The First Meeting ...

January 3, 2003 came... It was a very busy day for me... a long one indeed. I had to interview a lot of potential candidates .... My desk is cluttered with papers ... and I even still had the hang over from the long Christmas holidays... I came in the office that day around 9 or 9:30 AM. I sat down and gathered my thoughts and prepared the things that I needed to conduct the interviews. It will be a panel interview, with my partner, Mr. Mike Balaoing. He is actually the serious and quiet one. I, on the other hand, would ask majority of the questions with a lot of jokes on the side. Yes, I normally crack jokes to give a more relaxing atmosphere to the candidates (especially if I find them really new in this game).

...Fast Forward...

Lunch came. I was a bit tired already from the pile of work that I had for the day, aside from the interviews... I went out for lunch and probably ate at some place near the office (can't remember where). Anyway, I came in around 1 PM. The guard told me that someone is already there (since 12:30 PM) to see me for an interview. I looked at my watch and thought that the next schedule will be at 1:30 PM. She was one hour early... I said to myself. I told the guard that I will meet her for a few more minutes after I freshen up ... Besides, Mike hasn't returned from lunch yet...

Boys will be boys... engineers are already curious who the next candidate was... normal questions would be... "Is she cute?" or "Is she sexy?" ... as if it was a beauty pageant rather than a job interview... Naturally, I was curious too... hehehe... that's why I wanted to freshen up first ... Yeah... Yeah... But still, I am a professional who knows the limits to things... work first before pleasure... =p

... Fast Forward ...

I came out before 1:30 PM to meet this young looking girl. I peeked at the hallway first out of curiousity before I walked towards her. She was very young looking... attractive... and very sexy... She actually looked bored and was tinkering with her cellphone ... I approached her and greeted her Good afternoon (with a very professional voice ... if i may add) ... I introduced myself and apologized for keeping her waiting and told her that we are still waiting for my colleague who will be in the interview as well. I went back inside my Solution Center area or what we normally refer to as the aquarium. I told my team and some engineers that she was actually cute ...

... Fast Forward ...

Mike arrived and I went out again and fetch this young lady ... We passed by the Solution Center area and we waved at some of the people there ... Our electrician, Paul, even whispered to me that the candidate is really pretty and winked at me ... as if I was actually looking for a girlfriend rather than a substitute for one my Solution Center Call Coordinator ... I can't blame them for thinking like that ... they just want me to be happy considering that I had a major disaster with my previous relationship 8 months earlier (this is a different story) ...

... Fast Forward ...

We went to a room that I had reserved for the interview and waited for Mike to come in... I introduced her and we all sat down ...