Alex's Office.

Alex stepped out of the elevator and into a small hallway. The hallway was completely white, and was lit by fashionable wall sconces. I followed her, cautiously. I frowned slightly as it was very strange to see such a small hallway straight out of an elevator with no other rooms immediately visible. As we approached the end of the hallway, I could see there were 3 doors at the end. Each with a name on it and a position beneath.

To the right:
Lily Devoe
Chief Financial Officer

Straight ahead:
Ingrid Hatter
Chief Executive Officer

To the left:
Alex Finckley
General Manager

Alex stopped and pressed her phone up against a grey panel on the door just below the door handle. A short BEEP came from the handle and a CLICK followed shortly. She pushed the door with her left and the handle with her right and it swung open. It looked a little heavy, but once she had it past the doorframe it seemed to swing easily enough.

She turned to me and said “Please” while gesturing into her office. I thanked her politely then stepped inside… the biggest most elaborate office I had ever seen! I stopped short and just took in the entire space… it was as big as the entire first floor of my house!

“Uh…” I managed, once again managing to sound entirely primitive. “This is… very large.” The room was huge! It was predominately white and exceptionally clean. To my left I could see from where I stood there was a smaller glass enclosed cubicle with a desk and computer set up.

Alex smiled and walked over towards the cubicle, “Here, let me give you a bit of a tour.” A tour… of just her office space?

“This,” she pointed at the cubicle, “is where my assistant will work.” I walked over with her to the cubicle and took a closer look. It was designed for work efficiency. The desk was very simply designed and yet had a sleek nature to it. No drawers, just a keyboard tray, the computer a simple phone and an empty digital picture frame, currently just showing a screensaver with the time.

“Over here,” she turned to the right and walked towards a very expensive looking sofa and chair sitting in front of a fireplace, “is where I relax when I’m taking a break from work.” I brushed my hand over the sofa’s leather and noted how soft it was. “Sometimes, if possible, I like to work in front of the fire. It’s just so comfortable.” She smiled at me as she said this. “Occasionally my assistant will join me. A girl’s got to know when to take breaks so you can work effectively when it’s time to focus.” She winked at me.

“Heh… heh.” I laughed nervously. “It’s very nice.”

She smiled at me and continued walking past the sofa towards a small room with a door in the corner of her much larger office. “This is the bathroom,” she pointed to it as is as we walked around the room and circled slightly to the right.

“This is my desk.” She pointed to what appeared to be a desk. It was straight out of a forest. The bottom was supported by a single huge tree trunk (how did they even get that in through the door!?) which was carved out in front to allow leg room. The top of the desk was a polished slab of wood (oak maybe?) with a computer on top. She had nothing else, not even a picture frame on the desk. Her chair was a magnificent leather which looked to be made of the same material as her couch over by the fireplace and there were two wood chairs with leather seats sitting in front of the desk. This made me realize there had been no chair in front of the desk for the administrator to sit at.

“I love your chair, does your administrator get one just like it?” I teased.

“If he wants.”

I blinked. It wasn’t lost on me that she had used ‘he’ instead of ‘he or she’.

“My assistant will get to pick whatever chair suits the needs of that position. I spare no expenses when it comes to work, it is my personal belief that the quality of the tools you use to accomplish your goals directly impact the product. If my assistant is using sub-par tools, I can hardly expect anything beyond work that is less than that employee’s potential.”

Wow. I agreed completely with what she had said. I was a bit awestruck, no employer I had ever known had said much beyond that of, “We do work here with what we’ve got. If it’s broken, let me know, but beyond that just work with it.” It was inspirational to think I had a shot at working with someone so invested in their work and the people they work with. I resolved myself to do everything I could to be in a position to work here. This was my dream job. I would not let it go!

“I wonder if you realize how unique that position is,” I said, “It’s probably not only the most generous, but also the best example of a boss that really cares about her workers. You make it hard not to want to be here.”

“Well, that’s the idea.” She folded her arms and gave me a slight smile, “I want everyone who works for me to think of work as the place they WANT to be, instead of where they HAVE to be.”

I nodded and turned to look around at the room. The bathroom directly to my right, the sofa and chair in front of the fireplace further to my right and in the back-right corner was the assistant’s ‘office’. I looked to my left and saw a door.

“Where does that door go?” I pointed to my left.

“Ingrid’s office. Though if you see her, you would probably do better to call her ‘Ms. Hatter’.”

“I see.” I said, carefully. “Well, I suppose I’d ready for my interview.”

“Great,” Alex said, “Please, have a seat.” She pulled out a chair in front of her desk for me to sit in and I obliged.