Page 9 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

I know exactly what you do, and I understand the concept of
how you manage portfolios.’
Because of all the research he had done, Greg knew so much
about the company and our business that at the end of his one-
minute spiel, I had to say, ‘OK, here’s my investment director’s

phone number. Give him a call. We’re all out at a meeting until
eight o’clock this evening, but if you call him then, I’ll make sure
you get an appointment.’

Bang on the dot of 8 p.m. he phoned the investment director.
We invited him in for an interview. Normally I would never
attend a first interview but this time I did, along with our invest-
ment director and our chief investment o≤cer. Beforehand I had
decided I was going to give Greg an extremely hard time. He had

pushed himself into contention by showing plenty of nerve. I felt
that if he was that self-confident about his own abilities, he had
better be seriously good. We gave him a really tough interview,

and asked some very searching, probing questions. I was
amazed. He came back with a great answer to every question.
Talk about resilient!
At the end of the interview, I asked Greg to wait outside
while I had a chat with my colleagues. The three of us agreed

we should give him the job there and then. We all realized that
we could have interviewed somebody who had all the qualifica-
tions, but what value could we put on sheer determination,

drive and hunger for the job?
We brought him back in and said, ‘To our astonishment,
we are delighted to o≠er you the position.’ Greg joined us, and
performed really well in the company. By thinking outside the

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