It's in the stars...and stripes I - The accident that was most welcome

I have always believed that all things depended upon Fortune, and nothing upon ourselves. -George Gordon Byron


7 April 2005

I was rushing out of our office building to eat a late lunch when I literally bumped into Jean. I didn’t recognize him from afar.*

He not so much as yanked my right arm, led me into a corner and showed me a letter he received from PwC-US stating that they’d be scheduling an interview with him when they come over to visit Singapore from 27 – 29 April to scour for foreign talents (read: OCWs!!!).

Hmmm, I didn’t know that. Nobody told me they were actually coming over. In any case, working in the USA didn’t quite figure in the equation of my dream-in-progress, if there ever was one. :)

After showing me what could be his ticket to greener pastures, he made me promise not to squeal on this happy development. Not just yet, anyway. Sure.

While he was into it, he said I should also give it a shot and send my CV to Angela, his contact in PwC-US. Sure.

I almost forgot about that meeting with Jean had I not ran into his name in my Inbox as I was searching for my client’s email. I don’t know what came over me then but I just found myself stopping midway from what I was doing. I hurriedly opened my CV and updated it. I neither cared to glance at the revisions nor did I think up a neat cover letter. In thirty minutes flat, my CV was on its way to poor, unsuspecting Angela. A few minutes after clicking on the Send button, I realized I only remembered Angela’s email address from memory, I mean, I just saw it from the email Jean showed me.

That was 6 April.

The following day, I received an email from her telling me that she was scheduling me for an interview sometime between 27 - 29Apr!

It was kinda fast. I was kinda thrilled! Honestly, I had doubts on my chances at the outset. I thought I was too late. Apparently, I made it just in time.

I debated with my neurotic self on whether I should tell a handful of friends about the very promising event. I mean, what if, after all the excitement, I didn’t make the cut?

In the end I did tell them as I knew they’d always be there whatever the outcome of the upcoming interview might be.

* How could I? Burdened as I am with nearsightedness, I still stubbornly refuse to wear a pair of eyeglasses or contact lenses.