Christie Gets Her First Job

Tonight was a time to recall memories and for some reason those memories took her back to her after graduation interview and first employment. She could see the whole scene enacted in memory as she prepared for her interview for a job with Futuretec corporation that day and all the subsequent events were clear in her mind.

Christie Lesser had glanced at her watch. She was sweating from rushing the last block from the bus stop to meet her appointment. She’d prepped for this interview with Futuretec Corporation for weeks with her father Anthony Lesser as the pretend interviewer and he’d put her through the mill which she resented at the time but now realized he as an experienced administrator was just illustrating the kind of questions customarily fielded in a HR interview in today’s world. It had been hard getting to the level required for this interview. Currently applicants had to find their way through a company AI interview and answer questions online before even being called for a face to face with a human interviewer. Christie had tried several companies and learned to her horror after going through an hour of written answers AI had terminated the interview with the terse note, she’d not be suitable for the job being interviewed for.

 Apparently there were trigger words in a response that caused AI to reject any further possibility of being placed on an interview list by the target company human resources officer then selected out of a few for the psychological test to be completed and if you managed to survive all of that the final interview of a narrowed down list of perhaps two by the manager of the department one was aiming to join.

When her father Anthony Lesser had begun his career after completing his MBA it had been much easier only having to negotiate with a company HR Officer and if selected as one of these chosen for a final interview a face to face with the department head in that final convincing interview.

But now computers had taken over and Anthony who’d made a name for himself in the business world had been head hunted by agencies over the years with enticements better than his existing employment and this was the fourth conglomerate he was now occupying one of the vice-presidential positions in. Each of his moves had required increasing scrutiny in the interview process so he’d picked up what those trigger words were in online interviews and psychological testing before being moved up to interview with a conglomerate president for a vice president role. Hours and stress levels were over the top in corporate management at the highest level, but Anthony had a calm disposition and analytical mind, looked after his health and made sure there was time for his family. So, he knew the ropes and shared that with his children in turn as they sought employment after their graduation.

Christie had gone over her notes on iPhone and particularly the likely question as to why she felt she could add value to the job she was applying for as she sat in the waiting room along with two other people. The receptionist had introduced Christie to the two seated there and they instantly locked their attention on this new rival smiling pleasantly as they responded but there were traces of irritation on their face as they sized her up. Each of her rivals presented themselves well in appearance so Christie did a quick reappraisal of her image in the mirror as she’d left her house and hoped rushing from the bus stop hadn’t erased any of that carefully prepared physical image, she’d worked so hard on. Physical looks did count but in the final interview it would be confidence and substance that mattered. They all glanced up as a door opened and the HR person emerged calling for the first interview. Her eyes fastened on the only man in the room.

“Brian, will you come with me please.”

Christie sought to counteract stress she felt as she realized there were only two of them to go after Brian eventually emerged. She’d study his face to see if he was looking confident after his interview. If he did then that would raise her stress level further. She turned to the other applicant who’d been introduced as she entered the room as Carole Dennis.

“Well Carole it looks like they always give the male first piece of the pie.”

Carole studied her for a while then spoke before returning to her notes.

“He was here first so I suppose that’s the way they decide who to take first.”

As time went by Christie’s stress levels diminished and she began to think of what she’d do after the interview. A half hour later the door opened, and Brian exited smiling and quickly exited the waiting room. Not a good sign! Then after five minutes HR appeared and called to Carole ushering her in for the interview.

Christie was beginning to feel tired from just sitting and sick of scrolling up and down her iPhone to consult notes and think of possible scenarios her father had indicated in his exhausting mock interviews. She turned off her phone and looked around for magazines. Time seemed to drag on, and it appeared to her Carole had been in that interview room for more than the half hour Brian had been in there. Was this a bad sign? Maybe they were more interested in her than Brian and that could account for the extra time Carole was in there. She looked at her watch to check, and it was only a half hour, so she began to concentrate on the door and five minutes later the door opened, and Carole appeared looking nonchalant. Christie spoke.

“How did it go Carole?”

Carole eyed her and noted her anxiety. Women are very perceptive, so she changed her appearance to one of concern.

“It was horrendous. Try and look calm as you look very stressed and they pick up on these things.”

Christie’s mind raced. Either this was going to be a disaster, or this woman was trying to stress her out to give herself an advantage when the panel were meeting to compare their notes afterward. She’d got bad vibes from Carole from the time they were first introduced that morning so decided to put that statement down to competition between them for the job. The door opened and a smiling HR beckoned her inside.

