Chapter 4

My first interviewee was Jason Turner; he was twenty-two and had only a month left to finish his degree. He was very interested in the job, but when I mentioned moving to just outside Austin in about six months, he balked and said he would not leave the Dallas area. I did ask if he would be interested in working for me until I moved, and he declined. Scratch one candidate, I thought he seemed too sure of himself and after talking with him for about the fifteen minutes of the interview, I could see he was not someone I would like to have working for me. It was as if he no longer wanted to be here after I spoke of the move.

One down, three to go today. I received an email from two of the other ITT Tech people, and they could see me tomorrow afternoon. Both of these candidates were finished and still looking for work.

Next up was Tammy Fields; she was twenty-six, had completed four years in the U.S. Air Force, and then went to college to get her degree in the field she had worked in while in the service. She was bright, intelligent, not bad to look at, and very interested in web designing, but her forte was datacenter and server maintenance and programing. I explained about the move after giving her a tour, and she said if she was working for me and we moved, then she would move where the job was. She had been stationed at three places, not counting her basic and tech school. I asked, if I might be so bold, as to ask why she moved so much. Her answer intrigued me. She went to Korea on her first assignment for eighteen months, then she was transferred to Hawaii for another eighteen months, and then ended up in Bossier City, Louisiana at Barksdale. She decided to go back to school and went to UT Arlington. I mentioned her pay for part time night work and she looked really interested. She would graduate in another month, but would love to start part time nights as soon as possible. She was running low on scholarship money, and needed some extra cash to pay her bills until she was working full time. She worked part time in a restaurant waiting tables, but the pay was really lousy. I was really liking this girl, she seemed to be a hard worker and nice to be around.

"Miss Fields, I want to make you an offer of this job, think about it and give me your decision when you have really thought it over. I don't want an answer right now; go back to school and really think about this. I would like to cover your shortages for the next six months. After that, whether or not you work for me, the debt is paid. If you come to work for me, the pay will be the same as I pay another guy who is getting a little tired of me leaving him here alone when I am gone for a week at a time. The pay is fifteen an hour. I'm sure that is more than your table waiting job, but that is what I pay. As you become more versed in what I do here and how I design sites, your pay will be adjusted accordingly. Don't answer now, think about it. Oh, and by the way, there are no strings attached for me covering your shortages either. I would never put you into a position like that. I am trying my best to help out a fellow veteran. I was in the Navy for six years, so I know about low pay and long hours."

"Mr. Rothman, I don't quite know how to say this without getting you mad at me, but, ARE you crazy, wanting to help me like that and getting nothing in return?"

"No, Miss Fields, life has been good to me, and my business is growing by leaps and bounds. I need help very badly. If I thought I could convince you to start full time tomorrow, I would offer you that right now. But I know how important a good education is, and I also know what a military veteran is worth to me in discipline and hard work. You chose UT-Arlington, so sports are not how you got your scholarship, it had to be academically, so that means you're smart and dedicated. I am looking for one, and possibly two people, to help me grow my business. I will be moving to a ranch outside of Austin, in Taylor, Texas, later this year. My server room will be a part of that ranch, attached to the house I am having built there. The server room will have a separate bedroom and half bath to be used by my workers when I am gone. When I am home, there will be no need for twenty-four hour coverage. But while I am away, I will need someone there to monitor the servers. As one of my employees becomes more into the design aspect of the job, they may be traveling with me until I can let them go out on their own. This is an opportunity for long term work, if you want it. This is why I ask that I get no decision today, ok?"

"Mr. Rothman, I do not make snap decisions as a rule, however, in this case I may make an exception. I would consider it an honor to work for you. You have the kind of drive I myself have, you're ex-military, so we have some common ground there, too. We both have worked on computers systems in the military, so we have a lot of the same background as well. I never for one second thought the offer of you handling my shortages had any strings attached to them. I could tell your were a straightforward, honorable man. In other words, Mr. Rothman, where do I sign up?"

"Are you absolutely sure about this? Do you have parents, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or other people that you need to consult with?"

"No, Mr. Rothman, I do not have a husband, nor a boy or girl friend. I live in the dorm and my parents are in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I have no emotional baggage here, and that is why I say if we have to move, then we have to move. I have my own truck, a few years old but reliable transportation, andit's paid for. So what do I have to sign and where is it?"

"Ok, Miss Fields, first off, welcome to RHR Consulting. Secondly I am Bob, not Mr. Rothman, and thirdly, it may take me a couple of days to get all the paperwork set up to hire you as a full time employee. Now if you would work up a spreadsheet of all of your current bills and obligations, I will write you a check for that, and you can be free of them for the foreseeable future. Do you have any student loans that will come due after graduation?"

"Yes, I do, Mr ... er Bob, I have one for seven thousand dollars that I need to start paying on upon quitting school or starting two years after graduation, so there is no worry there. And a great big thank you for hiring me, you will never regret it, I promise. And, by the way the name is Tammy, not Miss Fields. Oh yeah, I also answer to Fields, if it's yelled."

"Please don't bring back those memories, I had gotten up to Petty Officer First Class (PO1), I guess Tech Sergeant to you, when I got out. But I was always Rothman to the Chief (Chief Petty Officer) or the Lieutenant (Capt.) or my Lieutenant Commander (Major). I'm so glad those days are behind me."

We talked for a while longer and the next candidate came knocking. I showed Tammy out and started on the next possible candidate. This one was Thomas Kincaid, twenty-one and graduated. I wondered about that until he showed me his transcript. It was impressive. He had almost double the amount of courses for a Bachelor's degree, and he said he was working for his Masters. He had two more courses and then he would be complete. I spoke with him for about a half hour and decided this guy was a fake, he knew all the buzz words, but didn't have a clue of what I talked about when I got into server maintenance or website design. We talked for a little while longer, and I told him my next interviewee would be showing up any time now. I told him I would let him know about the job, knowing I would not, and I would also send an e-mail to the school letting them know what a fraud he was. I was saved by my doorbell, though.