Dallas, Texas

"…I believe my people skills, my experience in sales, and my academic background in both advertising and communication studies qualify me for the position as described in your advertisement. I don't mean to sound presumptuous, but I don't believe the job is one that can be performed by just anyone who looks good on paper though; you have both made it clear that there is some knowledge of the oil business itself that's required. I believe the summers I spent working for my father, not to mention the lifetime of dinner discussions we had, more than qualify me in that sense. Jackson Oil was much smaller than Ewing Oil, I understand that, however at the core of it, oil is oil, and the independents were and are still all in the same boat and I think I have a good idea of what Ewing Oil means to you both and what role the roadman is required to play in the company".

Listening to the answers Tex Jackson's son, Alan, or Al as he preferred to be called, was giving, JR found himself nodding in agreement as he was consistently surprised and pleased by what he was hearing. After a number of very similar interviews, with men who had the right qualifications, but weren't actually interested in what Ewing Oil was offering in the roadman position, they'd then interviewed Jack, and as much as he disliked admitting it, Jack had the enthusiasm required, which actually made up for some of his shortcomings in education and relevant work experience. Al was up there with Jack on his serious list of second interviews though, he had the right education, the right attitude, and the right experience, he also had something 'special' like Jack did. Where Jack had the Ewing name, Al had real life experience and understanding of what it was really like being the son of a wildcatter and independent oil company owner, more so than Jack did with Jason. Tex Jackson had retired and wound up his company a while back, Ewing Oil had even bought some of his land and wells, he was still remembered fondly though, by both JR and Jock. Assessing the situation briefly, JR concluded that bringing Tex's son on board would pose no threat to Ewing Oil's company secrets, nor would it hurt them any more than employing any other unrelated person to promote Ewing interests. He found it hard to see how his father would argue against at least considering Al for a second interview, however, knowing his father, he'd find a way seeing as he'd made no secret of his interest in Jack.

"Mm, I'd believe that, your daddy's a smart man, not only because he ran Jackson Oil for decades, but because he got out at just the right time for the smaller independents. Ewing Oil isn't so small, in fact we're considerably bigger, more stable, more able to take advantage of market conditions rather than follow them or be swept up in them, that's a conversation for another day though". Considering the topic of the two oil companies, Jock added his opinion before catching himself and pulling back before he moved too far into a casual conversation. Tex Jackson was a good man and Jackson Oil was a company Ewing Oil had had a good business relationship with, especially in the end when Tex had been selling up. Alan Jackson appeared to have turned out well too, he was a nice boy, he was well educated, sounded like a hard worker, and he even seemed to understand his father's reasons for dissolving his company rather than retiring and passing it on. He hadn't done any reference checking just yet, but his gut wasn't telling him that the details he'd hear in a conversation with previous employers would be much different to what Al himself was saying. On paper, and in person admittedly, Al sounded good, he was definitely a hell of a lot more interesting and interested than some of the previous interviewees he'd seen today, which was surprising since his HR department and that useless employment agency had supposedly vetted the applicants prior to arranging interviews. Sounding good on paper and actually being the man for the job were two different things though and while he could see where they didn't match with the other applicants, he wondered about Al, Jack too.

"Answer me this, how do you feel about not being everybody's friend? Maybe even making a few enemies", considering the man in front of him, Jock knew he had to ask and he should have pressed Jack harder for an answer too. It was all fine and dandy to play the nice guy, handing out favours and enjoying the party that came with the three B's, there was another side of the job that had to be performed sometimes too though, one that Bobby had never taken great pleasure in, at least not the way he and JR did. If neither Jack nor Al were comfortable with forced favours, favours based on leverage gathered during routine exercises of the three B's, then neither man was right for the job; Ewing Oil was in the business of entertaining and persuading, but not as a form of charity work.

"In what way specifically? I can't say I enjoy making enemies of people, nor do I deliberately try to, but I'm realistic enough to understand that not everyone in this life will be or can be my friend either, especially where oil and business are concerned. If you're asking about whether I think I can handle rejection in a business sense though, I know I can; I may be relatively young in your eyes, but I'm not inexperienced in this industry, or the sales industry. I don't set out to make enemies, but if someone doesn't like me and their opinion can't be swayed, then I'm not going to lose sleep over it". Nodding as Alan responded again, Jock grudgingly accepted that not every applicant they had interviewed was completely unsuitable; Jack was a contender for the job, but he liked Al more and more as he listened to him.

Listening to his father's questions and Al's answers, JR nodded along too, he liked Al and for the role they were interviewing for, that first impression mattered; there was just one thing he didn't like about what he was hearing, he wasn't afraid to say so though. "Business is business, don't even bother trying to sway personal opinions there, it's a waste of time, all we're interested in is the deal, or the voting support, if we can't get it being nice, we'll get it using other means. Learn how to ignore the negative feedback and you have the key to success, believe me". Offering some friendly advice, advice he didn't think would threaten his position at all, JR then allowed his father to take over again, beginning the process of concluding their time together. He liked Al, he didn't mind Jack either, that had surprised him a bit, liking one or the other, or both, didn't neatly decide things though, nor should it, they were deciding on a new employee, not making friends, he and his father both needed to remember that.

To be continued…