Got a call from one of the banks where I applied for employment. Apparently, they had sent me a letter a few weeks back and were wondering why I had not responded. They had scheduled an interview and needed to confirm if I would be available to attend. Thing is, the interview was fixed for 9am the very next day and I got the call at about 3pm. I went into panic mode – What would I wear? What questions would I be asked? Gosh, my hair was undone. Not sure I had enough transport fare to and from the venue. ‘I so need this job’, I fussed.
I remembered this guy whose office was on the island. We attended the same church. I quickly called him to confirm if I could join him to work the following day. He said I could. Strike 1! Now I only had to figure out what to wear and how to get my hair done. I went to my usual salon and negotiated a simple hairdo for less than the usual price. Besides, they all knew how I had been frantically searching for a job. Strike 2! The cyber café was my next stop (didn’t have phones that provided internet services at the time). Bought an hour’s worth of surfing time and read up all that I could about the banking industry at large and more importantly about the specific bank I was scheduled to have an interview with. Strike 3! Got home about 10:30pm. Had nothing to eat, too tired to even take a shower and went to bed, setting my alarm for 4am the next day.
The drive to the island was characterized with traffic as usual; just that this time, it was really crazy. We were in the jam for hours, I was running late. I got down from my friend’s car and took a commercial motorcycle to the venue of my interview. Soon enough it was my turn. As I sat down and faced the panel of five persons, I started developing sweaty palms. I was nervous. I answered the questions as best as I could. Just before I left, one of the interviewers said she thinks she saw me get off a car and take a bike, when she was on her way to the office. I confirmed that it must have been me as I did not want to run the risk of being late to the interview. She smiled. “We are done here; will contact you, if you are successful”, she said. I was contacted a few weeks after. I got the job. On my first day of resumption, I was asked to see a senior member of staff. As I entered her office, she stood up to shake me and said: “Sometimes, all you need to do to succeed in life is to show up!”
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