InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "i miss corbis!"

Lucy Spinks (addingvalue) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2015-03-25 14:27:00

Entry tags:

character: lucy spinks, character: richard summerby

Job Prospects
Who: Lucy and Richard
What: Talking about employment options
Where: Office of International Exports LTD
When: Wednesday 25th March, 1.30pm
Rating: SFW

It had been a hell of a week. Actually, on consideration it had been a hell of a month - even a hell of a year. Ever since her unfortunate bout of Vanishing Sickness, Lucy had been scrambling to keep her life together. She'd been seriously considering a move back to the wizarding world for some time - but Monday had been the catalyst. She'd have preferred to do it all more slowly, think out her options, make sure she had a job and a place to live before quitting but it become more and more difficult to maintain two lives and when she'd quit on the spur of the moment on Monday afternoon, she'd only felt the relief of having finally faced the inevitable. And as it turned out, it looked like things were falling into place more quickly than she'd have thought possible. Susan had a spare room - more than just a room, really, which Lucy was still trying to wrap her head around - and she'd had offers of help with the job situation from Alicia and Susan, as well as Rich.

Her biggest concern now was how much magic she'd be expected to do during the course of her work in the wizarding world. Simple spells worked sometimes, more complicated ones hardly ever. She doubted she'd be able to work at the Fawley Foundation under those circumstances, and was hesitant about employment with the ministry which had never been all that supportive. International Exports was a different matter. They had a fax machine, actual muggle technology, which Lucy hoped would mean the office was run more on electricity than magic. Leaving magic out of it, her qualifications were good - she was organised, cheerful, financially savvy and great at anything numbers-related. She'd dressed in her 'interview suit', just to make a good impression, and she arrived a little after half one at the address Rich had given her. After checking in with the receptionist she was told to wait.

(Post a new comment)

the_richard
2015-03-26 12:12 am UTC (link)

(OOC Note: Rich's untidy office can be seen here: http://simiangrudge.no-ip.biz/summerby2/office1.jpg Mils tries, she really does, but he's kept her out seeing clients entirely too much. ;-) )

Rich was down in the lower level of the old building dropping a load of finished contracts off at Publishing and Binding when the messenger from Reception tracked him down. With an apologetic wave to the clerk behind the counter he trotted up the stairs to the ground floor to meet his prospective employee.

"Richard Summer by," he said as he offered his hand to the young woman. "Do call me Rich. Mister Summerby just gets me confused with my father, who runs the Marseilles office. And pay no attention to this old stone pile - it dates to the mid-1500s - I work out of the Annex, which has been considerably updated with modern technolog, starting from when electricity was a novelty."

He led the way through an arch and down a long hallway, then ducked through the cafeteria and out a back door into a formal garden. Across the garden was another imposing building. Rich opened a door and escorted Lucy through the huge library and over to a bank of lifts. "Wilkins," he greeted the lift operator. "Ms. Lucy Spinks. Hopefully another new hire. And the good news for the day is that your transfer to the Banking department is in the works. Well done on the examinations. My floor please."

They got off the lift at the top floor and Rich led Lucy into his somewhat disorderly office. "I apologise for the mess." He shrugged and pointed to the chair behind one if the desks then sat at the other. "Messy office means lots of deals being written. Millicent Bulstrode has been running the office for me, but she's been so good at writing new business out in the field I've scarcely given her any time to ride herd on the place."

He leaned back in his chair. "So your CV looked pretty good. Have you looked into what International Exports does, and are you interested in working here, or should I look elsewhere? As you can see, we use computers and telephones and the like here in this building but we do still have to deal with departments over in the old building which is fairly strongly stuck in the wizarding world. Oh, and excuse me for not offering earlier. I have bottled water, there's coffee on, or I can brew up a cup of tea in the microwave."

(Reply to this) (Thread)

addingvalue
2015-03-26 02:01 pm UTC (link)

Despite some trepidation, Lucy greeted Rich warmly - it would never occur to her to treat someone who was doing her a favour otherwise, prospective employer or not. "Thanks for seeing me so quickly," she said, trying to study him without staring to see if she could place him in her memories of Hogwarts. She'd been pretty wrapped up in her own studies, fighting twice as hard as anyone else for every decent grade, and as such hadn't had much time for socialising outside her own year.

She looked around as they walked - the buildings were grander than she was used to after working in an office block that was starting to get shabby - but Rich didn't seem particularly formal or imposing himself. It still seemed strange to her that they would pay someone to operate the lift - why couldn't the employees do it themselves? She'd seen such things in movies, usually in hotels, but never in real life. Her wandering attention was refocused as they walked into Rich's office, where piles of folders littered the floor and papers spilled out over the desk. It wasn't unlike the state the office of Variety had been in when she'd started there, perhaps a little worse.

