The Billionaire Escort

The Interview

 Chapter Nine  The Interview

There were two other ladies waiting in the reception area, and I wondered if they were here for the interview as well.  One was in her fifties, the other I would put at around forty.  I smiled politely, at each of them to receive nothing but a glare in return! Charming I am sure, just because we are going for the same job there was no need to be like that, some people. 

Both ladies were told to go through, and Johanna would meet them, individually, five minutes apart, so obviously they were here for the same job as I was, I waited patiently, for my turn.

“Helena, if you can go through the double doors into the lift, and head up to floor 7 please, Johanna will meet you there” The receptionist smiled at me. Now her I liked!

As the lift hit the seventh floor a lady around 5 ft 5 with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair stood, she was immaculately dressed, in a black calf length pencil skirt and turquoise wrap blouse, she was probably in her late thirties but looked younger. 

“you must be Helena, Hi I am Johanna, nice to meet you” she extended her hand, and I shook it.

“Hi, lovely to meet you as well” I smiled trying like hell to show confidence when in reality I was a nervous wreck.

“Just through here, we are going to start with a series of practical tests, to assess your skills, then give you a de-brief, and if you pass this, we will do an informal interview with you” Johanna explained, and I smiled.  s**t the tests, I hope I do not mess this up!

The room was large with around 10 desks in the other two interviewees were sat, separately in front of a computer, Johanna led me to my desk, on the table sat three brown files.

“Okay ladies, you will see that Word is opened up on the computer, the first skills assessment is for typing and accuracy, If you all open the top file, there are three documents that I want you to type for me, if you can get yourselves ready, and begin when I tell you please” Johanna stated, I took out the three A4 pieces of paper, there was a letter, a report, and a schedule.

“Okay ladies, everyone ready” we all said yes in unison.

“Begin” Johanna said and clicked her stopwatch.

I began to work, I could touch type so was able to make my way through the documents with ease, however it had been a long time since working in an office, so my speed was not what it used to be.  I tried not to stress about it, as accuracy was just as important, and I would rather get it right than rush and get it wrong.

I was working away, when one of the ladies smiled and said finished, s**t! A few moments later the other lady indicated she also was finished.  Determined not to let it affect me I continued and completed the task last! Dam looks like I will not get this job! I tried not to let the negative thoughts cloud my mind, but somehow that old feeling of being just not good enough started to creep in.

Johanna had noted the times for each of us,

“Please save the documents in the file with your name on, it is on the Z drive” that was all the information, however I had worked in an office where you would have many different servers available in the past, so quickly saved to the correct place.  At least I was first with that! The other two ladies seemed to find it a little bit of a struggle.

Once they were done Johanna then asked us to open the next file, telling us that we should read it carefully then complete the task stated, Again she set her timer.

“Begin” she said, and I looked at the folder, the other ladies seemed to read through it, and start immediately, however I read this twice, it was information for an excel spreadsheet, there was lots of data, and the others were very busy trying to type in each item individually. 

As I read the information given again, I noticed it stated this was a file from a database on the S drive named profit and loss, and to place the report into a spreadsheet… well no way was I typing this, when I could pull the data direct, so found the database and exported the data into Excel, then sorted out the heading, and with a few formula’s, got the totals, and sorted the data into the format required, it took me all of 10 minutes, I quickly double checked the data had pulled correctly and that everything had worked, then informed Johanna I was finished. She gave me a knowing smile and nodded. 30 minutes later we were still waiting for the other two to finish the task.  Well at least I am proving myself with spreadsheets.

“Helena, can you save on the S file, just use your name as the file name” she said smiling.

I did as she asked, still waiting for the others to finish.

Finally, they were done, and looking a little frazzled! This made me relax a little. 

“Okay ladies, final task, folder three, again read carefully and complete the task” Johanna informed us.

I read through twice, it was a simple act of taking some contact details that was stored in Excel on the A drive and making a quick and easy data base including forms and tables with one report to collate the data in postal area.

I set to work, again this was no problem, I actually loved working on databases nearly as much as Excel, so was happily completing the task even finding the groups logo to add to the form. 

Again, I was first to complete, and informed Johanna.

“just save it in the S drive again please Helena” she told me happily, which I did.

When the others were finished Johanna informed us it was coffee time, and to have a break and chat amongst ourselves while they looked at our work.

I smiled over to the ladies, I knew all too well that this break was probably being monitored to see how we interact with each other, like a communication test.

“Hi, would you like a tea of coffee” I asked the others politely,

“I will get my own” the older lady said abruptly,

“Coffee, milk two sugars” the other said a little less abrupt but no please nothing.

“No problem” I headed off and made the drinks getting only water for myself.  I really did not think I could stomach much else.

As I was busy I noticed that nobody was talking, so when I had finished making the drinks I passed them to each of them, then happily started to try and make conversation

“I am Helena by the way, nice to meet you both” I smiled,

“Hum yeah, Sophie” the younger of the two woman said then nothing else.

“Mrs Briggs” the older lady curtly replied.

Given I was getting not much in the line of conversation, I was at a loss as to what to say next…

“how did you find the tests? You both did so well with the typing” I smiled at them.

