Not the same old song and dance

By CRISSA SHOEMAKER DEBREE
Bucks County Courier Times

If you want a job at the Philadelphia Park Casino, you'd better bring your dancing shoes.

Job applicants said they're being asked to dance to “YMCA” or a Bon Jovi song — with blow-up guitar — during interviews at the Bucks County Visitors and Conference Bureau in Bensalem.

A casino official said Tuesday the park is pleased with the response to its unorthodox hiring method, but some prospective hires say the process is unfair.

“I walked out,” Mary Lou Bentivegna of Bensalem said Tuesday. “There were others who were walking out. I had my head set to go in there to talk about accounting.”

Bentivegna, 60, said she went Monday evening to what she thought was an interview for an accounting position. A few dozen people were already waiting.

“The 4 p.m. people came out; they were laughing and stuff,” Bentivegna said. “I didn't think anything of it.”

That changed, Bentivegna said, once the applicants learned they'd have to dance to “YMCA” or air guitar to Bon Jovi's “Living on a Prayer.”

Bentivegna said there were many senior citizens in the crowd, along with one man who had a prosthetic leg. She said she doubted they had ever heard of the songs they were supposed to perform.

“I was really upset,” she said. “I was talking about going to [work at] the casino for years. I've always had this thought that I wanted to work there.”

James Ryan, a spokesman for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Washington, D.C., office, said he couldn't say whether the auditions were improper.

“That's the most interesting case I've ever heard of,” he said. “What about people who are older or have a disability?”

Bentivegna said the interviewer told the job applicants the casino was looking for “people people” who had some personality.

In a statement, the park's vice president of human resources, Stephanie Wheeler, said: “Every single person at Philadelphia Park Casino needs to know that we're in the entertainment business and customer service here demands outgoing, team-oriented people with truly positive outlooks. We're getting a lot of people who say this is the most fun they've ever had trying to start a new career.”
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In response to further questions, Wheeler said in an e-mail: “Senior citizens and those with disabilities are applying and participating in the audition process by showing their enthusiasm as best they can, just as the other candidates are.”

One applicant said she was “shocked” to be asked to perform, but she had a good time during her interview. The woman, who lives in Bensalem, wouldn't give her name for fear of ruining her chances of getting a job at the casino. She said she has been called back for an interview.

“It was fun,” she said. “It was actually humorous. If this is how they hold their interviews, they're going to be a great company to work for.”

Of course, she added, she would have liked to have been prepared.

“I had no idea we were going to be auditioned, or I wouldn't have worn a pair of 4-inch pumps,” she said. “I kept them on and looked very fashionable.”

More than 6,000 people have applied for 700 jobs at the casino. Those positions range from cashiers to buffet servers to marketing. The park continues to accept applications at the visitors center on Street Road next to the racetrack or online at www.philadelphiaparkcasino.com. Casino officials hope to open in December but first need state approva