One of my colleagues, who is normally a clean-living and honest sort, has recently developed the urge to gamble. Apparently she wants to take a bet on the TV show “The Apprentice” because she is so sure she knows who’ll win. The other lunchtime she was seen hot-footing it to the local bookies with a wodge of notes, only to be turned away on the grounds that the series was filmed several months ago.

Sceptics might suspect that her enthusiasm for picking Sir Alan’s protégé had less to do with the pre-eminent skills of the candidate in question and more to do with inside information. But after such an exhaustive selection process, with weeks of tests, exercises and interviews, shouldn’t it be obvious to all concerned who is the best person for the job?

Not necessarily. Everyone watching The Apprentice has a different opinion of who they would hire if they were the boss. But their opinions count for nothing. His Sugariness will be the only one with the power to make the decision, and he’ll do it based on who fits into his company culture, and whom he personally admires.

It only goes to show that, from an employer’s perspective, recruitment still often comes down to a matter of “gut feel”. If such a long and drawn-out process does not produce a clear winner, what chance does the average firm, limited to two interviews of half an hour each, stand of getting the right candidate?

The answer is that, objectively, there is no right candidate – only the right one for you. In that sense, recruitment is a bit like dating; you have to keep on meeting people until you find the one you click with. If somebody was trying to predict who you’d choose as a girlfriend, the chances are they’d have a hard time trying to bet money on that as well.

Come to think of it, perhaps that might make a good concept for a new reality show?