Job interviews at the company’s headquarters had been going on since early morning. The enormous glass building in the city center looked so luxurious and severe that many candidates began to feel nervous already at the entrance. In the spacious lobby, people sat with folders and laptops, spoke quietly, and kept glancing every now and then at the doors of the conference room, where their futures were being decided.
Every few minutes, someone came out of there with a gloomy expression. One man nervously adjusted his tie and whispered into the phone that he had been rejected. A young woman with tears in her eyes quickly headed toward the elevator. Even the most experienced specialists looked lost and crushed after the interview.
The reason was simple.
The final selection of candidates was conducted personally by the owner of the company.
His name was Richard Hoffman. In the business world, he was known as an extremely strict man who never spared anyone and never gave second chances. He sat at a long table together with the department directors and carefully watched every candidate, asking difficult questions in different languages.
The tired secretary opened the door and said loudly:
— Next.
BUT WHEN THE PEOPLE IN THE LOBBY SAW WHO ROSE FROM THE CHAIR, A SURPRISED MURMUR IMMEDIATELY RAN THROUGH THE ROOM.
A girl of about twelve was calmly walking toward the door.
She was wearing ordinary jeans, a gray T-shirt, and old sneakers. In her hands, she held a thin folder with documents. She looked far too young for a place like this, but she moved with confidence and showed not the slightest fear.
Several people in the lobby began to giggle quietly.
— Did she get lost?
— Is she one of the employees’ daughters?
— Maybe she came here on a school trip?
But the girl did not even look in their direction and calmly entered the conference room.
AT THE LONG TABLE, SILENCE FELL IMMEDIATELY.
Richard Hoffman slowly raised his eyes from the documents and, for several seconds, simply looked at the girl standing in front of him.
Then he smiled sarcastically.
— Little girl, I think you have the wrong door.
A few people at the table laughed quietly.
But the girl calmly sat down opposite him and answered:
— No. I came for a job interview.
Laughter rang through the room again.
ONE OF THE MANAGERS SHOOK HIS HEAD.
— This is already too much.
Another man snorted under his breath.
— And what exactly would you like to do here? Become a director?
The girl did not even smile.
She sat quietly and looked straight at the owner of the company.
— I know seven languages, and I can work on translating international contracts.
After those words, loud laughter broke out in the room.
ONE OF THE EMPLOYEES EVEN LEANED BACK IN HIS CHAIR.
— Seven languages? Really?
— Do you at least know English well?
Richard also smiled and crossed his arms over his chest.
— Fine. Then what languages do you supposedly know?
The girl answered calmly:
— English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Italian.
Several people looked at one another and began laughing again.
— Sure.
— Next she’ll say she taught herself.
But the girl remained completely serious. A moment later, however, she did something that left the entire office in complete shock 😳
At that moment, Richard decided to amuse himself with her a little longer.
Suddenly, he switched to German.
— Since you really know languages, answer me now.
And then the girl answered without the slightest hesitation in perfect German.
So calmly and precisely that the smiles on several employees’ faces instantly disappeared.
RICHARD SLIGHTLY FROWNED.
The woman sitting on his right suddenly began speaking to the girl in French. She once again answered without the slightest mistake.
Another man decided to test her Spanish. Then Russian.
With every next answer, the room grew quieter and quieter.
No one was laughing anymore.
But Richard still did not want to show his surprise.
He smiled coldly and said:
— Memorized sentences still mean nothing. Real work means documents, contracts, and mistakes that cost millions.
AFTER THOSE WORDS, HE TOOK A THICK FOLDER WITH AN INTERNATIONAL CONTRACT WRITTEN IN GERMAN FROM THE TABLE AND CARELESSLY THREW IT IN FRONT OF THE GIRL.
— Here you go. Try to find a mistake in this. Our specialists have been checking this contract for almost a month.
Several employees smiled with satisfaction, certain that this was exactly where everything would end.
But the girl opened the document and began quickly turning the pages.
Not even a minute had passed.
And suddenly she stopped.
Then she raised her eyes to Richard.
— There is a mistake here.
SOMEONE IN THE ROOM SMILED IRONICALLY.
But the girl was already pointing her finger at a specific passage.
— In the German version of the document, one of the legal terms has been written incorrectly. Because of that, the entire clause changes the meaning of the contract.
The smile slowly vanished from Richard’s face.
He abruptly took the document from her hands.
For several seconds, he stared at the text in silence.
Then he quickly turned to the company lawyer.
— Check this.
THE MAN BEGAN READING THE CONTRACT, AND AFTER A MOMENT HIS FACE INSTANTLY TURNED PALE.
— God…
Complete silence fell over the room.
The lawyer slowly lifted his gaze.
— She is right. Because of this mistake, the company could have lost a huge amount of money after signing the contract.
Now no one was laughing anymore.
The employees looked at the girl as if they could not understand what had just happened.
Richard was silent as well.
AND THE GIRL CALMLY CLOSED THE FOLDER AND SAID QUIETLY:
— I noticed that mistake right away, as soon as I saw the document.
For several seconds, no one said a single word.
Finally, the owner of the company slowly rose from the table.
And for the first time during the entire interview, he looked at her completely differently.
— Who taught you all of this?
The girl answered calmly:
— My father was a translator of international contracts. Before he passed away, he taught me every day.
AFTER THOSE WORDS, ABSOLUTE SILENCE FELL OVER THE ROOM.
