Changes

I find recruitment fascinating. I started my career on a top 10 graduate scheme whose recruitment process included a 24 hour simulation of life in the role, and now some years later I'm on the other side of the table, taking part in the recruitment of the next generation. Prior to that I worked everywhere from multinational software companies to British high street department stores and over the years I've heard everything from the boring (''What are your strengths and weaknesses?'') to the predictable (''Tell me about a time you worked as part of a team and encountered conflict'') to the quite frankly brilliant, in my mind (''How many piano tuners are there in Barcelona?'') Once I had to come up with a variety of uses for a cocktail shaker after first gaining points for being able to identify the item correctly, despite being a tee-total teen at the time. If interviews are a time to shine, I prefer the latter two tasks to the first two because they let you show what you can do, and how you would approach a task, rather than just making you prattle off a prepared response.

''Can you swim faster in water or syrup?''