Hiring board

Before I went in, I took a deep breath while holding the door. This is it, Helena. This is it. Please God, let me make it through. I fervently prayed and pushed the door open.

Wow! was the first word that came into mind when I saw the room. It was spacious and bright. But instead of giving off an intimidating atmosphere especially since it is a venue for a final interview, it gave off a warm and cozy feeling. It feels like you stepped into a cafe' and will have a pleasant chit chat with a long time friend. Maybe this is how a person who is about to be sentenced feels. Even the kind of room I will be having my interview is vividly etched onto my mind.

The room does not look like a conference room. I expected it to have a long, wooden table where the board are all seated on one end and me on another. But instead I saw a round table which appeared to be a little bit crowded since there are already five people seated on it. There is only one vacant chair and that was between Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Jessica.

Oh, great. I will be seated with two familiar people. That brought me a little comfort. There are three other men with us. I walked towards the only chair that is empty and saw that Ms. Jennifer was motioning with her hand for me to take the seat beside her, so I did.

I took a deep breath and said a short, fervent prayer before raising my head. Which I belatedly thought was a mistake, as I felt my jaw dropped.

Ashton Kempt is here. He was seated at the center of the two men who were with us and was directly in front of me. It gave me an bad omen. How is he here? I think I know all there is to know about him and this company definitely does not belong to their family. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and took a calming breath. You have this, Helena. Everything is going to be alright.

Beside Ashton were two other men. Both are in their prime. They don't look that intimidating though. It was only Ms. Jessica who was quite serious, the others are relaxed.

"Well, Helena I am James Larson." the man on Ashton's right side said. "I am going to ask you one question. What make you read a book?"

"Well, if you go into the bookstore and see rows of books, the first thing that would your attention is the cover. For me, I am attracted to a book that is very simple and elegant. The moment I see that book, I would read the synopsis and proceed from there. There are sometimes though that the cover does not justify the content of the book. But as a consumer, visual satisfaction comes first." I said with a smile. He just nodded, said "Thank you." and wrote something on my score sheet.

"I am Hunter Garcia, congratulations for making it to the final round." the man on Ashton's left side beamed at me warmly. He made me really comfortable. "I would like to ask you, if you were to write your own book what would it be about and why?"

"To be honest, I have not considered writing a book. I don't think I have it in me." I said in a quiet voice. This statement made Ashton look at me for the first time since I entered the room. "But if I were to write a book, I would like to write something that is relatable. Relatable in a sense that anybody could be going through it or know someone who is going through it. Like a book about failure or rejection. Everyone of us felt that we failed or that we were rejected one way or another. The book doesn't have to have an erotic content. I just want it to warm the readers hearts and bring them comfort." Mr. Garcia smiled at me before writing something again on my score sheet.

I can feel Ashton's intense gaze on me. I can feel myself heating up. But I had to calm myself again. So far, I am handling this interview quite well. The questions that they are throwing is not that complicated.

"Ms. Smith, I am Jessica Owens. My question is how important is language?" Ms. Jessica said while looking at me with interested eyes.

"Well, for me language is powerful. It binds us but also rips us apart. For me language is not just words but also the context behind it and the tone that was used. Let's take for example the sentence 'come on'. This can be said in a coaxing manner to make the shiest child look at you and go to you. It can also be said in a hurried manner making those hear it feel the urgency and most likely would move faster. It can be whispered that can convey hidden danger. Or it can be said in a manner that would make one feel like you are challenging him. A language uses a lot of words with similar meanings but the manner of saying it and the words behind it means more than the word itself." I responded. The moment I was done, Ms. Jessica scribbled something on my score sheet while Ms. Jennifer was beaming at me.

"Ms. Smith, I am Ashton Kempt and I will give you the last question. If you were to work as a secretary, what for you are the three most important characteristic a secretary should have?" he asked without sparing me a glance.

"Detail oriented, punctual and a confidante. I believe that being smart does not make you detail oriented. Since I will be working as an assistant to someone of higher rank that means that I will encounter a lot of details or information that needs to be organized. Being punctual not just in the hour of going to work but also in meeting deadlines. If a person is punctual that means that he is productive and efficient. And lastly, confidante, I want my superior to trust me. Since I will be working closely with someone from a higher position, there will be information or details that I might know but that not everyone needs to know. So keeping quiet and not talking about serious matters about the company is also a must for me as a secretary. I think the rest can be worked on as your relationship progress." I said and bowed my head.

Finally, I'm done. I just hope that I will make it through.