Chapter Twenty-Five
On the phone, the Solv Technologies recruiter explained that the hiring process for interns was lengthy, and this was the first step of three.
“Once you pass the first phone screen, you move on to a phone interview or in-person meeting, depending on availability, with one of our hiring managers, who will assess you for several types of roles at the company. We currently have openings in product management, programming, and UX. If that goes well, we might fly you out to our headquarters for a full day of in-person interviews or have you go to the closest office location to you, which in your case would be our Chelsea office in Manhattan. How does that sound?”
How did it sound? Exhausting. Exhilarating. Definitely something I wanted to do. She put me on hold as she looked through her calendar, checking for available dates.
I had an advantage over the other internship candidates: I was a part-time student, so I had more time to prep for an interview. Plus, according to my author bio, I was literally an interviewing expert. If I couldn’t get past the phone screen, what would I even do with myself? The longer I waited for the recruiter to get back to me with available dates, the more pressure I felt mounting: fear, anxiety, self-doubt, all rearing their ugly heads, trying to convince me I shouldn’t go through with it. That this was all just a waste of time for the company and for me.
You’ve earned this, Lily, a tiny voice inside me said, one that sounded a lot like George Takei, aka Sulu of the OG Star Trek. Don’t diminish your accomplishments, the voice said louder. Stop underselling yourself!
“There’s an opening next Wednesday at noon. How does that sound?” the recruiter asked, unmuting her phone.
“That’s perfect,” I replied confidently.
* * *
THE RECRUITER INTERVIEW the following week went so well that she actually bought my latest book while we were on the video chat. The meeting was only thirty minutes, and it was mostly a screener for company fit, although she did ask a couple of quasi-technical questions.
At the end of the call, she said, “Professor Stevenson is on our board of advisors, and we absolutely love recruiting students from his classes. Unlike other CS experts, he really focuses on practical techniques and principles that help developers write code that is easy to understand instead of teaching mostly programmatic theory and postulations.” She held up her phone to show me a receipt. “But you know all of this. By the way, your book will be delivered to me next week. I’m excited!”
“Thanks for buying it!” Even if the interview didn’t go well, at least I’d made a book sale.
She smiled. “If it’s okay with you, we can go ahead and set up your next meeting in our Manhattan office. Would it be possible for you to get to the city in a couple of weeks? We would reimburse for train fare and related travel expenses, of course.” After a few clicks of the keyboard, she said, “Oh. This is a highly unusual situation, but it looks like the hiring manager might be going on paternity leave soon; his calendar is blocked out starting next week. Is there any chance you could meet him this Friday instead?”
Friday was only two days away! Logistically, yes, I could make the meeting happen with a precisely timed train ride and an Uber once I arrived in the city. Or maybe I could go a day early and crash with Mia. But that would leave little time to prepare for the interview. On the other hand, maybe it was prudent to interview earlier rather than later. I heard that Solv interviewers simply voted “yes” or “no” for potential hires based on specific criteria, kind of like how the early decision process worked for colleges, but without the deferment option.
You can do it, just try, my George Takei inner voice encouraged.
The recruiter’s eager virtual face awaited my answer.
“Friday works for me,” I replied. “I can’t wait.”
The next day I arrived at Mia’s at midnight. Letting myself in, I crashed on her futon after brushing my teeth and washing my face. Waking up to my 8 A.M. alarm, I was greeted by half a bagel with cream cheese on the coffee table along with a milky, chocolatey iced coffee. I hadn’t even heard Mia leave. I must’ve needed that sleep.
Under the peephole of the door, she’d taped a note at eye-level so I’d see it on my way out. “Bitch, go do your thing!”
I couldn’t help but smile as I locked the dead bolt when I left.
The interview was at ten and I left the apartment just after nine to take the subway to Solv, which was less than a block away from Chelsea Market, one of my favorite places in the city. If it had been any other day, I would have taken the time to stroll the food hall, sampling various treats and buying an assortment of groceries and freshly made baked goods. Instead, I scurried past the main entryway on Ninth Avenue and passed through the revolving glass door in Solv’s building.
One other person was at the front desk getting cleared by security. When he turned around and put his sticker badge on his suit jacket lapel, I could hardly believe it was Ethan. Clean-shaven, combed-haired Ethan, wearing a sharp, fitted, expensive suit. He had transformed into a go-getter, sophisticated hottie.
“Hey, you,” I said, stepping up to the desk, handing my license to the security guard. “I didn’t know you were interviewing today. Congratulations!”
A wide grin spread across Ethan’s face. “I wasn’t sure who else was applying. Glad to see you here too. I figured you would be interviewing, but I didn’t want to ask just in case. You look great, as always.”
I blushed and smiled back. “You do too.”
