EMPLOYERS NOW ASKING JOB INTERVIEWEES TO WORK OUT

Some companies are now asking prospective employees to prove their physical fitness during the job interview. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal:
– Austin Harris, a 35-year-old investment banker applying at a company that makes nutrition bars, had an interview that started with a daybreak run though New York City’s Central Park and ended in a cramped office gym for a round of pull-ups, push-ups and squats.
– Laura Yecies went for a job interview at a software company in California’s Bay Area. The chief executive asked her on an hourlong “walking interview” through town. “There was no warning or heads up,” said Ms. Yecies. “If I said no, he would think I was a wimp.”
– The first meeting Ben Carus had with his future boss at a New York private-equity firm, the executive put Carus through a weightlifting and cardiovascular workout that left him sore for days. Later, he was taken to a boxing gym for the first time. The executive, who is more than 30 years Carus’ senior, also beat him in a sit-up competition.
– Paul Warburg, the president of Xenon Arc, a technology services company, sometimes takes job applicants on mountain bike rides outside Seattle, but only asks if they express an interest in cycling.
* Great idea – why should you waste 35 years sitting at a company desk before you have that heart attack?
* Do they really expect us to do push-ups … PLURAL?
* Of course that older executive beat the job applicant in the sit-up competition. The job applicant’s no dummy.
* You’ll start getting interview questions like, “Where do you see yourself in 3-5 miles?”