“Yes, well I have been typing for years, I am very experienced” Mrs Briggs informed me then looked over to the side of the room, wow just wow.

“Yeah, I am fast” Sophie smiled slightly, good at least she was making some sort of effort.

“How long have you been doing this type of work?” Sophie asked me.

“Well, it has been a while, because I took a career break to have my two children but worked in a busy office for a large company before I had them” I answered not wanting to highlight the fact I had only 2 years experience.

“What about you?” I smiled at Sophie.

“Oh about fifteen years now, I am working for a local law firm, but the wage here is the same as my full-time job, so it will be good to have spare time” she smiled, dam it must be the full £20,000 then, not pro rata, that would be amazing.

Johanna re entered the room, “Mrs Briggs Please can you come with me” She smiled.

“Assessment time!” I smiled at Sophie.

“Yeah, well not bothered either way really” she said, it was a careless comment to make if they were watching how we interact.

After not very long indeed, Johanna returned.

“Helena, please can you follow me” She smiled, “Sophie my colleague Zara will be with you shortly.”

We entered another office, Johanna took her seat behind the desk, then smiling asked me to take a seat.

“So how do you think you have done” she smiled as I sat.

“Well honestly the typing aspect was not as quick as I once was, but I believe the accuracy was good, the other tasks were pretty straight forward, so I hope I did okay with them” I smiled back

“Yes, you had no mistakes at all with your typing, but it was a little slower than we would like” my heart dropped s**t here we go, thanks but no thanks.  I braced myself for the rejection.

“However, the speed will come back the more you do it, so it was not a huge problem, your spreadsheet was amazing, I have to say I am impressed how you knew just what to do, and the formulas, were excellent.  The same with the database, and I liked that you thought about presentation with the company logo, and how you set out the query and report very good work” she smiled.

“Can I ask where you see yourself in five years’ time?” she asked, dam I could not think past five minuets time let alone five years!

Taking a deep breath answered as honestly as I could, after all someone wiser than me said it was the best policy.

“Honestly, I have two small children, they both are at school, my long term plan is for them to be safe and happy. Career wise, I would love to be able to progress through a company such as Masters group, growing as my children grow, and developing something for myself” I said, not sure if it was what she wanted to hear, but it was the truth.

“Well, the position is as an assistant, to an assistant, so the route for progression in a few years is definitely open for the right person.  If you are successful you will be helping Zara with the day to day tasks, she is PA to Mr Cole Masters who has recently taken over the running of the group from his father.  Normally he likes to have final say on the staff who personally work for him; however, he is busy at the publishing side of the company just now, and wants the position filled as quickly as possible.  The working hours would be 9:30 till 13:30 and mainly the tasks that Zara has little time for, like making Tea and Coffee for meetings, preparing schedules, diary input and typing letters, along with creating spreadsheets for Mr Masters as he requires.” Johanna smiled at me then continued

“the wage is £20,000 per year, and will increase to £22,000 after a six month probation period, this is not pro rata, Mr Masters likes to make sure the staff are financially rewarded, also there is private healthcare insurance as standard, along with 25 days leave plus your bank holidays, we also as a company like to support parents who join, and during the school holidays and after school We have free childcare available here in the building, it is located on the first floor” Wow, I really need this job, my life would be so much better, it would be a dream come true.

“That is amazing” I may have sounded a bit dumb struck, but it was all I could say, because it really was.

“We need an immediate start, so can I ask when you would be available to work, should you be successful?” Johanna asked.

“Tomorrow would be fine” I smiled, then thought should I have made that joke, but hey, I would start tomorrow in a heartbeat!

Johanna laughed, “that keen” she joked with me. I just smiled and nodded.

We spoke a little more about my kids, it was more like friendly chit chat, she also told me that once a month the company did a staff night out, the Friday night after pay day, which is good to meet people in the company and make new friends.  Then told me Mrs Masters was firm, but fair and a good boss all round, all things considered, although he did have a short fuse, but nothing to worry about.

“Well, I will give you a call later today, to let you know if you have been successful, thank you for coming in, and it was a pleasure to meet you Helena” she smiled.

I left the office and headed back downstairs noting that Sophie was nowhere to be seen, so gathered she had either left or was still being interviewed.

It was now 13:30 and I was starving, so headed into the city centre to grab some food, and head home.  There was nothing I could do now; the ball was in their court.

I was stood in the school yard waiting for the kids to be let go, when my phone rang, I took it out of my pocket, recognising the number I held my breath.

“Helena speaking” I said, trying not to sound like a nervous wreck!

“Hi Helena, it is Johanna from the Masters group, are you free to talk?” she asked

“Yes, of course” I motioned over to Belinda for her to gather my kids mouthing “Job” to her, so she understood.

“We were very impressed with you Helena and would like to offer you the position” how I did not scream in delight I do not know!

“Oh really! thank you so much” my voice high with excitement.

“So, we will see you tomorrow morning at 9:30, just ask for me, and I will do the tour, and introduce you to Zara who will be your immediate line manager, congratulations”.

“Yes of course thank you so much for everything” with that we said our goodbyes, and I started dancing like an i***t around the school yard, with the other parents looking at me as if I had finally lost the plot!