‘I’ll cut to the chase,’ the man said, staring hard into my eyes. My hand rose to swipe at any stray mascara that might have migrated where it was not wanted. ‘We need a producer ASAP. Someone who can think fast and work hard. Danielle says that’s you. Is that you, Ros?’

‘I think so?’ I said hesitantly, taken aback by his sudden intensity.

‘We don’t do “I think so” here,’ he said, eyes burning directly into mine. ‘We do passion.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ I said, coughing to cover an awkward attack of the lols that threatened to burble up and out of my mouth. ‘I just realized I didn’t catch your name.’

‘That’s because I didn’t tell you my name,’ he replied, re-crossing his arms over his T-shirt and covering up a slogan that was either very funny or very rude, depending on how you felt about vegans. ‘What’s your deal? Who is Ros? What does she want?’

I’d been working in radio for ten years and no one had ever asked me what my deal was. They’d asked me about my experience, they’d discussed my qualifications and, once, a breakfast presenter had asked for my bra size but you really couldn’t get away with things like that any more, thank god.

‘You want to know about my deal?’ I repeated, hoping I hadn’t heard him properly.

‘What’s your deal?’ he said again, karate-chopping his own hand to emphasize each word. ‘Why do you want to work at PodPad?’

‘Because I’m truly passionate about sharing the truth with people and I believe radi— I mean, podcasting, is the greatest medium we have to communicate the stories that matter to the people who need to hear them,’ I said carefully. It was a never-fail interview line but he just carried on staring at me, not speaking or moving.

‘Why do you want to work at PodPad?’ I asked, starting to get annoyed. ‘And seriously, what is your name?’

‘We’ll get to names if I decide to offer you a position,’ he said, completely ignoring my first question with the hint of a smirk on his face.

For the first time in my life, I longed for an awkward, stilted interview across an MDF desk conducted in an HR dungeon by someone called Brenda. I had taken my Brendas for granted and I was regretting it. You always knew where you were with a Brenda. Was I wasting my time? Why would a company like PodPad want to hire me anyway?