Interviewees

"Two ladies? What's their name?" You ask.

"Miranda and Victoria. They are here for an interview."

Your lips curl up; your first victims have finally arrived. The first step to starting a new business is naturally to hire employees! You previously posted a few jobs positions on various job websites and agencies. You are recruiting accountants, consultants and HR managers but you put the entry requirements extremely low to encourage people to apply.

You have already filtered out many of the applicants and are now expecting about thirty people to show up for this interview. Naturally, your goal is not so pure as to simply hire workers; all the thirty candidates who passed the first step of the recruitment process are women.

"Of course, Jenny. I will come down in a minute. There may be more interviewees coming soon. So please tell them to wait together."

You excitedly jump off your seat and head to the lift. You stop by the large office to make sure everything is ready for the interview. There is a light floral scent floating in the room, the lights are dimly lit with the window shades blocking most of the natural sunlight, the speakers are playing a low gentle and slow tune and the large empty screen at the front is still displaying a small red circle moving diagonally and bouncing from edge to edge. The desk have been neatly arranged like in a classroom for the sake of the interview, all facing that screen.

You smile satisfactorily before heading downstairs. There, you see two ladies wearing dark classy outfits. One wore a black top and an elegant skirt while the other who looked older and more experience wore a matching black blouse and trousers.

Their faces were covered with a thin layer of make-up. They were carrying a small leather bag and silently avoiding each other's gaze.

'Not bad but I am sure I can get prettier girls to work for me.'

You glance at Jenny, the receptionist who was on a call and silently taking down notes. You nod at her and approach the ladies. "Hello, I am John Doe. Are you here for the interview at JD consultants?"

"Yes."

"Perfect. Please follow me upstairs. You are the first two to arrive. It is a bit early so you may have to wait a little bit for the other interviewees to arrive so that we can start the assessment." You explain in a friendly manner.

"I came here a bit too early."

"Sorry for the inconvenience. There were no other trains to take; if I took the next one, I would have been late."

The two girls reply. You shake your head and smile to reassure them. "Don't worry. We have everything already set. May I know your names and the positions you are interviewing for?"

"I am Miranda. I'm here for the accountant position." The younger one said.

"Victoria. I would like to work in human resources."

You chatted with the nervous interviewees and escorted them inside the interview room. "This is where the first step of the assessment will take place. Please take a seat and make yourself comfortable."

Victoria twitched as she entered the room. "There is a funny smell here." She pointed out.

"Yes. I apologise. This is our new office and we recently painted these rooms. We bought some scented candles to mask the smell of the paint but they ended up smelling like this." You give a bogus explanation for the presence of the scent. "You can use your phone and if you need some refreshment, I prepared some drinks at the back."

You act professionally before leaving the two ladies to themselves. In the corridor, you can already hear the phone in your office ringing. 'Another candidate has arrived? Hopefully she will be prettier that these two. They are not bad but I can afford to be picky.'

You pick up the phone and as you expected Jenny is once again requesting you to come downstairs. This time, you are in no hurry and instead, you take a look at your left screen that was displaying the interview office. You observe the two ladies glancing at their phones awkwardly. 'Miranda is a bit docile, but Victoria is an out-spoken woman; she may be a tough nut to crack. But luckily, she came here early.'

The longer the ladies would stay in that room, the more suggestible and obedient they would be. The floral scent was gradually numbing their senses and lowering their alertness. The gentle background tune was giving them a sense of comfort and security while making them feel sleepy. The dim light and window shades reduced the visual stimulation they were exposed to. The red dot on the screen would divert their attention and consciousness. Even just the chairs and desks were especially designed to bring comfort to these women. All these small factors were insignificant alone but together, they would make the women a lot more suggestible, overloading four of their five senses. As for the last sense, the sense of taste, the drinks you carefully prepared would do the job as the air conditioner would cause their throat to feel dry.