Naveen Kishore was angry. He just got his first payslip which showed the lumpsum as Rs. 3500/- . Where is the last zero? How can the HR department make such a hopeless mistake? He fumed and made a beeline to HR department.
After completing his BBM from a new management college somewhere near Gurgaon, he had opted for this job over many others. Why? Because the offer was much higher. The company ambience also appealed to him. The offices were in glass and steel high rise building and had centralised AC. There was a test followed by interview. There were about 50 applicants who got through the test. The interview was covered on video as the panel said that the real bosses were in Mumbai and that they will be sent a CD to assess the candidates.
Knock, knock, he knocked at the door of the HR Manager.
“Come in”, said a voice
Mr. Gupta was a well dressed executive and always had a greeting smile on.
“What is it, Naveen?”, said Mr. Gupta gesturing him to sit down
“Sir, Just look at this gross mistake!”, said Naveen showing him the payslip.
“What is wrong?”
“The figure, it lacks one zero”
Mr. Gupta pores over it and smilingly replies, “It is alright, isn’t it? That was offer, you remember?”
Silence.
“But the panel offered me thirty five thousand”.
“Come on, Naveen. The offer was Thirty five hundred”
“ Look”, he put a CD in the laptop and showed him.
And there was Naveen, looking smart in a light blue shirt and a tie facing a panel which offered him thiry five hundred and he is nodding affirmation like a fool.
Naveen was so carried away by the way the interview was conducted that he never ever thought twice about the offer.
Now he was in a spot and had to take loan form the personal loan department of the bank where he was a junior executive to pay his d
ues for the month.
After completing his BBM from a new management college somewhere near Gurgaon, he had opted for this job over many others. Why? Because the offer was much higher. The company ambience also appealed to him. The offices were in glass and steel high rise building and had centralised AC. There was a test followed by interview. There were about 50 applicants who got through the test. The interview was covered on video as the panel said that the real bosses were in Mumbai and that they will be sent a CD to assess the candidates.
Knock, knock, he knocked at the door of the HR Manager.
“Come in”, said a voice
Mr. Gupta was a well dressed executive and always had a greeting smile on.
“What is it, Naveen?”, said Mr. Gupta gesturing him to sit down
“Sir, Just look at this gross mistake!”, said Naveen showing him the payslip.
“What is wrong?”
“The figure, it lacks one zero”
Mr. Gupta pores over it and smilingly replies, “It is alright, isn’t it? That was offer, you remember?”
Silence.
“But the panel offered me thirty five thousand”.
“Come on, Naveen. The offer was Thirty five hundred”
“ Look”, he put a CD in the laptop and showed him.
And there was Naveen, looking smart in a light blue shirt and a tie facing a panel which offered him thiry five hundred and he is nodding affirmation like a fool.
Naveen was so carried away by the way the interview was conducted that he never ever thought twice about the offer.
Now he was in a spot and had to take loan form the personal loan department of the bank where he was a junior executive to pay his d
ues for the month.
It happend to me! It happened to me! Yes it did. But not like Naveen Kishore's. I once had a telephonic interview for a freelance content writing job. I was selected after a written test and during the interview he asked me how much I was expecting. My previous part-time job paid me 100 bucks an hour and I worked 15 hours a month. So, the tot came to 1500. Not bad, eh? ;)
ReplyDeleteOk...so I told this guy, fifteen hundred. I heard a long pause at the other end. After some time he said...'I have worked with many freelancers blah blah blah....fifteen thousand for 15 hours, I just can't believe it!'
Not understanding a word of what he was implying, I just kept nodding like a fool (ofcourse he couldn't see me). Only after I hung up did I realize that I was totally misunderstood. Did I join the company? You know better. :)
They could have just told him it was three thousand five hundred!Such a neat way to cheat! Hmph! New management tricks I suppose..
ReplyDeleteAnyway, liked the story and the moral too..that one should always count the zeroes first!
Lolz...thats why ppl say b a good listener :)!!
ReplyDeletepoor fella...I feel like laughing at his stupidity as well as feel like pitying him a the same time...
ReplyDeletewell presented :)
Poor guy..didn't he at least look at his offer letter on paper for second time ? some times mistake just happen!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a situation! I hope Naveen has recovered from the trauma.He will definitely take the zeros seriously from now on.
ReplyDeleteDestinys Child
ReplyDeleteAt least you were in a better position:)
Novice Writer
It's just different. And the sum is some of the offers even today plus incentives, they say. But one never gets those as the targets are really high. Poor guys.
Nazish Rahman
First attempt at total fiction. Nice to know you liked it
Neha
Stupid and dazed, I should say.:)
Mustaf
The offer letter had the figure typed with a faded decimal point
Aparna
Long time, No see. Expected your comments on last post.
God! This is bad, after going thru so much..
ReplyDeleteExcellent story as always KK :)You know how to get a grip on your readers thru the great stories and other posts that you weave so gracefully ;)
I really pity Naveen..such an oversight...if there was a mistake between 35000/ and 350000, it would havent been so bad...once we also had something similar..we were told that we would gert company car, in those days we thought company car means driver included, so didnt bother to clarify, but after joining when found otherwise, we were :(
ReplyDeleteFirst Attempt ? Very impressive !Poor Naveen....oh what a difference an innocent Zero can make !!Careful next time..lolz.
ReplyDeleteInteresting one, i dont know whether companies cheat employees like this, perhaps they do. but ur story was brilliant and I could not think anything as the story turned to an O Henry twist at the end..
ReplyDeleteA New Beginning
ReplyDeleteThanks for the appreciation.
Antarman
It happens at different levels for all of us. We presume too much. It ok Antarman, a car is always a good deal even without a Freedriver.
Kavita
The Importance of Zero can never be more clear:)
Tomz
We have lots of this cheats especially in the suburbs and small towns. Lucky you haven't seen them yet.
Oh God! Please tell me he did better listening at his next interview!!!Must have been a real shock! Can't imagine the situation...Ooofff..the plans, the arrangements made with that amount in mind....yikes!!I am getting goosebumps just thinking about it!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBut at that time I felt very bad:)Without a driver I dont get to use the car much:) its with hubby only.
ReplyDeleteJyothi
ReplyDeletePeculiar situation, but may happen if you get carried away.
Antarman
I see. No wonder you were sad.
Oh thats so superb!!!
ReplyDeleteEven though its comical, looking at it seriously; it happens most places. Orgs do end up grabbing college pass outs for lucrative offer; only to be fooled later
Insignia
ReplyDeleteAnd to think he had to borrow the first month itself. Poor Guy.
Well written.. Poor guy it is a huge gap.. i am sure he will look for another job..
ReplyDeleteGood luck!!
And keep his eyes and ears open:D
ReplyDeleteDuring interviews, most candidates seem to be so eager to land the job, that they offer to do just about anything. And they pretty much stop listening after a certain point of time, bcoz their heart must be beating so loud, anxious if they would really be lucky enough to be hired! Enjoyed reading ur post. First attempt, but a really good one!
ReplyDeleteThank You. You might have had the experiences of speaking to non listening candidates, ready for anything types.:)
ReplyDeletethis is really saaad. I can imagine the look on his face..how many days did it take for him to recover the situation...i bet someday he wud be sharing this wid his kids when they go for their first interview...what a complete fool papa was!!!
ReplyDeleteRush
ReplyDeleteLet's put it in the book "Parenting for dumbos"
Karthik
ReplyDeleteYep, that's the category.:D