George Bernard Shaw
Brian weeks month unsuccessful gotten hunting he engineering, stab worry about his prospects. The self-imposed pressure was mounting. I need a break, he'd told himself over coffee that morning, I'm getting extremely teed off. Which gave him an idea. He'd been paying his dues, he could afford to take a morning off. Time enough for pavement-pounding later. So he drove to the town golf course for a quick nine holes.
The public course wasn't crowded; most people were working. Brian spied a trio of retirees and asked to join them. "Glad to have you," the pleasant looking chap with clear blue eyes said, "I'm Mike." He introduced the others as Bob and Herb, and they set off for the first tee. The hole was a soft dogleg to the right. Herb was first up, and Brian found himself standing next to Mike. "So, tell me, Brian, what's a young fellow like yourself doing playing golf this early In the day?"
Brian explained about his job situation. "So this morning, I decided to blow off some steam. But this afternoon it's back to the fray for me." "Well, you know," Mike said as he pulled the driver from his bag, "my nephew is human resources manager at Boscobel Manufacturing in town. Ever heard of it?"
"Sure, who hasn't?" Brian said. He paused as Mike took his first shot, fading far down the fairway, nearly driving the green. "Nice one! Boscobel, yeah, they're a well-known firm."
"I'll take that one," said Mike enthusiastically, "birdie for sure. Anyway, Brian, I know they're looking for an entry-level engineer. The ad hasn't gone in the paper yet. If you like, I'll give my nephew a call for you." "Say, that'd be wonderful. I'd appreciate it."
Brian couldn't believe his luck. Even better, Mike actually followed through. The next day, his nephew. Jeffrey, called and they discussed the job - electrical engineering, Brian's major in school - and the following week he went in for an interview.
Jeffrey was only a few years older than Brian. "So you play golf with my Uncle Mike?" he asked, leading the way into his office. "That's great. You know, for a public course, I think this town does a pretty good job with it, don't you?"
"Oh, do you play?"
Jeffrey laughed. "As much as I can!" He and Brian spent the next half-hour talking about golf, the courses they'd both played, the new types of clubs on the market, a few funny stories traded. Soon Jeffrey's secretary stuck her head in. "Boss, you've got a meeting in three minutes."
As Brian was leaving, Jeffrey shook his hand warmly and said, "We're really going to have to get together and play sometime." Brian drove home happily. He'd never gotten along so well with any one in an interview before. Yes sir, he said to himself, a new job and a new golf partner. Not a bad day's work!
T
Shaken, he just had to call Jeffrey and find out why. "I'm really sorry, Brian, I think you're a terrific guy, no doubt about that, and you'd really have fit in here well."
"Then what in the world..."
"Well, I just wasn't sure if you were qualified for this kind of work. It requires a pretty solid knowledge of electrical engineering, you know?" Brian took a deep breath. "Sure, I do know it, Jeffrey," he said. "And I have that knowledge and background. Can I come back and maybe we can discuss it?"
"I really wish you'd mentioned that, Brian. Why didn't you?"
"I, uh, well, I guess we sort of got off the subject," he replied sheepishly, "finding out we had so much in common and all."
"Boy, I am sorry," said Jeffrey, "I really am, but I just didn't know, and we filled the job yesterday."
"Oh."
"But good luck in your search, Brian. And, hey, I'm still looking forward to playing a few rounds with you sometime."
"Actually, Jeffrey, I think I'm going to cut back on golf for a while," Brian replied. "I'm considering racquetball."
Spend no more than a few minutes on chitchat and then get to the point-ask questions about the position, present your qualifications and when the interviewer talks, listen.
