“Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?”

Just picture it:
…you’re shortlisted for a data support job at the BBC
…you turn up for the interview and they ask you to wait in reception, so you sit down and try to relax as best you can
…someone walks up to you and asks if you are “Guy …” something — you’re nervous and you didn’t quite catch the surname, so you say “yes” (because your first name is Guy) and they say “follow me”
…you follow the person and they lead you into a television studio and ask you to sit down in that chair over there
…you decide that this must be some type of role-playing situation and you wait to see what happens next
…someone who looks suspiciously like a TV news presenter turns to you and the job interview begins!
Unfortunately for Guy Goma, this would turn out to be no ordinary job interview!


Separated at birth: Guy Goma and Guy Kewney

2 thoughts on ““Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?””

  1. Apart from the many other angles of this story that have provided us all with much fodder for jokes, I would like to point out that it is also a real demonstration of good faith on behalf of everyone involved.
    First, Mr. Goma blindly (and nervously) placed himself in the hands of those who said “this way, please”, and trusted that they knew what they were doing.
    Second, the BBC people gave him the benefit of the doubt and didn’t flinch when Mr. Goma didn’t necessarily fit the stereotype in speech, attitude—or otherwise—of your average media-savvy IT expert.
    Kudos to all. I hope the BBC know how to take it gracefully on the chin, and have a good larff about it.

  2. Guy Goma has become a minor celebrity in the UK and seems to be having great fun 🙂
    From what I’ve read, there’s still a couple of issues:
    1) BBC News 24 staff had seen a picture of Guy Kewney, but didn’t question the fact that Guy Goma bore no resemblance
    2) a BBC News business correspondent suspected that that Guy Goma was the wrong person, yet didn’t try to stop the interview
    Personally, I think Guy handled the situation brilliantly!
    I’m not sure that Guy not fitting a stereotype was even an issue? I know that the BBC is similar to the University of Huddersfield, in that the IT workforce is extremely ethnically diverse.

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