The interview room was tastefully and conveniently set up. The panel of three including HR sat in office chairs behind a slightly curved counter full of their working papers but it seemed they had whatever they wanted on their opened laptops in front of them. They were a pleasant panel and introduced themselves asking general questions to put her at ease. Christie’s stress levels immediately vanished. But then the questioning commenced almost following the way her father had interviewed her in the mock interviews. They became more intense as the interview proceeded with little time for Christie to consider her answers. They tested her abilities one by one in rapid order and then came the question she was anticipating. What special value could Christie add to the job being interviewed for. Why should they employ her. Give an example of how she’d deal with a theoretical issue she’d be asked to address if she was to commence work with the company today. They were not interested in asking about her background and education they’d already independently researched that. So, Christie waxed eloquent on a solution to the theoretical question, and they made further notes on their computer. Finally, HR in charge of this interview who she discovered was called Denise spoke after consulting with her colleagues.

“Christie this is the first part of the interview process. The three interview applicants proceed to the receptionist who will assign you to a mentor who works for us, and you’ll be given a project each to complete today. If you successfully complete the project your score will be given to us and included in what we’ve individually scored you in this interview. You can go home after being released and will be contacted tomorrow to report if you were successful or not. Now please proceed to the receptionist for further orders. Each will start projects at the same time, so you’ll not be disadvantaged by being the last one to be interviewed here. Is that clear?”

A surprised Christie headed for the receptionist and was ushered into another waiting room where a small buffet was already being enjoyed by Brian and Carole. Brian spoke as she entered the room.

“I guess this is the only lunch we get today so make the most of it. We have a half hour before someone comes to collect us and take us to our assignments.”

Right on time three persons entered the room consulting their individual phone notes and called the name of the one assigned to them taking them in different directions to individual cubicles with computers and their project to be solved with appropriate recommendations to a fictional department manager for implementation at the conclusion of the project. Just like the case studies studied in her business major thought Christie. She quickly scanned the material in front of her and the mentor asked her if she understood what was written there. It was a very complex case, so she reread the material again carefully then nodded to the mentor.

“Do I have internet access for research on this computer, or do I use my own phone and if so, what is the code for Wi-Fi here?”

The mentor pointed to the computer and nodded then said he was leaving her to the project but would call in occasionally during the afternoon to see how everything was going. He gave her his internal phone line number to contact if she had a question, but he had other duties to perform while she was engaged on her project. He showed her how to use individual pages on the computer and split screen her notes and the page where she’d bring it all together in her final report with recommendations. He showed her how she could refer to her research while writing her report but there was an ample supply of materials if she preferred to make notes on paper but her notes on paper should be left on the desk not discarded or carried out.

That afternoon was intensive, but Christie enjoyed the challenge very much. She’d relished these kinds of case studies while completing her master’s but at school she’d worked with teams and here she had to work alone. She wondered how Brian and Carole were doing with their assigned projects. Her mentor appeared periodically to see how she was coping and seemed satisfied with her research and progress. He told her the three mentors would work together grading their three projects and pass their joint assessments on to the final interview panel for processing. They’d all been given a cut off point for projects to be finalized as 5 pm which was close to closing time for the company and the mentors would spend time grading each of the projects afterward. Christie finished her assigned project by 4 pm but went over the results again editing to make her report as clear as possible and hopefully devoid of calculation mistakes. Her mentor appeared right on time and placed his electronic signature on the bottom of the report to signify he’d witnessed her work on completion. He then ushered her out to the entrance and wished her well. There was no sign of Brian or Carole.

Next day Christie tried to relax at home waiting for the phone call promised to tell her whether she was successful in her bid for employment with the company. She spent most of her time working out on her father’s gym equipment with cell phone close by in case of a call. The morning went by without a call, so she headed for the kitchen to make herself a pasta salad still with her phone close by. That afternoon she paced the home looking for things to divert her attention. Futuretec was one of those upmarket companies she particularly wanted to do her internship in as she hoped it would lead to a permanent job with the company. Then in the late afternoon she received her call. Could she be at the company headquarters office at 8 am next morning as one of the vice presidents wanted to interview her before he started his work for the day. She said yes wondering why there was no definitive response to her application as promised.

Christie was outside the office with workers waiting for the doors to be opened for the day’s business and she filed in with them seeking the receptionist who took her to a small interview office and told her to wait on the visitor couch. Ten minutes later a grey-haired man entered and took his place opposite her. He introduced himself as one of the vice presidents William Faulkner. He smiled.

“So, you’re Anthony Lesser’s daughter. Your father and I have had business dealings together over the years and we are both Rotary members.

To be continued

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