anyway at the very end of the interview the guy said, ‘One last thing, could you sing me a song’.” Completely taken aback, he checked if he’d heard correctly.
He continued: “I said what? And he said yeah just anything that comes to mind, just sing something, I just flat out said no, and the guy kept at it, he eventually said it can be anything, sing happy birthday and I just said no, not doing that.” That refusal brought the interview to an abrupt halt, and the 19 year old was informed he hadn’t got the job.
He recounted: “The guy turned off the camera and said ‘you did well, and I feel bad for you but you won’t get the job’, he then told me his boss insisted nobody who refused to sing at the end could be hired no matter how good they did.”
Reflecting on that moment, he expressed relief, saying: “I found it extremely strange, I was even annoyed at myself for not just singing happy birthday as he suggested, but now when I think back I’m glad I didn’t, it was clearly a test to see how easy I would be controlled.”
Social media users rallied in support, with one commenting: “I would of probably sang The Smiths ‘I was looking for a job and I found a job, heaven knows I’m miserable now!'” Another chimed in with encouragement: “Hey, glad for you standing up for yourself.”
One user shared a self revelation: “This unusual task revealed something unfortunate about me. I’m kind of goofy and social, so I probably would have sang a song. I’d have thought, ‘that sounds like fun; here’s my favourite song.’ After reading the comments, it seems like I have a weakness for manipulation. I need to be extra cautious.”
Yet another advised maintaining a balance: “As long as you’re doing it because you want to and not manipulation, its fine, they’d be quite surprised when you showed you actually had a spine, just also don’t let them take advantage if it either. Like someone may like to wash a boat because they like boats, but don’t wash your boss’ boats for free.”
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