Commencement
Page 6
Today was a new day. Allen had analyzed his failure of two weeks ago. He realized that he had not given the impression that he was willing to learn. Ravitch and Harris probably thought that he was some jerk who thought he could coast on his Harvard degree and connections. He realized that maybe some of his answers did seem to smack of arrogance. Allen decided to change his strategy. He even recruited Tim to prep him with mock interviews. As a result, Allen had passed the first round interview with Concord Group Consulting’s human resources department. He now had to interview with the head of the financial consulting department. As he sat in the waiting area of Concord Group Consulting, he was buoyed by his newly restored confidence. Allen noticed that there were other interviewees that had arrived who were also waiting. They were most likely being interviewed for positions in other departments. There was a young Asian woman in a crisp Navy gabardine suit and black pumps, accessorized with a pearl necklace. She was reading one of the complimentary magazines, Harpers Weekly, to be specific. Allen also noticed a white guy with close-cropped brown hair who wore a black and grey pinstriped suit, reading the Financial Times. Allen had been studying his own copy of the Financial Times, scanning for any stray news that would catch his interest. He was a little edgy from the huge cup of coffee he had this morning. Remembering the coffee, Allen suddenly reached inside his briefcase and took out a tin of breath mints. He quickly opened it, popped a mint in his mouth and replaced the tin to its former hiding place. Of all things, Allen did not want his breath to be a strike against him.
By the time Allen’s mint had dissolved, a woman walked into the room holding a sheet of paper in front of her. She seemed to be in her mid to late forties. She was tall and thin with short blond hair styled in a bob. Her tall, lanky figure was enveloped by the black wide-legged pantsuit she was wearing. She pushed up her black tortoise shell glasses and looked at the paper and surveyed all of the faces in front of her before walking up to the young white man.
“Allen Sharpe?” she asked him.
“I’m Allen Sharpe”, a voice responded.
Puzzled that the response did not come from the young man in front of her, she looked over her shoulder to see Allen rising and extending his hand to greet her.
“Oh! Oh, I’m sorry!” said the woman, her face now red as her perfectly manicured fingernails. “I’m Madeline Aldridge. I’m head of financial consulting.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Aldrige”, said Allen.
“Same here”, she said as she smiled stiffly. “I’m sorry about the mix up, I guess I didn’t see you over there”, she chuckled nervously.
“It’s quite alright”, Allen said to relieve her obvious anxiety over the mistake.
“If you please…” Aldrige said directing Allen to follow her to her office. As they walked down the corridor away from the reception area, Allen tried to fill the time with small talk about the watercolor paintings he had observed on the walls. Aldrige responded courteously if not curtly. Finally, they reached a large room with an oak paneled door with a placard that read Madeline Aldrige: President of Financial Consulting Services. As she opened the door, Allen could see that this was what was meant by the term “corner office”. The room was as large as a conference room. There was a huge marble desk surrounded by three Corinthian leather chairs, one positioned in back of the desk and two in front, and a huge leather couch behind them, flush against the back wall. Behind the desk there was a huge window, which afforded a view of the Hudson River. The oak bookcases that had a cherry finish, did not escape his notice either. Accenting the beauty of the office were all sorts of curiosities, like the suit of armor in one corner, a huge globe in another. Allen was so taken with the furnishings; he almost did not hear Aldrige ask him to sit down to begin the interview.
“So, Mr. Sharpe, your resume says you went to Harvard. What a coincidence. That’s my brother’s Alma Mater. How did you like it there?” Aldrige inquired, with just a faint hint of suspicion entering her voice.
“It was challenging, but the professors and the students were very supportive”, Allen lied.
“There was one professor there that taught a Macroeconomics course, who was famous for singing during his lectures.” Aldrige suddenly stopped looking pensively at Allen. “I can’t think of his name right now....”
“You’re probably thinking of professor Hunt”, Allen suggested.
“Yes!” Aldrige brightened, “That was his name. Were you in one of his classes?”
“Yes. I took Intro to Econ 1. I learned a lot. He’s a very brilliant man.”
“So I’ve heard”, replied Aldrige. “But I think, we’ve digressed enough, haven’t we. I’m sure you’re probably more interested in talking about the position, than reminiscing about your college days”, she laughed.
“I am very interested in the position.”
“Of course. So, Allen, Why be our financial analyst?”
“From what I understand, your firm specializes in reaching out to non-traditional investors, or small investors: those who have smaller incomes and may not be as knowledgeable about investing. Is that correct?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“I have always liked the idea of working with this neglected section of the investment community. I believe that it is important to the economic health of the nation as a whole to try to help all people understand the importance of investing and financial planning. In the past I have worked with individuals, families, and small businesses to help them create investment portfolios that would suit their particular needs.”
Aldrige was silent. While Allen was speaking, she had taken off her glasses and was chewing on the frame. Allen thought he had answered the question fully, and didn’t know if Aldrige was waiting for him to continue or if she was lost in thought.
“Is there anything else?” asked Allen.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I sort of spaced out for a second”, she laughed again, more color rising to her cheeks. “I see that you have some experience working with small investors. Could you tell me more about that?”
“For the most part, as I said before, I have worked with families and individuals, primarily with moderate to low incomes, who were looking to either supplement their income or plan for retirement. I have also worked with businesses to help them not only to optimize their investment assets, but to develop strategies to accumulate capital in order to expand their product base. All of the portfolio recommendations would be based on what we knew about the client, their financial goals, how much money they were willing to invest, and the trends we were observing in the market, and what we heard from the indexes. I would lead them to investment opportunities that matched their goals. If they wanted quick returns, I would encourage them invest in funds of small companies who were experiencing rapid growth or get them into low cost real estate. If they were looking for longer-term investments, we would talk about hedge funds, mutual funds, IRA’s, or currencies. If the person were a first time investor with very little experience and undue wariness of the market, we would discuss low-risk securities like money market accounts, and bonds. Later on once the client had developed some confidence in investing, we would begin to talk to him about riskier investments like stocks.”
“Interesting. Very interesting. You’re so articulate.”
“Thank you”, said Allen as he graciously accepted her compliment. However, then she started to stare again. “Is there anything else that you would like to know?”
“Oh, yes, yes. Uh, well Allen, I was just thinking. You have a lot of sound experience here. In fact, it sounds to me as if the position that we have here may not be challenging enough for someone like you. You seem to be ready for the next level.”
“Thank You, Ms. Aldrige. I really appreciate your professional opinion. Do you feel that I could be a considered as a candidate for a more senior position, here?” asked Allen, hoping for a better offer.
“Why yes, of course. However, at this time, we don’t have any senior positions open.�
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“I see.”
“But thank you for coming in. It was nice meeting you.”
“It was a pleasure to meet you as well, Ms. Aldridge”, said Allen rising to leave.
“Yes it’s nice to see people like you who are actually doing something with themselves.”
Allen was at a loss for words. He merely smiled, and stammered “Have a nice day.” before he turned toward the door. As he walked down the hallway back to the reception room, he couldn’t help but hear the echo of the words “people like you…”
Five