I am in the process of recruiting a minion.

I already technically have a minion, but seeing as he works in Germany and commutes with me via infrequent skype conversations it doesn't really count. I think, really, as he's a freelancer, maybe I'm his minion. After all he holds within him the power of The Flexible Contract.

So today I am conducting my first interview. I made a vague effort with regards to appearance (all I could muster at half six). I put on make-up. Brushed my hair. Even added some earrings and a long black cardigan to make me look like the whimsical creative sort. I think I've just about pulled it off.

So that's for appearances. I'm trying to conjour up what sort of interviewer I should be. Welcoming? Intimidating? Praising? Impassive? Inquisitive? I am trawling through in my head a list of standard interview questions (none of which I don't think I've ever been asked). And, so, once a list has been vaguely drawn up, what do I expect the interviewee in question to reply? I have no model, no guideline, no frame of reference.

I should go on gut instinct I guess. Perhaps I should go for a new breed of designer, someone far removed from the world of Star Wars Lego. Then, what would we find in common? I guess that breed is the 'artiste' - the art-school-graphic-designer-turned-web-guru. I am, rather than a web designer, a 'web-person'. I fell into this role through an ambigious degree and now I appear to have an ambigious skillset, having tested out all areas of design and development. A Jack of all trades and a master of none. A Jack-of-all-web. I like that. It makes me sound a bit like the del-boy of the web. Wheeling and dealing my way through my career, hoping that noone will spot my flaws.

I feel a little sorry for my interviewee. If the applicant is recruited they will have me, The WebStress, as their line-manager, their boss. They will bear witness to my moods, my 'silent-running' (:headphones on, radio on:), my blatant rejection of nuturing a social relationship with my work colleagues.

But I'm also a little nervous. I'd go as far as to say I'm scared. What if someone exposes me as a fraud? A young wisp of talent breezes in, enthusiastic about banner ads, positively adoring of overtime, addicted to searching through design sites at lunchtime, and (what scares me the most) better than me.

Of course design is subjective, a matter of opinion. I've had work verbally torn apart in front of my eyes while the same piece is praised by another (my opinion lying, as ever, vaguely in the middle, idly kicking its heels in no-man's land, swinging its legs back and forward on the fence trying to maintain balance, wondering which side is right). But passion is what makes creativity brilliant. If passion has gone into work then an opinion is merely that: an opinion. A work can hold strong with passion at its foundations, against any criticism thrown at it. And a passionate artist will accept suggestions willingly and adapt their work to achieve greatness through suggestions, able to filter what would make their work even more beautiful.

I don't have this passion at my foundations, or at least not as much, not any more. I wonder what we will make of each other, my protegee and I.