“Mr. Cummings? Come in and shut the door. We’re eager to interview you.”
Three people sat along a round table, leaving the opposite seat across from them for me. Yup, they were definitely going to make this an inquisition. Thank God Tate had prepared me for this. Although I had worked in several restaurants since a teen, my first real job after college had been working for Keith and he had hired me for different reasons, so I had no idea if I had even truly aced that interview and received that job fair and square.
Introduced to the members of the panel, I took my seat. Apart from Mr. Ingram who was in his early fifties, there was another younger man, no older than thirty and the Human Resource Director who was a female, a little older than the second man.
“Mr. Cummings, I don’t intend to be long,” Mr. Ingram remarked. “So let’s get to the heart of the matter. Why should we hire you?”
Tate and I had practiced this question earlier, so I was seamless in my response, aligning my answer with the vision statement and goals of the company. The questions which followed were of the same ilk as well as they chose to omit all the warm-up questions first. While I would have preferred to be eased gently into these harder questions I did hold my own against the three. If it felt at times that they were ganging up on me, I remembered Tate’s advice not to take it personally.
“They’ll do that to see how well you handle yourself under pressure.”
I smiled when they asked if I had any questions. They were through and I was confident I had done well. I asked a question about the company’s policy on wellness for their employees just to be polite since I already knew the programs they offered as incentives.
Mr. Ingram rose to his feet at the end of the interview and walked me to the door.
“You did a splendid job,” he commended me when he shook my hand. “Rarely do I see someone this young keep his poise the way you did.”
“Thank you.” I smiled politely at him when what I really wanted to do was whoop in delight.
“Really,” Mr. Ingram stated. “You’re the last of all those we interviewed, and you’ve outshone everyone. Be prepared for us to call you in a few days to inform you when to start.”
“Are you saying the job is mine?”
He winked at me. “I’m telling you my team has to consult and make the final decision, but don’t miss that call.”
I nodded, understanding what he meant. I thanked him again profusely and could not wait to leave the office building. I checked down the corridor and found a male bathroom. I ducked inside and quietly closing the door behind me, I retrieved my phone to call Tate.