Chapter 19. New Projects 7

I continued to brainstorm how to find Julius. Suddenly, an idea flickered across my mind.

"Job fair!" I said to myself.

It is an event where employers and recruiters come together to connect with potential employees; job seekers like Julius would be happy to be there. Instantly, I came up with a modality.

"The event will be held at a neutral place. He will not come if I organize it in my gold field," I concluded and got up from the couch.

Johnson looked up from his device and watched me as I walked back to my seat. I picked up a piece of paper and began to write down my plans while he concentrated on his phone.

"The event will be called, Job Fair For Potential Gold Field Workers. Venue, The Local Bar And Resort. Date, Wednesday, 3rd to Friday, 5th December."

I was pleased with my ideas and called my General Manager. He was a dutiful staff that was a 

few years older than me. A few minutes after the call, he was in my office. At that point, Johnson looked up and remembered that it was time for him to leave.

"Thank you for the lunch once again, Reuben," he got up and said.

I ushered my manager to a seat and faced him.

"I should thank you for coming. It's been nice having you," I responded.

Instantly, I got up and opened the door for him. I walked with him to the car park and waited for him to get into his car. Afterward, he turned on his ignition, fastened his seatbelt, and faced me.

"Thank you for coming, Johnson," I said not knowing whether I should add 'my regards to your wife and children'.

He smiled happily and replied, "It's my pleasure, Reuben. I hope we will do this again very soon."

"Certainly," I agreed with him.

I could not decipher the look in my eyes. All the same, he drove off and I waved at him. He honked at me in response to my wave.

Back at my office, I joined my manager and apologized for keeping him waiting.

"Never mind, Boss," he responded, and we got down to business.

After explaining my ideas to him, despite their ambiguity, he complimented me, "That is a good idea, Boss. If I may ask, what shall we be doing for three days?"

His question caught me off guard and I had to think fast. I pouted and pushed the task back to him.

"That is why I invited you, Murphy. Come up with something."

"I got it. I asked because I wished to be certain," he said.

"It is okay."

"Day one, we will teach them how to equip themselves to attract potential employers."

His proposal was cogent and I added, "That's good to know. We will also teach them how to write an acceptable curriculum vitae."

"You are right, Boss. Day two will be practical and interactive sessions. They will showcase what they learned the previous day."

"Yes? Go on," I urged him.

"Before they leave on the second day, we will give them a take-home assessment. They will return with them on the third day for marking, assessment, and closing ceremony."

"Wow! I'm impressed. You have made the event simpler."

"Thank you, Boss. We will also consider the resource persons. I propose that you should be one of them," he proposed.

Without thinking twice, I refuted, "No, I won't. Let the HR Manager handle that."

"That is all right. Permit me to ask, how long will the program for each day last?"

"Four hours is not bad," I proposed.

"It's not bad but it means we will feed them. At least once," he informed me.

The event is taking a new dimension and I had never considered that. I shrugged and braced up for the challenge if it would bring Julius my way.

"I don't mind. Anything worth doing is worth doing well," I accepted.

"I got it, Boss. On the third day, during the closing ceremony, I propose that we honor the first three participants by employing them and issuing certificates of participation to the others."

'I will not employ anyone if not Julius,' I concluded within me.

"Let's see how it goes. As for the certificate of participation, I agree with you."

"It is okay. The last but not the least, how many participants are we expecting?"

"Huh! I thought the event would be a walk in the park," I cried out.

He laughed softly and encouraged me, "We are almost through."

"You are right. Let's plan for one hundred participants."

"Hey! One hundred participants is not ideal. There are many unemployed people in this city. They would flood the event that day," my General Manager pointed out.

I ran my hand through my head and locked eyes with him. At that point, I was doing a mental calculation of the amount of funds that I would spend in search of my love. 

Afterward, I instructed him, "Never mind the number. Our target is two hundred participants. After admitting them, just collect the application letters from the other people and send them back."

"Oh! I should have thought of that. If we can collect their application letters and send them back, they would be fulfilled but that would give us another task."

"What task? Let me hear it."

"We will become job agents automatically. Anyone looking for a worker would contact us and we would fall back on our application bank," he emphasized.

I was delighted to hear that. I smiled broadly and informed him, "You have just created another source of income for us. After the training, we would become the suppliers of labor. The potential employers would pay us for such services."

He was taken aback and did not hide it.

"They will be happy to get workers from us because they are sure of getting the best," he declared excitedly.

"That is the essence of the program - to train them to be employable and meet potential employers," I emphasized.

"I got it, Boss," he agreed with me.