37) Monday 16 Sept 2013 – Having His Teeth Pulled
It was 9.58 on Monday morning and John Paul was pacing back and forth in the waiting area. He'd been sitting down, trying to read some of the numerous magazines lying there, but ending up just leafing through them without taking any of the text in. Suddenly he heard a peep from his pocket and felt the vibration of his mobile phone.
'Good thing, this happened now,' he thought to himself, 'or I'd have forgot to put it on silent.' He fished the phone out his pocket, and quickly read the message he'd just received.
'Look n ur inside pocket. X C.'
Frowning John Paul moved his right arm to dig into the inside pocket of his jacket, at the same time as he focused on silencing the phone. Finding a note in the pocket, he quickly withdrew it, folded it out and read it.
'Good luck, babe! Even if they need to extract all your teeth, remember that I have complete faith in you and will always love you! Talk to you afterwards! XXX'
John Paul felt a massive smile spreading over his face as the happiness surged through his body.
"Mr McQueen? We're ready for you."
He turned to where the voice was coming from, still smiling.
"Yes, good morning! Call me John Paul," he said as he extended his hand to the woman in front of him.
"Good morning! Nice to meet you, John Paul. I'm Karina. I work for the recruitment agency," she smiled back as she motioned for him to follow her into a small, but welcoming meeting room, where two other people were sitting, a young blond man and a red-haired woman in her forties, both of them rising to their feet as John Paul entered the room.
"Good morning, I'm Lennie Meadows. I'm with the Human Resources office ... oh, let's be honest ... I am the Human Resources Office of our company," the red-head said as she shook his hand.
"Pleased to meet you, I'm John Paul," John Paul greeted her confidently.
"And I'm Albert, Albert Young, one of the writing team. Good to meet you." The blond smiled warmly as he shook his hand.
"And you!" John Paul smiled back.
"Please take a seat!" Karina offered as she sat down herself. Composing herself, her manners becoming mere business-like she continued, "So Mr McQueen ... John Paul ..." she smiled apologetically, "I'll start with explaining the procedure of the interview and then if you have any early questions, you can fire away, before we really get going. How does that sound?"
"That sounds good!" John Paul replied confidently.
"Okay. that's good. Okay. Mrs Meadows will start with a short description of the company in question, and then Mr Young will describe the job and our expectation of the person who'll get it. Then we'll ask you to give a short presentation of yourself, especially in connection to the job description. All three of us will then ask you a few questions in relation to your qualifications and experience as well as your insight into the advertising industry. Finally, you'll get the opportunity to ask us about anything you'll find uncertain or unclear. Does that sound alright to you?" Karina finished her explanation. "Any questions before we go on?"
"No, it all seems rather straight forward." John Paul replied calmly.
"Okay, let's just go on then. Lennie?" Karina motioned for Mrs Meadows to take over.
"Thank you, Karina." Mrs Meadows smiled politely at the younger woman. "Add-On is a small advertising agency. We've been in the business for just over five years now. At the moment we only have one office, here in Chester, and we mostly serve local businesses and authorities. It's a well-run business, even if we say so ourselves, and with a growing capital we find it is the right time to start expanding the business, by taking over existing agencies around the country, rather than opening completely new branches all around the place."
John Paul nodded in agreement as he listened to her speech.
"We're not trying to be the next big thing, with our billboards on Piccadilly Circus, but rather a reliable company for the small businesses. So, if it's fame and fortune you're looking for, you're probably in the wrong place!" She smiled at him in mock apology. "However, it might be good experience and a stepping stone to something bigger, if you'd like! In any case, as I said, it's a well-run business, with a tight-nit team, and with all those creative and talented people around, it's a really fun place to work."
John Paul nodded again with an obvious interest.
"Anyway, unless, you have any questions at this stage, I'll give the word to Albert here?" Mrs Meadows continued.
"Uhh, yes, perhaps a couple, if that's okay?" John Paul asked shyly.
"Of course."
"Mrs Meadows, you said that you're a small company, how many people are we talking about? And the other question is, are you already in negotiations with other agencies regarding a possible take-over?"
Mrs Meadows smiled appreciatively at his questions. "Thank you, and please call me Lennie. At the moment we're just eight people, since we out-source most of the overhead, such as book-keeping and most of the technical part of our business, that is, filming, editing, sound recording and IT. That's actually what my job is all about, managing the deals with other companies and individuals regarding those things." She paused for a second, taking a sip of her water. "As for your other question, I can confirm that we are in talks with an agency in Leeds, that actually has a small branch in York. It's at a delicate stage at the moment, so I don't want to be too specific, but it's looking good. Does this answer your questions?" She smiled at him.
