Interestingly, a study has found that asking
brainteasers and random questions during an
interview is a sign of a narcissistic and
sadistic boss.
So, let's find out how well our Ranganation
would do in a job interview. I'm going to
play the sadistic boss. I'm going to ask you
some brainteasers. These are all genuine interview
questions, OK? The recruiter has been asked
to assess your thought process and problem-solving.
There are no right or wrong answers. It's
about how your mind works. OK, so, Lord Dave,
genuine interview question. You're in an interview
situation, try to impress me, right? If a
hippo falls into a hole, how would you get
it out? So, I would...call the, erm...
..Fire Brigade and I would then report it
to the emergency services, create a boundary
around the hole... Where is the whole, basically?
Is the hole in the road?
Where's this hole created? I've given you
all the information I can. There is a hippo
in a hole - sort it.
OK, so I'd probably, yeah, get the Fire Brigade
down there, maybe the animal sanctuary people
down, so they can lift a hippo out of the
hole, make sure the hippo's fine because we
don't want to cause any disruption to the
hippo family and all that.
I would contact the maintenance people so
they... You're doing a lot of phone calls,
aren't you, mate? Maintenance people to clear
up the hole, and then - boom - you've got
the hole filled and the hippo's off back to
wherever it came from.
AUDIENCE: Woo! That wasn't bad. You've got
the job.
That was actually... I was actually quite
impressed. Were you impressed with that? Yeah.
Mum, how can you tell if your refrigerator
light is on or not? The light is always on...
If it's off, it's off.
OK, what about when the door's closed? Open
the bloody door.
Who wrote this? You?
Can you imagine her in an interview? "This
is a bloody stupid question!" Tom, if you
were a kitchen appliance, which kitchen appliance
would you be and why? Maybe something like
an Aga.
People say once you've had one, you never
go back. I think you've confused an Aga with
somebody black.
Now, not everyone is cut out for interviews.
Let's have a look at one candidate from the
last series of The Apprentice trying to blag
his way through. Good luck, mate.
I'm going to shake his hand. You won't be
able to shake his hand. I will. Good afternoon,
Claude. Take a seat.
How many sticks did you sell last year? It
was about 47,000. So how come it says on your
product page on Amazon "over 1 million sold
globally"? Yeah, that's not correct.
How has that appeared on there? I would need
to review that... I would like you to review
that right now. Can you tell me who wrote
that phrase? I would need to check.
So you didn't write that? Erm, I could've
written that. I think you did write that.
It's possible that I wrote that. I'd rather
you didn't lie about this. I mean, it's very
possible...
It's highly likely that I wrote that. What
percentage likely? Yeah, probably 90% likely
that I wrote that. Would you say 100% likely
that you wrote that? Erm...I would...
You wrote that, didn't you? OK, yeah.
I think it's actually quite endearing. Yeah,
the face of the future of British business
there, and it's the face of someone shitting
their pants! Tom, you're very... You've got
charm.
Thank you. By the bucketload, if you don't
mind me saying. Well, I don't mind you saying
that at all.
How do you think you'd cope in The Apprentice
interviews? Very well. Erm... I think I'd
be exactly what they'd want. I think if Claude
started... I wouldn't like that, if Claude
started to be mean to me.
If he didn't shake my hand. And I think I'd
make out in The Apprentice that he was my
father. Just to really derail him. How would
that conversation go? I'd come in, go to shake
his hand and he'd say, "Sit down", and I'd
say, "You're my real father."
So you wouldn't ease into it at all? It's
literally the first thing? I've seen the programme,
they like it when people are direct. I'm not
here to make friends. That's the main thing
you have to say on The Apprentice.
"I'm not here to make friends, I've sold a
million of something..." "You're my dad!"
"Give me...the job. "You're my dad!" OK, one
manager said she wouldn't give a job to anyone
who didn't send a follow-up email to say thank
you, as it proves they're not eager, organised
or well-mannered.
Hands up if you agree with that as a thing.
Follow-up email. It's a bit butt-kiss, isn't
it?
Ex Banker, what do you think? I've had many
interviews in my life. I haven't got all the
jobs but I've always said thank you for the
interview. And I often send a follow-up as
well, and say, "Thanks for your time",
but I do that if somebody invites me to dinner,
I will ring them up the next day or send them
an email saying thank you. Oh, my God, relax,
mate! I mean, you think, "I've escaped them",
and then, "Oh, hello, I just wanted to say
thank you for dinner."
"I had enough of you last night! "See you
later!" OK, who has ever had bad feedback
from a job interview? Wheeler Dealer?
I went for an interview with a consultant
firm and I thought I did OK in the interview,
to be fair, and then I got the rejection letter.
So I called them up and said, you know, "Can
you give me some feedback?"
And they said, "You did quite well in your
verbal reasoning and your numerical reasoning
was fine... "But we totally disagree with
the fact that you came "into the interview
with mis-matching trousers and jacket."
That was the feedback. That sounds like a
company that's making up the feedback to spare
your feelings.
"Oh, yeah, you are absolutely..." "Oh, you
were brilliant, you were so brilliant. "It's
just the jacket and the trousers... "You were
so good with the verbal and numerical.
"Oh, you were brilliant! "Oh, you were so
good! "It's just the trousers!" Well, look,
job interviews are tough and most people do
lie when giving the answers. You wouldn't
honestly answer the question, what is your
greatest weakness? You know,
you're not going to say, "Well, I'm pretty
racist and get a bit touchy-feely around women."
"Where do I see myself in five years' time?
"I think some sort of employee tribunal, because
she is hot!"
