Taking a big chance on me

Email out – phone call in

The email went out yesterday evening and within 10 minutes I had a phone call, a job prospect from an ex-colleague who I worked with on a project almost 5 years ago.

Someone had pulled out of a contract and that opening became an offer if I was found suitable for the role.

We chatted about rates, I was looking down the barrel of up to a 40% cut from the last time I was on the market – beggars just cannot be choosers, you need to get in the race to be assured of the possibility of winning.

The project manager also happened to know me and even my eccentricities, you make impressions you never really realise you have made until you are told.

So we planned for a rendezvous at the Schiphol Airport meeting point for 10:00 AM the next morning and I visited my neighbours to share the news.

Boy! You’re slim

I got up early enough, shave and showered then got to dress up, my suit trousers left me looking like a Weight Watchers protagonist selected for a before-after photo-shoot.

I looked down the slack of my trousers to see my feet, my waistline was quite trimmed for the want of another word – I must put on some but not too much.

We met as planned, my ex-colleague, the project manager and the technical lead, exchanged pleasantries and some talk about my illness and recovery then sought a comfortable café to settle down for a chat.

A chance

I was given a basic picture of the project at hand, then more technical detail with included reading the plans laid out in Dutch – I quipped, I might well fail the interview on account of that.

The job looked deceptively easy enough but it could get complicated, nothing I could not rise to as a challenge and I do hope I can really excel at it.

The prospect looks good and the project manager intimated if I was feeling a bit exhausted by reason of the process of recuperation, I should let him know.

What can I say? They are taking a big chance on me and for that, I am both thankful and grateful with the hope that I really do well despite the possibility of yawning in the morning.

After all formalities are completed, I will be at work tomorrow morning.