3-1 The Job of your Life

Jim had been working at the same company for more than twenty-seven years and to be honest, he was really fed up with his life. Everyday he arrived at the same time, did the same jobs, answered the same phone calls and then left at the same time. He decided he needed a change, so he decided to look for new jobs online. One night, he was sitting at his desk at home when he suddenly saw a job that interested him. It said “World Traveller Required!” Jim had never travelled before because he had always had a fear of flying. For some unknown reason, Jim emailed his resume to the email address provided and then went to bed feeling nervous and excited about what he had just done.

Jim had been waiting for a couple of weeks when he finally received a response. As he read the email, his heart was beating out of his chest and his hands were shaking. Jim couldn’t believe his luck… he had been offered an interview! All he had to do was write reviews about the hotels that he would stay in, sample some of the local cuisine and visit famous sights in the area - all expenses paid! The email informed him that he had to be at the company’s office at 11am on Thursday May 27th.

On the morning of the 27th, Jim got on the bus that went into the city. Jim had already considered the traffic; it was after 9am so he knew it wouldn’t be a problem. However, unfortunately, the bus broke down - Jim hadn’t thought about that! The driver told everyone that they had to get off the bus and wait for the next one to pick them up. Jim felt panicked and paced around until the next bus arrived. Jim wished that he had taken an earlier bus, or had taken a taxi, but it was too late. Jim got to the company office three quarters of an hour late! By the time he arrived, the company had assumed he wasn’t interested and had interviewed the next possible applicant, who had been given the job.

Jim had missed the chance of a lifetime. He walked back towards the bus feeling rather disappointed. All he could hope was that another opportunity might come along again in the future. Until then, he stuck with the same old job.