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| Why should you beg, or indeed dance, for a job? | Why should you beg, or indeed dance, for a job? |
| (10 days later) | |
| How hideous to hear of the job applicant forced to dance, David Brent-style, at a mass interview at a Welsh branch of Currys. Alan Bacon, a graduate from the University of South Wales, turned up primed to talk about the company and his interest in cameras but ended up being forced into performing a robot dance. Afterwards, he was so flustered that he felt he underperformed for the rest of the interview. | How hideous to hear of the job applicant forced to dance, David Brent-style, at a mass interview at a Welsh branch of Currys. Alan Bacon, a graduate from the University of South Wales, turned up primed to talk about the company and his interest in cameras but ended up being forced into performing a robot dance. Afterwards, he was so flustered that he felt he underperformed for the rest of the interview. |
| Bacon says that an "older gentleman" was also up for interview. He told Bacon he'd been made redundant, just had a new baby and was desperate for a job – he ended up dancing to rap music. | Bacon says that an "older gentleman" was also up for interview. He told Bacon he'd been made redundant, just had a new baby and was desperate for a job – he ended up dancing to rap music. |
| What is this – a form of recession-sadism, an economic climate that brings out the worst in employers, whose penchant for humiliating applicants usually remains secret and unchecked? "Hey, boy, you want a job – you'd better be prepared to dance for it." | What is this – a form of recession-sadism, an economic climate that brings out the worst in employers, whose penchant for humiliating applicants usually remains secret and unchecked? "Hey, boy, you want a job – you'd better be prepared to dance for it." |
| Currys has apologised, saying that it is not part of the company's official recruitment process, but this isn't just about Currys. From stories people are telling, this sort of thing is becoming increasingly commonplace. | Currys has apologised, saying that it is not part of the company's official recruitment process, but this isn't just about Currys. From stories people are telling, this sort of thing is becoming increasingly commonplace. |
| While there has always been an element of unfairness, weirdness and general "sucking it up" in the early stages of careers, it comes to something when it starts at the point of applying. Moreover, while zany job interviews have long been with us (probably due to bored staff relieved to get out of the office for an afternoon), this feels different – an abuse of power and a denigration of human dignity. | While there has always been an element of unfairness, weirdness and general "sucking it up" in the early stages of careers, it comes to something when it starts at the point of applying. Moreover, while zany job interviews have long been with us (probably due to bored staff relieved to get out of the office for an afternoon), this feels different – an abuse of power and a denigration of human dignity. |
| Ironic, then, that The X Factor still gets such stick for its "humiliating" audition process; at least there, it's in the actual job description that you need to be able to sing and perhaps move a little. If you're going to shake your tush to earn your dime, then at least with The X Factor there's the whiff of a chance of millions of pounds and international fame at the end of it – not a job in Currys in the camera section. | Ironic, then, that The X Factor still gets such stick for its "humiliating" audition process; at least there, it's in the actual job description that you need to be able to sing and perhaps move a little. If you're going to shake your tush to earn your dime, then at least with The X Factor there's the whiff of a chance of millions of pounds and international fame at the end of it – not a job in Currys in the camera section. |
| Not that there is anything wrong with jobs such as these. What is wrong is making people grovel and demean themselves for them. | Not that there is anything wrong with jobs such as these. What is wrong is making people grovel and demean themselves for them. |
| It isn't sufficient to claim that applicants are being tested for their extrovert qualities, which requires being pushed out of their comfort zones. A job interview is just that – an encounter, or series of encounters, to deduce whether a candidate is suitable for employment. It is not an excuse for companies, or anyone who works for them, to behave in the manner of demented Roman emperors, demanding to be amused and entertained by the applicants, even to the point of making them dance. | It isn't sufficient to claim that applicants are being tested for their extrovert qualities, which requires being pushed out of their comfort zones. A job interview is just that – an encounter, or series of encounters, to deduce whether a candidate is suitable for employment. It is not an excuse for companies, or anyone who works for them, to behave in the manner of demented Roman emperors, demanding to be amused and entertained by the applicants, even to the point of making them dance. |
| This goes beyond routine bullying – this is about workplace ownership of an employee, corporate possession of a worker, body and soul, not only within and outside work hours (said to be common in such arenas as the City) but now even before someone has got the job. The pressure not only to prove that you can do the work but also to demonstrate that you are "clubbable", generally in some ghastly way that involves degrading yourself. | This goes beyond routine bullying – this is about workplace ownership of an employee, corporate possession of a worker, body and soul, not only within and outside work hours (said to be common in such arenas as the City) but now even before someone has got the job. The pressure not only to prove that you can do the work but also to demonstrate that you are "clubbable", generally in some ghastly way that involves degrading yourself. |
| A cynical view would be that such processes are not truly designed to seek out the confident and extrovert. Rather, they are there to expose the people desperate enough for employment to agree to anything: personality types who would be more likely to work harder and longer for less pay, who wouldn't be confident enough to say no to any kind of unfairness, compliant workers easy to push around – basically, the kind of people who really need unions. | A cynical view would be that such processes are not truly designed to seek out the confident and extrovert. Rather, they are there to expose the people desperate enough for employment to agree to anything: personality types who would be more likely to work harder and longer for less pay, who wouldn't be confident enough to say no to any kind of unfairness, compliant workers easy to push around – basically, the kind of people who really need unions. |
