The lobby is full of busy workers running here and there trying not to be late for certain appointments. Being careful not to bump into anyone, because that would be too much of cliché, he reached the reception desk.
He smiled warmly at the receptionist who got stunned upon seeing him.
"Hello, good morning I'm here for a job interview for the position of Marketing Manager?"
The receptionist gathered herself together and tried to professionally answer him though failed miserably for aside from her face turning all red she couldn't help but stammer.
"G-good morning… c-can you p-please state y-you n-name?"
"Oh, I'm Peter Owens."
The receptionist checked and confirmed his name on the list of the interviewee that was given to her earlier. "T-the interview is-is to be held at the f-fourth-floor conference r-room B."
"Thank you…" He paused and looked at the receptionist's name tag.
"Abegail… you have a great day." He smiled at her one more time before going towards the elevator.
The receptionist blushed even further after she heard him say her name and just helplessly fan herself to reduce the hotness of her face.
Upon arriving on the fourth floor Jake spotted the conference room right away. He saw his co-applicants sitting just in front of the conference room. It looks like he was the last one to arrive seeing that there is only one vacant seat. He checked his watch and there are still twenty minutes left before the interview starts. Relief that he wasn't late he went to sit at the vacant chair. He looked around and realized that there were only five of them who would be interviewed.
Exactly 10 minutes later a lady came out of the conference room and announced that the interview will start. "You will be interviewed individually for about 20-39 minutes. Good luck and do your best for only one of you is going to be hired." She called the first one, who is the only female in the group.
"You looked young for someone applying for a managerial position." The guy beside him suddenly asked startling him for a bit.
He looked at him and figured that the man is at least in his late thirties.
"I may be young but that's not going to be a problem." He answered nicely trying to avoid any conflict.
"If I were you I would leave already. Just by merely looking at you, you've seemed to be someone who just got out of a university and barely has any experience at all. You're just wasting your time here." The man cockily told him before leaving as he was called next.
He just shrugs the man off and concentrates on mentally going over his new identity.
Once he was the only one left he can feel his muscles starting to ache already. He loves her aunt but he couldn't help but curse her for having them run knowing perfectly that they have some appointments for today. After some time it was finally his turn.
The conference room is average in size and inside are two middle-aged men. He greeted them politely and only sat down after being told to.
His interviewers did not ask anything from him right away instead they focused on the files in front of them which he guest are his application and credentials. He just silently watched them and waited patiently for them to finish scanning his file.
"Impressive, it says here that you've acquired your degree and MA at the same time." The man on the left stated.
"Yes, sir." He confirmed nicely. As an employer himself he knows that being cocky and too confident won't help oneself in a situation like this.
"So tell us about yourself and why you've decided to apply to this company." The other man told him.
This one's easy. He internally chuckled then went into telling them what they wanted to hear. In interviews like this telling them the information that they already know such as your educational background, attainments, or achievements is a big no-no. It's useless talking about your family background as well. Thus he showed them how well he knows himself by telling them his personality, the positive side of him that people like his work ethics as well as how he handles things under pressure.
He talks about himself with his interviewers asking some questions once in a while for almost 5 minutes.
The two men in front of him seemed satisfied with what his replies as they nodded their heads in approval.
"You've seen those who have come before you and by now you might have figured out that among the five of you, you're the only one without experience. How can you fight or match with them? In other words, give us the reason why we should hire you instead."
Me? Having no experience? Excuse you my cousins and I have been running our own business since I was 15, that's almost 10 years of experience. Jake lamented inside his head as they were questioning him.
"I admit that being the youngest one and having no experience puts me in a tight spot. It's a shame that a lot of fresh graduates like me who have a lot of potential are not given that chance to prove our worth just because we lack experience. I might be inexperience but I am willing to be thought and is well adept in learning new things, and for me, I'd rather be that employee that lacks experience but is willing to be fully trained and nurtured to be a competitive individual rather than to be an employee who might have all the experience he or she needs but isn't willing to learn and is contented to what he or she already knows and isn't growing." He told them nice and clear.
"Well said." The man who first talks earlier approved then asked another thing.
"Being a manager is going to take a lot of your time, also other employees who have been employed here for quite some time are going to question your opinion and your power seeing that most would probably be older than you. Do you think you can handle that?"
"As I said earlier I am dedicated to my chosen career."
Nope, that is a lie. A part of his brain argued.
"And I am willing to sacrifice my time if needed to."
You're definitely not! You should stop lying. His conscience continued to argue.
"Also In a company as big as this it is no surprise that there will be a lot of employees who are competitive and are aiming for the position that I'm applying for. I actually see this as a challenge, not as a problem. No matter what your career field is there will be those who will challenge everything you'll say and do. My way of dealing with those is by proving them my worth by taking in their criticisms and turning them into a weapon. Of course some criticisms are meant to be ignored but some can be quite helpful, one just needs to have good judgement."
"Very well said." The other interviewer seemed impressed with his response.
He whispered something to his companion who whispered something back. They stay silent for a moment as they write something on his file and into another sheet of paper.
"Well then, congratulations you're hired. Please come back tomorrow at the same time for contract signing and orientation." They told him after a while which makes him glad. His aunt might skin him alive if he fails to grab this opportunity.
"Thank you for giving me the change. I'll do my best so that I will be able to prove myself." He told them before exiting the conference room.
The same time as Jake is on his way to his interview Jaden is almost done with his haircut. His new hairstyle is chosen by Jazz herself, she showed him a certain haircut earlier and told him to ask the hair dresser to style it in a certain way that would fit the disguise she made on him.
Later that day they all went to have a much deserved massage once Butler Zhang told them that their aunt Selene went out to attend some important matters thus she will be home late having their second assessment postponed.