"Thank you, Mrs ... Lennie, I just wanted to have some idea as for the state of the business." John Paul smiled back.
"Of course! I appreciate the interest! But let's move on to Albert. You wanna take over?"
"Thanks Lennie. Yes, as I said, I'm on the text writing team, where you'll ... you'd work. It's a group of four to five people, it depends on whether Dick ... Richard Johnson, our manager, is around or not. We work mostly as a team, although sometimes we work in smaller groups, or even in rare cases, as individuals, so creativity aside, we're looking for someone who works well in a group. I've been with the company for the last two years, after studying fashion for a few years. The others in the group come from various backgrounds, one used to work on telly, one has written lyrics in collaboration with some well-known pop musicians, and the last one used to be a rapper. Dick's the only one who has a university degree, in creative writing." Albert paused taking a drink from his glass of water.
"Where was I? Yes, when I say writing team, it might be a bit misleading, because we don't just sit down and write the text to the ads. We're basically responsible for every creative aspect of the advertisements. That's why Dick has chosen such a diverse team. He tried having only colleagues from university, but they didn't know anything about the visual part of the job, so the business suffered. It took him a while to get the team we're now, but it's working well, if I say so myself. Everyone chips in when we're discussing the projects, although each project is given a designated editor. Any questions?" Albert finished his speech.
"No, not as such, but it's given me a better idea as to how I'd fit in." John Paul replied. "If it's okay for me to take over now?"
"Of course, go ahead!" Karina and Mrs Meadows said at the same time.
"Thank you!" John Paul paused for a moment before continuing. "To be totally honest, when I wrote the application I didn't really know what I was applying for, and I didn't think I'd stand a chance of an interview. However, hearing Mr Young's description of the creative team, I can see what makes me a good choice for the job. For one thing, I do have a degree in English literature, which gives me a good background in the text writing part of the job, that is, coming up with familiar scenes and ideas from our literary heritage, as well as just having a good grasp of the English language. Secondly, I do believe that my interest and knowledge in music, in particular my experience as a DJ would come in handy in such a small company."
Noticing the nodding heads around him, John Paul felt his confidence growing.
"Also, although some might think that being a DJ was a very solitary job — and in parts it is — mostly though, you have to fit into a group for it to work. You know, if you don't fit in with the staff at the club you're playing, or with the crowd you're playing for, you're doomed. So you have to use your intuition as to what's the right number to play, here and now. Otherwise, we could all just play a ready-made mixed tape!"
He took his glass of water and held it to his lips, refreshing his drying mouth.
"Ahh, that's better!" He smiled, before continuing. "And if you're looking for experience in working in a closed group, I can add that a lot of my studies in Dublin involved group work, both coursework and smaller ungraded assignments. Most of the time it went well, although, I have to admit that my temper sometimes gets the better of me ... but never for long!" He hasted to add.
"Don't worry about that," Albert laughed. "We all have a temper on our team! Guess it's a sign of commitment to the work we're doing; that we care about what we do and want to do it properly."
"Yes, thank you, John Paul." Karina smiled as she took control of the meeting. "For this insight. If we'd now ask a few questions, I have one I'd like to start with." She hesitated a little. "I see from your CV that you've just moved from Dublin where you finished your degree. I fathom from your accent that you're from this area. Why did you move here rather than try and find work elsewhere?"
"Well, yes, I'm from around here originally. My entire family's from Chester, but we moved out to the Hollyoaks village when I was seventeen. When my partner Craig and I finished our degrees in Dublin, we thought about it for a while what to do. Then he heard of a great job for him back here. We had to come back here anyway for a wedding and when he got the job, it was settled, and we don't see ourselves moving from here in the nearest future.
"Thank you for this honest answer." Karina said nodding at him. "Mr Young, you have a question?"
"Yes, thank you Karina. John Paul, can you please name three positive aspects and only one flaw to your personality."
"Oh, that's a tricky one!" John Paul hesitated. "For one thing, I'd like to think that I'm very loyal to my family and friends. For another, I'm a quick thinker, I usually find solutions to my problems before it's too late. And thirdly, I usually try to be open-minded, to see things from all angles. As for my faults, they're far too many to mention, but probably the biggest one is how short-tempered I can be, as I mentioned before. I guess that's it."
"Thank you!" Albert nodded slightly. "Lennie?"
"Yes, cheers. I've only got one question? What kind of a salary are you expecting?"