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NEW AUTHORS SHOWCASE

 

 

6M

P3

Moving Up

By

Andrew Davies

Synopsis

Liz joins the dynamic world of management consultancy, finding excitement in both the work she does and the related play.

The power intrigues at the top of the firm are exposed as the chief executive retires from ill health, while the finance director sets up a useful fraud, to keep herself in comfort. An American is appointed chief executive and the finance director is exposed by a consultant hacking into her computer.

Liz develops her career, working closely with her boss, Alex. They sort out a project that is going sour, then sell a major assignment to a large Bank, a big success for their firm. Her private life develops alongside her work with a group of friends enjoying themselves together. Her love life gets complicated, but fun.

Alex’ wife and two friends set up a small business to make teddy bears. The business prospers, making much use of the Internet. Their and their husbands’ relationships develop and some serious party action results.

The story ends with Liz successfully moving up, through a promotion by Alex to Manager. She celebrates with her boy friend, Mike, a relationship that shows lots of potential.

 

Chapter 2      The Interview

James glanced at the clock on the dashboard and wondered whether he would get to Farholt University on time. He glanced in his mirror and seeing a clear motorway, he upped his speed to 85, wishing that Adams Driver would indulge their managers with cars that had cruise control. Still, it was an improvement on his own car, that had aged to the point where it was pure chance whether you actually completed the journey. Now that he was a manager, he had joined the company car scheme and was much enjoying his new BMW.

A slip road ahead was signposted to Farholt, so he slowed and pulled off. After a  few miles of winding country roads, he reached the entrance to the university campus and stopped in the reception parking. He looked around – a lot of lawns and gardens, with low two and three story buildings from the 1960’s. It gave the impression of pleasant, relaxed academia. He found it a little nostalgic, reminding him of his own days at college. Life was now far from relaxed in the business world inhabited by Adams Driver.

The receptionist both looked and talked like a retired sergeant major, barking out directions to the suite where the interviews were to be held. James hoped he would remember all he had been told, but was soon lost. A white-haired, worried looking man gave him some rather easier instructions and he finally got to the Runnymede suite a little after 9.30am.

“Where the hell have you been?” was the gentle greeting from Ian Reynolds, the partner who was leading the interviews. “I was expecting you by 9 o’clock and I’ve had to do most of the set-up myself. This is not supposed to be a holiday and I hope you’ve got a bloody good excuse”.

James had not progressed to manager without developing an ability to worm his way out of difficult situations. “Did you miss the crash on the M28? I got there just after the road was blocked and sat there for about forty minutes before I could get through”, he explained quickly.

Ian accepted this without comment and took him through to demonstrate the suite layout, showing the reception with easy chairs, two interview rooms with sofas at an angle, two testing rooms with table and chair, a small lecture room with presentation facilities, a neat little kitchen and two toilets, from which Sue, Ian’s personal assistant emerged. “Hi James, ready for coffee?”

Over coffee, Ian explained the day’s schedule. “We’re seeing three candidates, all with good first degrees, one with a PhD, and on course for their MBA in six weeks. You will see them first, then they will do two hours of tests, watch the Company PowerPoint presentation and, if they are ok after that, I’ll see them to conclude.  Sue will supervise the tests, you will operate the PowerPoint. The first one arrives in twenty minutes, at 10 o’clock”.

Just before 10, a rather nervous young man came into the suite. “My name is Zaid Mohamed – I have an appointment for interview”. Sue welcomed him and took him straight through to James. After a rather tedious forty five minutes , James gave him back to Sue, who started him on the tests.

Liz arrived at two minutes to 11 and was taken straight into meet James. He had been bored by the serious Zaid and thought he would have some fun with the female. His opening was blunt: “The City is full of discrimination against women – why do you think you have a chance of breaking it down?”. Liz had prepared herself for a variety of questions, but was taken aback by this unexpected theme. She thought for a moment and then decided on a ‘death or glory’ response. “That question is deeply discriminatory in itself. If you go on with this theme, I can only respond by submitting a formal complaint against you. Now, as I came here to apply for a job as a consultant with a firm renowned for its’ progressive attitudes, can we please get on with that and not play games about discrimination”.

It was James’ turn to be caught off-guard. He had expected to unsettle Liz, but instead had been unsettled himself. Round one to Liz!

Forty minutes later, James and Liz were getting on well. They had found a joint interest in drama and had spent the last ten minutes appraising the latest Stratford production of Merchant of Venice. James liked Liz’ logical approach to business issues and thought she was just the right sort of person for Adams Driver, particularly with her PhD. He liked that she refused to use the title ‘Dr’, telling him that she thought it pretentious.

The next stage for Liz was the tests. The first was a personality preference test, the second a self perception of behavior and the third a combined test of literacy, numeracy and logic. All were time limited and it took more than an hour and a half to complete all three. At the end, Liz felt completely drained and was very glad when Sue offered her a layered salad and a glass of juice for a snack lunch.

She sat on her own in reception, wondering how she had done and trying to recharge her batteries for the afternoon. While she was there, Zaid was being given the company presentation, and the third candidate, David Watson was doing his tests. It felt a bit like a production line, with the candidates doing their set tasks and Ian, James and Sue running around supervising them!

After lunch, James came in and asked Liz to go to the lecture room with him to see the Adams Driver company presentation. He was rather quiet and Liz wondered whether something was concerning him. But nothing seemed amiss and he set up the PowerPoint presentation. It was the sort of ‘Aren’t we wonderful’ presentation that prompted a cynical reaction from Liz, but it gave her some interesting information about the work that Adams Driver did for their clients and how they related with those clients. At the end she asked him some questions about how he found AD. He responded positively, becoming enthusiastic about the work and the people. Liz liked his response, thinking that AD sounded the sort of organization she should join.

Her last session was with Ian. He started by telling her that she had done well in the tests, displaying the type of personality and behavior that he felt was right for consultancy, together with a high level of literacy, numeracy and logic. He then set about questioning her on her motivation and ambition, trying to test whether she had the drive that he wanted to see in young consultants. Liz responded strongly, falling back on her prepared themes, for this was much closer to her expectations and she was ready for these questions. At the end of the session, Ian thanked her and then dismissed her with a ‘we’ll be in touch soon’.