Hire the lad

Tony jumped at the sound of his phone ringing. He had been waiting by his phone all Saturday (otherwise conducting his usual homebody routine) after having sent in the resume on Monday to the address Cassie sent him. He picked up his phone, seeing the unknown caller, and hesitated. Could it be the lab or just a telemarketer? Only one way to find out.

He accepted the call. "Hi, Tony Sparrow here."

"Hello Mr. Sparrow," a voice replied. "I am Stephan Gregor, calling representing Lab Syn. I'd happy to inform you that we've reviewed your application for a summer internship, and have found your credentials very satisfactory. We'd like to offer you an internship as a junior lab technician. In fact, we were hoping you could get an early start, if possible."

Tony's hand trembled. This was it! A foot was in the door to a lab at the forefront of science. From his perfunctory research on Lab Syn, they had state of the art facilities and some truly impressive benefits. He could see it now, his dreams being fulfilled. If he impressed these people enough and stayed on with them, he could get enough money to pay off his student loans, maybe even help his parents pay of their mortgage. And then working his way up from a simple lab tech to a lead researcher, perhaps opening a lab of his own... the faintest glimmer of hope for a Nobel prize...

"Mr Sparrow? Are you there?" Mr. Gregor said, interrupting Tony's daydreaming.

"Oh, yes! Sorry." Tony responded quickly. "I... that's great news! How early were you thinking?"

"Well, as soon as possible, ideally. We've started development on a number of pharmaceuticals we're hoping to fast track to testing before the next financial quarter, and we need all the help we can get. Since you're still in school, we're offering flexible hours but will require no less than 15 hours a week to begin with. I understand your classes take priority, but to encourage you to give us as much as you can, we're offering some competitive hourly compensation. Of course, once school is on break, we'll expect something closer to 50 hour minimums each week. Our lab is open weekdays and weekends, at all hours, so you can fit in whatever schedule works for you."

With limited public funds going around, there weren't many pure R&D labs to speak of, and so most of those that weren't simply basic research were funded by private companies. Lab Syn was no exception, though Tony hadn't been able to find the source of its funding from some quick online searches. Still, a paid internship was especially fortuitous. Tony hadn't expected to see a dime until such a time as he was actually hired as a regular employee.

"How much compensation are you offering?" Tony asked, trying to hide his excitement. He was ready to accept immediately, but didn't want to jinx anything.

Gregor offered the number. Tony's jaw dropped.

"I accept the offer. Can I start tomorrow?"