Ends With A Bet

2. Their Kind of Work

"Ms. Acilles, this way to HR office ma'am." I smiled at the receptionist who led me to go to the HR office. I said "Thank you" And then I get inside the office.

"Goodmorning Ms. Acilles! Welcome to Triumphant Group of Companies!" Marco De Lima said as I sat on the chair in front of him. He's the HR Manager.

"Likewise, Sir." I smiled widely. The training started. It’s not hard for me to cope up. Medyo sanay na kasi ako. Hindi rin nahirapan yung mga naging mentor ko sa pagtitrain saakin. So after 3 hours natapos na yung training and orientation

"And this will be your office, Ms. Trina." Marco said as he led me to the purple-painted office. Wow! One of my favorite color! "Purple siya kasi, ang theme ng department mo is royal greek kaya ganyan ang kulay. I hope you don’t mind, Ms. Trina."

I smiled. "It’s nice Sir. Thankyou."

After heading to my new office, we next headed to the HR application office to hire my secretary.

Wow! There are so many applicants! Hindi ko naman first time na mag-hire ng applicant, dati akong HR kaya it's not new to me. After almost two hours of interviewing, out of 45 applicants, tatlo na lang ang natira.

I gave them my one shot question.

"What are your weaknesses, and how'd you overcome it? Just give one." I asked smiling. Alam ko kasi kung anong pakiramdam ng interviewee kaya alam ko din na kinakabahan sila. I want them to be comfortable with me so I just kept on smiling. Also, I don’t want them to be intimidated by my presence. I want a cool ambience.

They answered. Yung iba sa kanila ang sagot ay insects, natawa na lang ako. I mean, anung kinalaman ng insekto sa tatrabahuhin nila? Yung isa naman ay, takot daw siyang mapagalitan kasi bumababa daw confidence level niya. I just shrugged, being scolded is part of the job. Kung ayaw niyang mapagalitan, sana nagpatayo na lang siya ng sarili niyang business kung saan siya yung boss. Rude, Trina.

The last applicant caught my attention by her answer.

"Being appreciated by someone is my weakness. And I overcome it by saying "Nah! I am not. I’m just doing my job." Somehow, alam ko na magkakasundo kami neto. We have same weakness, ayoko din ng pinupuri ako, yes, it lifts my confidence pero I felt like pinapalaki nila ang ulo ko pinupuri nila ako. At ayoko ng ganun, ‘pag lumaki ang ulo ko, nagiging masama ang ugali ko. Self-proclaimed.

　I masked my amusement on her answer with a follow up question.

"And how is that? What if I appreciate you with a job well done?"

"I'll just say thank you and that I’m just doing my task, Miss T." I nodded and she caught my attention on what she just called me.

"Miss T?" I looked at her questioningly.

"Oh. Sorry mam, it’s just that---"

"No, it’s okay. It’s awesome." I cut her off.