Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
As for me, I’ve got to get ready. I’ve already showered, but I still need to do hair and makeup. I consider eating one of the sandwiches to put something in my stomach, but I’m too nervous. Instead, I wrap them up and put them in the refrigerator before heading to my bathroom.
♦
Shelley Royce is a bundle of enthusiastic energy combined with polished businesswoman. She looks to be in her early forties with lightly layered, short blond hair cut just to her jawline. Her heart-shaped face boasts the dewiest, most gorgeous complexion I’ve ever seen, and her smile is open and friendly as soon as our meeting link connects.
I’ve never done a Zoom job interview before, and I feel a little silly sitting here smiling at her through my laptop camera.
“Thank you so much for dropping everything to jump on this interview with me,” Shelley effuses, as if I’d just given up high tea with the King of England. “I have a ton of résumés I’ve been going through, but yours stuck out.”
There’s no stopping the frown that obliterates my smile. I can’t think of one interesting thing on my résumé that would’ve caught her eye.
“I can see by your expression that I’ve flummoxed you,” she says with a laugh.
“It’s just… my résumé is decidedly short on marketing experience,” I say, not that such admission is necessary. She has it right there in front of her.
“The fact you have no working experience in marketing is what caught my eye. You’ve got the right degree, which works well in the HR field, as well as the real estate work you’ve done, but you’ve done no marketing at all, which is kind of what I’m looking for.”
Okay, that’s weird, but I let it go for now. “Full disclosure, if you haven’t figured it out by my last name, the real estate job was working for my parents’ company until I got my first job in HR.”
“I did not make that connection, as your last name isn’t all that uncommon. But thank you for letting me know.”
“I have to say, I’m a little unsure of myself. I truly didn’t think I had a snowball’s chance in hell of getting your attention with my résumé. It’s rather sparse, and I’m young.”
“Exactly,” Shelley says, pointing a finger right at the camera. “It’s actually your lack of experience, coupled with your cover letter, that caught not just my attention but my imagination. You might not have experience to draw from, but you’ve got enthusiasm. You’ve got drive. You aim high, which I respect. You told me right in your cover letter that if I gave you a chance, you would work your butt off for me.”
“And I will,” I say emphatically.
Shelley settles back into her chair and seems to appraise me through the computer screen. “I’m not going to ask you a bunch of run-of-the-mill questions. I’m very much a think-outside-the-box kind of woman. I’ve got your résumé here, so I know your history. You and I have the same degree, so I know exactly what you learned in college. I only have one question for you.”
I swallow hard because the pressure just intensified tenfold.
“Tell me one thing in your work history that has provided the greatest learning lesson so far in your young life.”
Sweat breaks out on my forehead because a lot is riding on one single answer. I could probably tell her about all the responsibility my parents put on me at a young age, because they were confident in my abilities. I could tell her how I worked while doing my undergraduate degree to impress upon her my work ethic.
Instead, I decide to admit something embarrassing because if I’m going to be honest with her, it is by far the greatest learning lesson of my life. “I went into HR because of a man. My boyfriend got me the job, and when he got a job transfer, I followed him from Raleigh to Pittsburgh. It was a bad decision. And because of that bad decision, I found myself without a job, without a boyfriend, and without a home to live in. I had put all my eggs in one basket, and I’ll never do that again.”
Shelley’s eyebrows rise and she leans forward, crossing her forearms on her desk. Her attention is rapt as I continue.
“I had the option of going home. My family would have been more than thrilled to welcome me back into the business. But I wanted to try to do something on my own, and through the advice of a friend I’ve recently met, I decided to look for a job in the field I really want to work in.”
“Marketing,” Shelley says.
I nod and smile. “Yes, marketing. It’s what I envisioned doing when I graduated from college, but instead, I got knocked off my path by following a man who was not good for me.”