| Okay, we've got to decide who to promote to Leading Education Officer. |
| Someone from the arts faculty, I suppose. |
| Well, it can be from any faculty, since the position requires more general skills: |
| handling personnel, settling disputes, and motivating them to focus on the task. |
| It was the last position which involved computer knowledge, not this one. |
| Surely computer knowledge would help. |
| So too would knowledge in the arts. |
| Sure, it would help, but the key criterion is being able to direct the staff appropriately. |
| So, it doesn't matter then from which faculty we select our candidates? |
| Not really, but I've already looked at those from computing, and rejected them all. |
| Why? |
| They're all too new, lacking in sufficient experience, |
| whereas these ones from the business faculty are longtimers, |
| so we'll take someone from there. |
| I suppose you're right. |
| The arts faculty doesn't present much in the way of suitable candidates either. |
| But we'll still have to train the person - teach the ropes, as they say. |
| And he or she will have to expect to do overtime, as needed. |
| Of course. It can get so busy that, if we were open on the weekend, |
| they'd have to work then as well. |
| Just as well we're a Monday to Friday university, right? |
| Right! |
| But are you sure these people will actually want the job? |
| The salary isn't such an improvement on their current ones. |
| I know, but there are benefits. |
| You get overtime rates, a nice place to put your car, |
| as well as additional petrol money if you drive for company purposes, |
| which they'll probably be required to do. |
| But those benefits are quite limited, |
| especially given all the work and responsibility involved. |
| People often don't like that. |
| They prefer the creative freedom of less-senior teaching positions. |
| Yeah I know, |
| but these candidates should realise that if they do this job well, there'll be more promotions down the line. |
| you know how everyone likes having their own office, right? |
| Sure. |
| Well, that would come after a few years, |
| if they're prepared to work hard and grow with the university. |
| Yes, that should attract these people. |
| Well, that's enough talk about the job. |
| What about the actual candidates? |
| How many do we have? |
| Ah, I've narrowed it down to four... |
| ah, just using their first names, that's Steven, Abdul, Lek, and Oscar. |
| As you said, there's quite a bit of experience between them, about 34 years in all. |
| What's the exact breakdown of figures? |
| Abdul and Steven both have seven years, |
| Lek has one more, and Oscar is the most experienced, at 12. |
| But who's the most qualified? |
| Steven and Abdul have an MBA |
| sorry! Abdul's got something called a M.B.P. |
| some foreign thing which translates as Master of Business Practice. |
| I'm not sure what that is, but does he do the job well? |
| Very well, apparently |
| better than Lek and Oscar, who hold a degree and some certificates, respectively. |
| But we have to think about any drawbacks, |
| y'know, possible issues with any of them. |
| I asked their respective deans for feedback, and I found out that Steven, the younger one, drinks a bit. |
| So, he has a problem with alcohol? |
| No, he never drinks to excess, |
| but at the bar he's often expressed his intention of moving on, of teaching abroad. |
| Ah, he's not stable. |
| Not stable at all, apparently. |
| We'll never know for how long he'll hold the job. |
| We need stable personnel, |
| and people without family problems, or sick relatives, like the last guy we promoted. |
| What about Abdul then? Will he do? |
| He might do, except his English language ability is limited. |
| It's functional, but a bit broken, and meaning is sometimes lost. |
| That's not the problem with the next candidate, Lek, who has good language ability, |
| but this job involves handling people, |
| and his dean says Lek's attitude is bad. |
| In what way? |
| His manners are okay, and he's interested in his job, |
| but he believes there should always be adequate leisure in life. |
| He definitely won't work overtime and complains a lot already about his job, |
| but this last candidate, Oscar, is probably not the right one, either. |
| Why not? |
| Not another problem with language? |
| His first language isn't English, but he speaks it well enough. |
| He's stable, with a good attitude, but his age is the problem. |
| Age is not a problem. That would be ageism, and I don't believe in that. |
| But with his age comes health problems as well, |
| and serious one is that. |
| Oh, that might be an issue then. |