Had an interview for a well known company that sounds like Depsi co. I walk in and shake hands with two guys that answered the door. They say their names and have me sit in a very small room (think smaller than a walk in closet). One guy walked away to other room, the main guy (I assume is the head interviewer) asks me to have a seat on this janky office chair as he starts reading a script straight from the website. Monotone him reading: “Thank you for coming to apply for Depsi co. Today you'll be doing a 45 minute exercise which includes, but not limited to lifting 75 pounds, moving pallets using a floor jack, and other activities.” “Then after the evaluation we will have the interview”
I stopped him right there because he had another 2 PAGES of stuff to read. I say politely “Could we do the interview first? Id like to make sure this position is right for me before we do any work, I'm sure you understand.”
He halfway looks up from his clipboard and replies, “Well… No. We talk details at the end”.
I stand up from this wobbly chair, (in hindsight it was definitely intimidating and I didn't mean it to be. I'm 6'2″ 300lb shaved head. It was just such a small room) and I tell him just like this “welp, here's what we're going to do. We can have this interview right now, then if I believe you're a good fit, I'd be willing to prove myself with this exercise.”
He responds “I'm sorry but we don't do things that way”
I look down, extending my hand, and told him “Good luck in your job search then” and left.
AITA? I don't think it was a unreasonable request. I'm in decent enough shape to be able to do all aspects of the job, that's very clear by my figure (I understand they are looking for how applicants do in real life situations). I'm fine with doing 45 minutes of work for free to show who I am, but why not do the one think I ask of you? Oh well, my job search continues.