Julius Dein A mischievous YouTube prankster asked businessmen if he could have an internship at their prestigious company and got a surprisingly positive response.
Julius Dein, 21, decided to test out just quite how hard it is to get an internship in London, by putting on his best suit and hitting the pavements of Canary Wharf, CV in hand.
Pretending to be a desperate student the jokester began his experiment by boldly walking into the reception area of a large office building.
He then shouted:
Can anyone help me find an internship? I need to get an internship or I’m getting kicked out of the house.
In the video of the prank he is seen asking at the reception desk for Punit Renjen, CEO of Deloitte, and when asked what floor he works on Julius replies, ‘probably on the top floor’.
Next Julius approaches a group of businessmen enjoying a cup of coffee with the opening line: “Excuse me, you all look like successful chaps. My school sent me here to find an internship. Are there any on offer?”
One bemused man replies ‘not today I’m afraid’, to which Julius asked if there were are any internships available tomorrow, because he has school today.
He is then seen trying to sell himself by insisting that his skills include making good coffee and being an excellent salesman.
He demonstrates his salesmanship by attempting to sell the men a pen for £10, saying: “This pen is the best pen you’re ever going to find.”
One of his victims replies that he prefers to use a pencil to which Julius cleverly responds the pen’s useful for when he doesn’t want his writing to be rubbed out, such as when signing documents.
Julius Dein Eventually one of the men asked him if he has a business card, and Julius replied: “No, I’m still at school.”
In fact, Julius’s persistence appeared to pay off and the commercial director ended up giving him his details and told him to drop them an email.
Not everyone’s impressed with the prank, however. When Julius asks two men who were having a business meeting, one of them told him: “You are at the point now where if I see you in my building for any kind of interview, I’ll ask the person interviewing you to make you leave.”
Another annoyed man also tells him he’s unprofessional, to which he earnestly exclaims that he simply wants to learn how to become a professional.
One of the disgruntled gentlemen tells him that interrupting conversations isn’t professional behaviour, to which Julian asks if he can write the advice down. The man shoots him down with a curt, ‘no’.
Eventually the two men become angry enough to leave. Juius asks ‘together or separately?’ The man exasperatedly says, ‘something is seriously wrong here’.
At one point he walked up to a man holding a piece of paper and asked if he’s looking for a job too, while brandishing his CV. Once he got the man’s attention, he began to show off about his B in GCSE drama.
Despite the boldness of Julius’s technique it appears to have worked and he ended up with not one but three internship opportunities.
Maybe we missed a trick by going to uni to get a job, all we needed was a successful YouTube channel and a can do attitude.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.