Free The Cost Of Love And Sanity by Jaye Cheríc Page A

thinking: ‘Those rarely work out for the job seeker or the employer.’ And you know what? You’re right. But I’m prepared to do it differently. Instead of printing a bunch of flyers and paying for ad space, I’m going to pull exclusively from the pool of applicants we already have, select the best of the best and match them with our most prized employers. The event will not be advertised in the paper. The fair will be strictly invitation only. This will allow me to screen the applicants thoroughly so that when they arrive to the job fair they are five steps closer to getting the job of their dreams.”
    After going over a few more points, Alex breathed a sigh of relief inside. She’d gotten through it and now the presentation was almost over. She believed she’d done a good job explaining her plan of action and its benefit to the company.
    Courtney raised her hand. “How many candidates do you plan to invite?”
    â€œAt least four hundred,” Alex answered.
    Brian Stacks, a coordinator, whistled. “When are you going to find time to invite all these candidates and perform your regular responsibilities?”
    â€œI’m going to have the call center line up a number of candidates for the individual companies,” Alex answered.
    â€œIt sounds good, Alex, but that’s a lot of people. How are the companies going to see them all?” Mr. Sims asked.
    Alex faced him. “Well, they won’t. They’re going to be split intogroups. Thirty-minute increments. The candidates’ first stop will be in a separate room for background checks and those that make it through that will interview with the companies’ HR departments.”
    Mr. Sims raised an eyebrow. “Well, it looks like you have it all figured out. Good job.” He nodded and motioned permission for Alex to have a seat. He then turned toward the rest of the room. “I’m glad to hear you have a plan because we are planning to have a big going away party for Tom in March. That means we need to get this job fair done soon. We’ll schedule it for February 23rd. That’s about four weeks from now.”
    She nodded and wrote the date at the top of her presentation paper.
    Looking back at her, Mr. Sims continued. “Go ahead and get started with the fair.” He pointed to his left. “Dan will help you.”
    Excuse me? Dan? Why do I have to work with Dan? She peered over at Dan. His eyes were stretched open. She could tell he didn’t like the news any more than she did. She imagined him with that same expression throughout the whole planning stage of the fair. Her main job would entail putting out his fires. She tried to speak but her voice would not cooperate. Dan, however, did find a way to speak.
    â€œUh. Mr. Sims? I still haven’t given my presentation yet. I had other ideas of how to improve the numbers.”
    â€œHold on to them for a later date. We don’t want to spread ourselves too thin,” Mr. Sims said.
    â€œMaybe he has a proposed project that will benefit mine,” Alex said, finally finding her voice.
    â€œPerhaps, but I really want us to focus on the fair. You and Dan will be working together. Any questions?”
    Alex shook her head. No one else said a word. “Good. I’ll expect a full briefing on the progress next week. Any other updates?”
    The staff remained silent.
    â€œAll right. Until next week.”
    Alex stood up from the table and caught a glimpse of Dan. He was grabbing his papers and folder quickly, scowling the whole time. I know, Buddy. I don’t like it any more than you do.
    She headed to the elevator to go back to her office, dreading the headaches to come. Romero caught her in the elevator.
    â€œGood job today, Alex.”
    â€œOh. Thanks.” Alex shrugged.
    He held up his hand. “You must be annoyed having to work with Dan. He isn’t the easiest person to work with. He has quite a