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!"