| So, well done to Alan Bacon for helping to expose this – the interview culture of the dancing bear. His experience could herald a new era of workplace "whistleblowers" – all the sweeter because they haven't even got the job yet. | So, well done to Alan Bacon for helping to expose this – the interview culture of the dancing bear. His experience could herald a new era of workplace "whistleblowers" – all the sweeter because they haven't even got the job yet. |
| Whether it's about incompetence, sadism or cynicism, these companies are in the wrong. Employers may be holding many of the cards right now, but that also means they are morally accountable for setting the tone. After all, since when did anyone have the god-given right to ask for your dignity along with your application form? | Whether it's about incompetence, sadism or cynicism, these companies are in the wrong. Employers may be holding many of the cards right now, but that also means they are morally accountable for setting the tone. After all, since when did anyone have the god-given right to ask for your dignity along with your application form? |
| Crossing buttons are a pressing issue | Crossing buttons are a pressing issue |
| Who knew that pressing buttons at a pedestrian crossing could become so fraught? The BBC says that many crossings are automated for most of the time on a system known as Scoot (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique). It employs vehicle detectors, but button pressing is redundant. In New York, they are known as "placebo buttons". Those lit buttons on tube train doors are also rumoured to be placebos. They are there so that people can kid themselves they are in control. | Who knew that pressing buttons at a pedestrian crossing could become so fraught? The BBC says that many crossings are automated for most of the time on a system known as Scoot (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique). It employs vehicle detectors, but button pressing is redundant. In New York, they are known as "placebo buttons". Those lit buttons on tube train doors are also rumoured to be placebos. They are there so that people can kid themselves they are in control. |
| I'm mildly devastated, but this may be my own fault. How you press those buttons could be viewed as an informal Rorschach test. Laid-back people don't bother and let other people do it for them. Conscientious folk push them on behalf of everybody else. Then you get idiots like me who jab impatiently, and continuously at crossing buttons because we believe that we are tricking it into thinking that scores of people are waiting to cross. I've even let other people in on this urban secret. "Look," I've hissed, jabbing away, "this is how to cheat it – it will think there are loads of us … come back, this is interesting!" | I'm mildly devastated, but this may be my own fault. How you press those buttons could be viewed as an informal Rorschach test. Laid-back people don't bother and let other people do it for them. Conscientious folk push them on behalf of everybody else. Then you get idiots like me who jab impatiently, and continuously at crossing buttons because we believe that we are tricking it into thinking that scores of people are waiting to cross. I've even let other people in on this urban secret. "Look," I've hissed, jabbing away, "this is how to cheat it – it will think there are loads of us … come back, this is interesting!" |
| Conversely, I become agitated when I'm the one in front of a train door with a button flashing. This feels like too much responsibility, not pure fun like the crossing buttons. | Conversely, I become agitated when I'm the one in front of a train door with a button flashing. This feels like too much responsibility, not pure fun like the crossing buttons. |
| Granted, there may be an argument for me getting out less and only then with an adult chaperone. On a wider level, these placebos are not only creepy, they are presumptuous – people cope with varying degrees of lack of control over their journeys every day without falling apart in droves. | Granted, there may be an argument for me getting out less and only then with an adult chaperone. On a wider level, these placebos are not only creepy, they are presumptuous – people cope with varying degrees of lack of control over their journeys every day without falling apart in droves. |
| Don't expect Russell Brand to suck up to the Boss | Don't expect Russell Brand to suck up to the Boss |
| And so to the Russell Brand/GQ magazine men of the year fisticuffs? Manbags at dawn! Brand denounced the fact that Hugo Boss was sponsoring the event, because the German firm had made uniforms for the Nazis in the Second World War – following this by goosestepping, Basil Fawlty-style, all over the stage. | And so to the Russell Brand/GQ magazine men of the year fisticuffs? Manbags at dawn! Brand denounced the fact that Hugo Boss was sponsoring the event, because the German firm had made uniforms for the Nazis in the Second World War – following this by goosestepping, Basil Fawlty-style, all over the stage. |
| GQ editor Dylan Jones then threw Brand out with his own lilywhite hands. I'm sorry, but this was a wasted opportunity – anyone who's seen the movie Zoolander knows that Brand and Jones should have settled this with a "walk-off". | GQ editor Dylan Jones then threw Brand out with his own lilywhite hands. I'm sorry, but this was a wasted opportunity – anyone who's seen the movie Zoolander knows that Brand and Jones should have settled this with a "walk-off". |
| Otherwise, this appears to be one of those fluke occasions where everyone manages to be in the wrong. It's patently ludicrous for Brand to make moral hay out of Hugo Boss's Nazi association 70-odd years down the line. | Otherwise, this appears to be one of those fluke occasions where everyone manages to be in the wrong. It's patently ludicrous for Brand to make moral hay out of Hugo Boss's Nazi association 70-odd years down the line. |
| On the other hand, is Hugo Boss really "wounded" and "offended"? Hugo Boss is a fashion house, a multinational business. Brand's antics were bad PR, nothing more – the rest is crocodile tears. | On the other hand, is Hugo Boss really "wounded" and "offended"? Hugo Boss is a fashion house, a multinational business. Brand's antics were bad PR, nothing more – the rest is crocodile tears. |
| The only enduring moral of the tale is: if you're throwing a big, important party, don't invite people famed for being outrageous, because – guess what? – they just might be outrageous. | The only enduring moral of the tale is: if you're throwing a big, important party, don't invite people famed for being outrageous, because – guess what? – they just might be outrageous. |
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