Man says job interviews are getting out of hand after being asked to sing by recruiter

Weird interview stories are not new. In fact, time and again, we have seen people lose opportunities for not complying with some bizarre requests from managers. The same happened to a then-19-year-old job applicant, u/SoretoeMcGoo, after the interviewer wanted to test his vocal skills. Yes, you read that right. The man had applied to a UK-based energy-supplying company. However, what happened during the final round of the hiring process left a significant impact on his understanding of the organization’s interests. The post covered the working professional’s inspirational story of how he stood his ground against an overbearing supervisor, leaving a lesson for potential employees in the future.

“(What’s the) weirdest thing you’ve been asked to do at an interview?” the man asked from the online community while sharing his own experience. He recalled applying for a job at a major energy supplier in the United Kingdom while being a fresher. The young graduate successfully cleared the initial stages, including a telephonic interview. “I made it through the phone interview and was asked to come to a hotel for the next phase,” he wrote, describing the next round as an aptitude test. Furthermore, upon reaching the location, he was joined by at least thirty other candidates. “There were about 30 of us in a big conference room; around 20 were sent home, and the final 10 were asked to stay,” his post explained. The remaining aspirants were expected to pass 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,” he continued. Nonetheless, the recruiters asked typical interview questions — until the end. “Anyway, at the very end of the interview, the guy (the manager) said, ‘One last thing, could you sing me a song?’” The man was surprised upon hearing this unusual request from the hiring manager. When he sought further clarification, the recruiter said, “Yeah, just sing anything that comes to your mind. Just sing something.” He responded with a flat-out no, prompting the recruiter to keep at it. “He eventually said it can be anything, sing, ‘Happy Birthday,’ and I just said no, not doing that,” the post added. As the interview ended, the recruiter turned off the camera and told the candidate, “You did well, and I feel bad for you, but you won't get the job.”

Following this, the interviewer elaborated, “His boss insisted nobody who refused to sing at the end could be hired no matter how good they did.” Finding it “extremely strange,” the man remarked, “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.” The post managed to draw widespread attention on social media with different responses. u/LAffaire-est-Ketchup said, “I’ve had to sing (and dance) for interviews before, but by far the weirdest was when I had to answer questions exclusively from a piece of paper.” “I was asked to build a server once, which takes quite a bit of time. I simply said that I’m no longer interested,” u/hotmoltenlava wrote.