I just read this article on the BBC after hearing about it this morning. B&Q a respected DIY retailer in the UK apparently asked candidates to dance, copying a managers routine, before settling down for the interview with them. How absolutely appalling!! They should have asked the candidates to freestyle rather than copy 
A B&Q spokesperson said the following:
“We made it clear to all of the candidates that they did not have to take part if they did not feel comfortable and that it would not influence the recruitment process at all,” it said in a statement.” I think that most candidates would give the dancing a go (regardless of their level of comfort with it) in order to ensure that their chances of getting the job was not jeopardised so in that sense, they felt compelled to carry out an unnecessary and humiliating task.
On a serious note, it is the role of the interviewer to try to ensure that the candidate is relaxed prior to the formal part of the interview starting. Here at the Lab, we are very respectful of candidates both in the interview situation and afterward (see my earlier post regarding candidate feedback).
I can see from the B&Q article that the interviewers did have the candidates best interests at heart in terms of wanting to relax them prior to the interview but asking them to throw shapes is just an appalling and humiliating way to do it. Having been the other side of the interviewing fence on many occasions, I can see that a skilled interviewer need not resort to ill-advised ridicule in order to calm a candidate. A friendly manner, a relaxed start to the interview (encouraging a candidate to talk about something that they are very familiar with – and therefore happy to talk about) and the air of being genuinely interested go a very long way.
