College, Girl ? COMPLETE

PART TWO: Life After College

CHAPTER TWELVE: The Interview

For the last three years, since graduation Andrea had been working at a crappy office supply company by the airport. The office was in a dingy one story building attached to the warehouse. She was living in a one bedroom apartment with Deanna in Ukrainian Village. Her main job was to proof read the thousand page catalogues and between the long commute to work, and the crappy pay she was done. Deanna was finishing up her master's degree in design at the Art Institute and between them they were so broke they had passed a ten dollar bill back and forth for two weeks. Deanna was getting ready to move to Paris for a job working at a well know design house. Andrea was beyond desperate to find a new job that paid well enough for her to get her own apartment. The last thing she wanted was too move back home with her mother. Not only was she a drunk, but now her health was declining.

Her interview was at Techonysis an up-and-coming technology company located on Michigan Avenue. The CEO Fred Barnes was featured in every business publication Andrea read. This was her big break. She sat in the lobby surrounded by three other candidates. Her hand that had a death drip on her large black portfolio was getting sweaty and she started wiping it off on her skirt. She had to take out a credit card to buy the very expensive suit that Deanna picked out her. She kept telling her, "You have to dress for the job you want, not the job you have. This suit says vice president of marketing all over it."

It was then she was shaken from her thoughts when she heard a woman calling out, "Andrea Harrison. Is there an Andrea Harrison here?"

Andrea nearly tripped over the glass coffee table set in between the four large bright orange chairs when she stood up and said, "I'm right here."

The HR person led her to a large corner office that was windows on two sides framing Lake Michigan.

She overheard a man's voice laughing on the phone, "Jack that MBA is being wasted at Intel. You need to come over here and work with me. I am telling you right now. I'll double your salary."

The HR person knocked on the large door as they stood in the doorway. Fred had his feet up on the filing cabinets and was facing the windows. He didn't hear them so she knocked again.

"Okay, buddy I gotta go, my next victim is here," he said chucking into the phone.

The HR person introduced Andrea, "Fred, I'd like you to meet Andrea Harrison. This was the candidate I was telling you about," she said as she placed Andrea's resume on the desk and gave her a smile as she walked out the door.

Fred came around the massive desk and shook her hand, "Andrea, nice to meet you. Fred, Fred Barnes," he said as he enthusiastically shook her hand.

"Here let's have a seat at the conference table," as they sat down Andrea realized he looked even younger in person than in his pictures. She guessed that he couldn't be much over thirty. He wore his hair slicked back like he just got out of the shower. From what Andrea could ascertain his shirts looked expensive and his shoes looked handmade, probably Italian. She was silently thanking Deanna for talking her into the very expensive suit. The drab black suit she was going to buy at the outlet mall would have made her look ridiculous sitting there next to Fred.

When he smiled at her, she noticed that he had a space in-between his two front teeth. She decided it gave his face character and made him look more welcoming. The space made him look a bit like a school boy and lent him an even more charming air.

He coughed and said, "So, Andrea how is it that a woman with a four point grade point average from State and an internship at Microsoft has ended up at Wilson & Sons Office Supply?"

She sat there a bit stunned. She ended up there because the economy was in the crapper and it was the only job she could get, but somehow this didn't seem like the answer Fred Barnes was looking for. So she said, "Well, I since I had the opportunity to work for a large international corporation, I wanted to gain experience working for a small to midsized business to round out my work experience. I really wanted to understand how a small business handles the day-to-day challenges facing them."

He looked at her and started laughing and fanning himself with her resume, "Really? I thought it was because the economy was in the shit hole so you took the only job you could get, but I do like your answer better. You are a true marketer; you have already mastered the art of spin."

It was her turn to smile as she said, "Well and that too."

"Okay, Andrea let me level with you. I have had a hard time filling this marketing position. I have already hired and fired four people and it's only June. For some reason, I can't find the right person. But, you I have a good feeling about. I could see you here for the long haul. "

At that point, she wanted to leap across the table and hug him.

"Here's my only caveat, I have this thing about MBA's. Mine is from Warton," he said as he pointed to his diploma that was hanging on the wall."So if you really want to someday be on my executive team, you'll have to get an MBA. For me, this is non-negotiable."

"That seems reasonable to me. I am planning on getting my MBA anyway."

"Great, so when can you start?"

"Right now," she said in all sincerity.

At that Fred, through his head back again and started laughing, "You, Andrea Harrison. You I like. This is going to be a good fit for both of us. I will take you as far up the corporate ladder as you can climb." He said as he walked her to the door. He then shook her hand and patted her on the back.