Anny Chih

Yesterday, I phoned Mason Horvath and asked to speak with Dean Horvath. The friendly woman put Dean on the line and I asked him for an in-person filmed interview about the “next best job” so that I could get answers to some of the questions everyone’s been asking, and be able to post it on my website without legal implications. I think I might have caught him off guard, but he agreed. I asked if he was free on Friday, but he said he had other things he had to do. So, I asked him to send me his schedule of availability.

To be absolutely fair, I sent him the following e-mail to give him an idea of what sort of questions I would be asking him:

Hi Dean,

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. I hope we can schedule an interview sometime in the next week.

Here are some of the questions I’ve received from Top 50 candidates regarding this next best job, to give you an idea of what questions I would be asking during the interview:

1. Have you considered opening this competition to the general public or the Top 200 shortlisted candidates? Why or why not?
2. How much time do you expect the successful applicant to put in per week?
3. What do you expect to gain from this “next best job” campaign?

Several Top 50 candidates have been very curious to know the details about the campaign and I was also asked by a few followers of the original best job campaign to interview you so that they could find out more as well. I expect the interview to take roughly 30 minutes.

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Anny Chih

At 4:12pm I received a reply from Dean and HOORAY, it doesn’t have a disclaimer on the bottom! So, here it is:

Hi Anny,

Thanks for getting in touch with me. I saw your blog and read about some of your concerns. What I would suggest is that you compile a full list of questions and concerns from yourself and the other finalists you have spoken to and send it to me so I can respond to them in full online for everyone to see.

As much as I would like to meet with you, I have to be very careful about any perceived conflict of interest that may arise from meeting with you during the competition, as you are one of the 49 finalists who were offered the opportunity.

Cheers!

Dean

Thanks for reading my blog Dean!

As for the perceived conflict of interest, I think that was already an issue before you sent me this reply. The Best Job in the World was a great opportunity not only in terms of media experience etc, but because I met a lot of great people through the process including several Top 50 candidates whom I consider friends. I received e-mails and messages from four of these candidates telling me that they did not receive a reply to their requests for more information even though we all sent requests around the same time.

But, I can see how a filmed interview with me would be perceived as a conflict of interest to the general public.

The solution to this problem is really quite simple though. I pubicly announce that I will NOT be a participant in the Next Best Job campaign. Problem solved.

I’m going to phone Dean now and give him the good news.