The new series of Channel 4 show The Job Interview kick-started on Thursday night (15, February, 2018) with Virgin Trains making a hugely controversial employment decision according to fans on Twitter.
Episode one of the show introduced us to three Virgin Train hopefuls, applying for a customer service role on board the Virgin carriages.
Jagat, whose dad was a train driver for over 30 years, was a pure train enthusiast and immediately told the interviewers “I could tell you things about trains you didn’t even know”.
We liked this guy.
Also applying for the same position was American born retail manager Susan, who we first saw on camera pausing and dilly-dallying over the question “could you give us an example of a time you gave outstanding customer service?”.
Mind you, Susan saved her awkwardly silent pause by saying:
“I can’t think, there’s just so many . . . ”
Nice save Susan.
Susan admitted to the interviewers that she wanted to carry less of a burden when it came to job responsibilities, while Jagat’s interview style was more along the lines of continuously spouting his love of trains. There was only one winner when it came to Twitter.
Fans felt that Jagat’s passion for the role and experience working within the local government served him better for the position with Virgin Trains. However, a gap in his CV having not worked since 2010 proved a sticky point for the interviewers.
Jagat did explain his situation, revealing that during this period his father passed away and he took up a role caring for his mother – who he now lives with.
Jagat added: “It’s my mother at the end of the day, so I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do.”
Susan went about quipping one of the oddest quotes we are likely to see during series two of the show, chatting about her breakfast when trying to explain how she would suit flexible working hours.
She said: “Last night I defrosted some seeded bread . . . so that I could have some toast this morning”
“You know, just prepare.”
Right. Not feeling It Susan.
It looked set in stone that Jagat would run away with the job. Then we met a third candidate, Bianca.
The 29-year-old student was looking to defer for one year, needing to put work and money at the head of her responsibiliies.
The competitive psychology and counselling undergraduate explained how she hadn’t “done anything to do with trains” but nailed the tannoy announcement task as if she had been watching Thomas The Tank Engine since birth.
The interviewers tasked both Bianca and Jagat with reacting to the tricky situation of football fans being loud and offensive, causing other customers on-board a Virgin Train to feel uncomfortbale.
With contrasting answers, Jagat explained that he would let the footie fans know who was in control by making his presence felt, while Bianca’s approach was to “giggle” with the customers and to have a quiet word with them in more of friendly manner.
Although it was a tough contest, Bianca got the nod with the interviewers feeling she was more of a “likeable” and “relatable” character.
Twitter did not agree.
https://twitter.com/lynnos/status/964265686120968193
Fortunately, and in a bizarre twist, it looks like Virgin Trains have followed up with Jagat’s application and sorted out a different position for him within the company.
Perhaps they had been casting an eye over social media . . .