Job Fair
Michael and Jennifer set up at their table and waited for candidates. They waited for nearly two hours and still did not get any candidates visiting their table.
" Why are people not visiting our table?" Michael asked Jennifer. He was tired of waiting for candidates without getting any results.
" Well, there are multiple reasons. The biggest reason would be that we are a completely unknown company. People have never heard from us; Startups always have a hard time hiring initially because people do not want to take a risk with a new company. In addition, we also have the worst spot in the whole event." Jennifer explained. She could understand Michael's concerns; however, she knew from experience that startups faced a lot of obstacles like this.
Michael was dejected at Jennifer's response. At this rate, they would not be able to hire anyone today. Michael had instructed Jennifer to offer competitive salaries and benefits package. They would even offer sign-on bonuses for experienced personnel. However, all of the benefits would be useless if they could not attract candidates.
" Be patient Michael. In the beginning, the candidates will mostly visit the big companies; later in the day we will get our chance." Jennifer explained. She understood how hard it was for new companies to attract talented employees. Michael was clearly not experienced in business and lacked patience.
While they were talking, a man dressed in a black suit walked towards their table. He grabbed the brochure and flipped through it. " Are you guys hiring accountants?"
" Yes, we are looking for accountants. We are new startup so we are looking to hire in all departments." Jennifer replied. She was curious as to the reason why this man chose them over the fortune 500 companies.
" Well, My name is Kevin Malone. I have 15 years experience in accounting." The candidate explained while handing his resume to Jennifer.
Jennifer was taken back by the wealth of experience Kevin had. However, as she read his job history her smile turned into a frown. Now she understood why Kevin chose an unknown company like them. He had been an accountant at Krebs for five years.
Krebs was a company that got caught committing fraud. They would exaggerate earnings and tried to hide expenses in their financial statements. Last year several executives had been arrested and were awaiting trial. Naturally, an accountant from such a company would not be hired by established companies. She explained the issue to Michael to see his response.
Michael listened to Jennifer's explanation and then turned to Kevin. He planned to use his Deception detection skill to interrogate Kevin. If Kevin was involved in the fraud then Michael would not hire him; However, if Kevin was innocent then he would be a great addition to the team.
" Did you know what was happening at Krebs? Were you involved in the fraud? " Michael asked Kevin.
" I knew what was happening. As an accountant there was no way it could escape my deception; however, I did not have a choice. The executives had made to decision and we were supposed to just follow orders. My plan was to look for another job and then when I leave the company, report it to authorities." Kevin explained.
He knew that he was guilt for going along with the fraud; however, he had to think of his family. His wife was sick and so the whole family was being supported by his income. Unfortunately, the company got busted before he could find another job. Since then he had not been able to find another job and had been in dire straits.
Michael was taken back by Kevin's honesty. His skill told him that Kevin was telling the truth. He could understand the helpless situation Kevin was in when his superiors decided to commit fraud.
" Let's Schedule an interview Monday," Michael explained to Jennifer and Kevin. He wanted to get one more interview in before hiring Kevin. Besides job fairs were meant to get candidates to fill out applications or turn in resumes. The top candidates would be asked to come in for an interview and then be considered for a position.
Jennifer was taken back by Michael's willingness to consider someone with a questionable background; perhaps many first time entrepreneurs would refuse to take the risk. She knew that humans could not be classified as good or evil. There were people who made mistakes in the past and needed a second chance to prove themselves again.
After Kevin left, the Empyreal Holdings table continued to look deserted. It was already Noon and they only had one candidate so far. Michael was tired of waiting and being ignored. He was still trying to figure out how to attract employees when he heard a Mission alert from the system.
[Mission 3: Attracting Followers
Mission Objective: An emperor needs followers to support his empire. Unfortunately, everyone has to start from the bottom. The Hiring fair is already halfway completed and you only have one resume so far. Find a way to attract more candidates at the job fair.
Rewards: Free Talent Recognition Skill. Tier will be decided by the number of applications/resumes gathered. ]
Michael was taken back by the mission. It seems that the system was making up missions in real time to guide him towards being an emperor. At least the Talent recognition skill will come in handy. This was the first time a skill was offered as a mission reward. Since it was free he had no complaints.
Michael looked around; he did not know how to immediately attract candidates. He spent a couple of minutes brainstorming. Looking at the clock he noticed it was noon already; his stomach grumbled demanding food. That's when a light bulb went off in Michael's head. All these candidates were desperate for a job; so they would even skip lunch to talk to another potential employer. The same issue happened to the companies; they were hungry for top talents so they too adamantly waited by their tables.
Michael immediately ordered food to be delivered. He mostly ordered snacks that would not create a mess, in order to avoid angering the hosts. Within 20 minutes Michael walked up to the front and paid for donuts, cinnamon buns, and croissants. He carried it all the way back to his table while taking the extra long path to make sure people smelled his goodies.
Jennifer was astonished to see Michael walking to their table with bags of snacks. Was he so hungry that he could not wait any longer? She thought to herself.
Michael set up the food on their table and waited for the hungry candidates. Soon people followed the enticing smell and walked to Empyreal holdings table.
" Is this food free? " One of the candidates asked.
" Of course, Feel free to dig in." Michael replied while pointing to the food.
The candidates were starving and so immediately dug in and gorged on the food. After eating they paid attention to the generous company and left resumes. Soon candidates started flooding in while trying to grab a bite to satiate their hunger.
Jennifer watched the spectacle with an astonished look on her face. Right now their table had more candidates than any other company. Michael had ordered enough food to feed an army. The resumes were piling in and she was bombarded by questions about the company.
After a couple of hours the food had run out; however, nearly all the hungry candidates were satisfied. Empyreal Holdings had received nearly 250 applications.
Michael smiled at the results. He remembered a quote from history class " An army marches on its stomach". This quote was absolutely true; just the simple notion of being considerate and finding a solution to the hunger of the candidates left a deep respect in the hearts of many people for Empyreal Holdings.
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