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I made a complete fool of myself at an interview for a job. I had a friend already working for the company and I asked for a few tips. She came up with all the usual advice. She then added that the man who was going to conduct the interview was a bit strange. He had a habit of reading a broadsheet newspaper at the start of the interview. The applicant would knock on the door, he would say, 'Come in' and all you would see would be The Times, which he was hiding behind.

I decided that this was a cue to show I could be different to the rest. I wanted to stand out from the crowd, to let this man know I was no ordinary candidate for the vacancy. Many thoughts ran through my mind. Did I start having a go at him for being so rude? Did I do the same - sit down and pull out a copy of Times and start reading it? Did I do something outrageous such as stand on the table? What if I started rifling through his paperwork? Or picked up his phone a rang a speed dial number? It was easy to picture these, but would I have the courage to carry any of them out?

I actually decided what to do after chatting to a friend in the pub. This is what happened. I knocked on the door, was told to 'Come in' and, sure enough, there was the person I wanted to employ me behind a copy of The Times newspaper. 'Ho, ho, very funny,' I quipped. No reaction. I told myself, 'Right, I'll get a reaction out of you.' I took out a cigarette lighter and set fire to his copy of The Times. It had the desired effect. I noticed the flames immediately. Obviously, it took him a little longer and by the time he saw what was happening, his newspaper was well alight. He crumpled it up and put it in his waste paper bin. Trouble was the smoke detector went off. The smoke detector was connected to the local fire station. Within the matter of a couple of minutes, the offices in the block were all evacuated and the firefighters checked the whole building.

After twenty minutes or so on the street, we were allowed back in. Word had got around what had happened. I received a round of applause from a group of workers as I walked through their office with my interviewer. Back in his office, he swiveled round in his chair and looked out of the window without saying a word. It was up to me to start the conversation. 'Right, I've got the job. I'm starting on Monday next week and I want to see you at 9am in here. Don't be late and see if you can talk a bit more then.'

'Wrong,' he replied. 'You haven't got the job. I don't want to employ a firebug!' 'Stuff you, then,' I screamed, getting up to leave. 'Only joking,' he said. 'But I've recorded it all - and your colleagues will be shown the film on your first day.'

The whole episode was pretty embarrassing, especially considering I am really quite a shy person. Later the interviewer told me it was actually the first time he had ever hid behind a copy of The Times at an interview. My friend had set it all up by inventing the whole story.

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