“I think what you mean is I cleaned up really well for this. You can say it,” he said with a bashful glow in his cheeks. “I posted a photo on my Instagram account and people won’t shut up about how I look now. So flattering, yet so offensive!”
Since the start of the semester, Ethan and I had maintained a playful noona-donsaeng relationship, where he deferred to me as his elder sister. If we hadn’t had that history, I might have eventually given Ethan a second glance or two. Or three.
He added, “I studied my ass off for that exam, but I still can’t believe it got me into the top ten. I think they’re taking two interns from Carlthorpe. I hope it’s both of us.”
It would be fun to work with Ethan. He was easygoing and smart, and he did his share of the group project work without slacking off. In fact, all my group project teammates were reliable, helpful, and intelligent. I’d lucked out.
I received my badge from the guard, peeled the backing, and put the sticker on my blazer.
“After you,” Ethan said, gesturing me to lead the way to the second elevator bank, which took passengers to floors 25 to 49. The elevator dinged as soon as I pushed the button, suggesting that luck would be in my favor that day. I took an eager step forward when the doors opened, then remembered to let everyone out before entering. I’d almost forgotten my elevator etiquette.
I backed up into Ethan, who yelped when I stepped on his foot.
“I’m so sorry!” I yelped back, turning my head to offer him an apologetic smile.
“If I didn’t know you were a nice person, I’d say you were trying to literally stamp out the competition, Noona.”
I laughed. There was that noona thing again. But it was fine with me: he was ten years younger, and as handsome as he was, he just wasn’t my type somehow. Did I mention he was ten years younger?
Just when I thought the elevator was clear for entry, two more people stepped out. To my dismay, I knew one of them.
“Oh, hello, Lorrie. What a surprise.” It was Cameron O’Hara, walking up to me with an extended hand. “How’s the book coming along? Is the next bestseller releasing soon?”
Although he got my name wrong, which wasn’t so bad given that I myself was terrible at names, the thing that set me off was that he knew the writing wasn’t going well from our last event together, and I couldn’t tell if it was just conversation fodder or he was trying to get under my skin. Either way, I didn’t appreciate it.
With a stoic face, I managed to say, “Nice to see you again, Chad. But I’m off to a meeting. Let’s catch up another time.” Or rather, let’s not.
“It’s Cameron.” He glanced at my name badge as he held the door open for Ethan and me to enter. “Oh, you’re Lily. That’s right. You’re off to Solv? I was just there, discussing an enterprise cloud project with the head of development. Who are you going to see?” His voice spiked with more intensity and one-upmanship than genuine curiosity, like he was demanding to know information that was none of his business.
My mouth went dry. I was here for an internship interview, and if he found out . . . shit. He would have the power to instantly turn my world upside down.
Ethan glared at Cameron. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have an urgent meeting to attend and you’re holding up my ride.” He pressed the door close button, and the elevator shut in Cam’s face. I heard him mutter “Asshole” through the steel doors.
My heart pounded a million beats per minute. While I caught my breath, Ethan said to me, “That guy gave me serious dick vibes. And last thing I needed was for that dick to dick around while we should be checking into Solv. The earlier we are, the better. We show initiative and make Carlthorpe look good when we’re both here early.” He smirked and repositioned the sliding shoulder strap of his leather laptop bag. “I got your back, Noona.”
“Thank you,” I said, finally getting my voice back. I couldn’t stop replaying how unlucky I was to see Cameron here, but at the same time, I had to thank the stars I hadn’t seen him earlier in the lobby: he would have heard Ethan or me check in, asking for the intern hiring manager. He would have known everything, or figured it out eventually. And thank God Ethan had been able to read the situation to know that Cam was bad news.
Ethan and I exited the elevator, checked in at reception, and took seats in the waiting area.
“Are you nervous?” he asked.
I nodded. “Did she tell you what type of roles they were interviewing you for?”
“She said they’d consider me for development too, but I needed to sharpen my coding skills.”
We learned light programming in our class, but because the course emphasis was more on spotting, identifying, and editing efficient and smart code rather than advanced code development, passing a programming interview would take a ton of extra practice and training since our class barely scratched the surface. But I could see Ethan doing this in his spare time, especially if it meant opening opportunities for working at Solv or similar companies.
The door next to the reception desk opened and a young man wearing clear plastic glasses that looked like hipster safety goggles emerged. “We’re ready for you two. If you could follow me, I’ll take each of you to your first meetings.”
I passed through the door and held it open for Ethan.
Ethan was dropped off first. “Ready, Lily? You got this. But wish me luck.”
I offered a reassuring smile. “Luck is just a mix of preparedness, timing, and opportunity. You have the holy trinity. You’ll do great.”
“Thanks. I know you will too.”
We waved at each other as we headed to our separate interview rooms.