So, I spoke to the recruiter and I must admit that things are moving quite fast. The recruiter was calling me from the United Kingdom about some business development role.
The title always sends alarm bells ringing in my head since it can mean nothing and everything at the same time. I was, however, not going to let my hang-ups to lose my focus on the conversation. The way Jill, the recruiter, described the job made me very interested. It sounded like a fusion of strategy and finance planning.
She went on to say; “looking at your LinkedIn profile, you sound like a guy who has what it takes to do this job.” Her comment had me thinking about how I need to review my profile because it looks too basic. She said: “I wanted to know if you might be interested in this job.” Based on her description, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. This seemed to please her, and added; “I will forward your name to the company and then we can take it from there.”
I called Shiro as soon as I finished with the recruiter. She appeared more excited than I was saying, “I think it is time you left that company. You have become like a fossil.” In the past, I would have laughed it off, but not after receiving the Long Service Awards for 10 years of service in last Christmas party.”
A usual, she was keen to point out the things I should enquire about in the next interview. She said; “you need to demonstrate that you are all-rounded asset and not just a numbers guy.” I told her; “you need to calm down, it is still early days. Nothing concrete has come up. She responded; “I have a good feeling about this, and God knows we need the money.”
Speaking of money, it is true that we do need some and once again it has everything to do with Shiro. When she was around for the holidays she expressed her reservations about our kids. According to her the kids are not as ‘well-rounded as they need to be to make it in the world.” I did not understand what exactly her concern was as I replied, “they are decent kids. They can talk and write better than most of their agemates.” She said, “That is not the point, they need to do more.” She proceeded to give me an hour-long lecture about how our kids need to learn languages and other extra-curricular skills. She kept on referring to some parenting conference she had attended in Dubai.
Over time, I have learnt that there are some issues that I can never win with Shiro and those concern the children. So, when Shiro came back to me a few days later with a list of activities for the kids, all I could do was say; “Okay, let us do it.”
Upon further interrogation, I noticed that the total cost for the activities was Sh60,000 per month. In addition, I had to buy kits for playing football, hockey and even get a new keyboard for them to practice music. When I complained about the cost Shiro told me, “we are doing this for the future of these kids.”
So I am hopeful that this new job will improve my finances and make my life better. I think I stand a chance because yesterday I got an email from Jill inviting me to take a psychometric test. I really do not like these tests, but if that is what it takes for me to afford all these stuff for the kids so be it.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