Sitting down in the available chair, she crossed one leg over the other and turned her gaze back to Rich. "I looked into it as much as I could," she said. There hadn't been much time, and she hadn't known whether to use muggle means or magical. She'd started with the internet from her office and then asked Susan to help her with the magical side. "I'd definitely be interested in working here." Just the presence of computers was enough to sell her on that, even outside of the research she'd done. She doubted she'd find the same facilities in many other businesses in the wizarding world. "And you look like you could really use someone to organise the place." Whether he was looking to hire a PA, an office manager or just a general admin dogsbody, Lucy didn't care. She'd worked her way up from retail with no GCSEs or A-Levels and had no hesitations about doing grunt work - as long as she was fairly compensated.

She nodded through his explanation, feeling the slightest flutter of panic about the 'stuck in the wizarding world' sections of the building. She'd just have to suck it up and get Susan or someone else to help her retrain her magic. If she'd been able to do it well enough to pass her OWLs, there must be a way to get that proficiency back. She just didn't know what it was yet. "Coffee would be good," she said, offering a smile.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

the_richard
2015-03-26 07:55 pm UTC (link)

"Not a problem," Rich said with a quick smile. "Actually, when I saw your work history, it came to me that you just might be a solution to my problem. Then too, always glad to help out a fellow 'Puff."

He asked how Lucy preferred her coffee, and poured her a cup to her tastes, grabbing a bottle of water for himself. "Maybe a quick rundown then. International Exports started as a trade consortium in the early 1500s. Buy things here, ship them there, sell them. Share the risks and the profits. Some of the senior partners still prefer to do it that way. I occasionally do it myself. More likely, though, is that I know somebody who wants to buy something, find somebody selling it, and somebody else to transport it, and take a commission on each piece of the deal. Or vice versa if I know somebody with something to sell. Each folder here represents one contract, or part of a contract. When the transaction is completely done, all the paperwork is gathered in chronological order and sent to Printing and Binding next door and ends up in that big library we came through. Tracking paperwork and putting things together would be part of your job."

"Factors, or agents, if you prefer a more modern term, work under a junior or senior partner visiting their clients and trying to find and write new business until they can afford to buy a junior partnership like I did. I'm taking a junior partner's share of the risks, and get a junior partner's share of the company profits while I gather up the ten mil to buy a senior partner's share. And I'm out there three or four days a week meeting clients and trying to develop new business, as is Millicent, who is one of my better agents and who runs several of her own under her direction. Dreadfully confusing yet?"

He chuckled. "My great great grandfather broke into the muggle trade world, and now it's 'toss that one to the Summerby lads, they're the muggle experts'. So there are telephone conversations, emails, owls, muggle letters, and face-to-face meetings all the time, and all over the world. If you're not multilingual, I know a charm that will help you become so. One part of my success in this business has been speaking to clients in their own language. And all our client files are coded for muggle, wizarding, or muggle in the know. Questions so far?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

addingvalue
2015-03-27 02:38 pm UTC (link)

"Hufflepuff is the best house," Lucy said, smiling more broadly. She didn't have a lot of love for her days at Hogwarts, but her fellow Hufflepuffs had never been anything but welcoming and helpful, and it wasn't their fault she'd struggled so much. "And at least you know it's not bullshit when I say I'll work hard." It only occurred to her too late that she probably shouldn't swear in front of her prospective boss, but she couldn't exactly call it back. "Sorry. I can be polite around clients, promise. I worked for a children's charity for four years, I know when to say 'sugar' and 'fudge'."

She sipped her coffee while she listened attentively to Rich's explanation. She knew she was good with paperwork, so the piles of folders didn't really daunt her. The cash office she'd taken over had been far worse, crammed on every side with boxes and boxes of unwanted paperwork that was no use to anyone, and yet was hoarded in case, one day, they needed to refer to it. "Not that confusing," she replied, lifting her chin a little. The only thing that was a little daunting was the charm he mentioned, but Lucy held to her new-found determination not to let it bother her. She would find a way to make it work.

Unlike her previous job interviews, Lucy had far too many questions to know where to start. "I've never had a job in the wizarding world," she said, though he'd seen her CV - he knew that already. It seemed as good a way as any to get round to her point. "I left during the war and I've only just started to come back. There are probably things I don't even know I need to ask yet, about how employment practices work here." She shook her head, dismissing those as unimportant, for now, preferring to focus on the job in question. "You said tracking paperwork would be part of my job. What's the rest of it? Scheduling appointments? Dealing with finances? Meeting clients? Making coffee?" She didn't expect him to say yes to all of those, she just wanted to cover the bases. "Just for you? For you and your team? For the whole office?" She just wanted to get a grip on what her role would be, and how much work.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

the_richard
2015-03-27 04:51 pm UTC (link)

Rich laughed. "I can curse fluently in twenty... three languages, and am working on more. It works with some clients. Others... not so much. You'll learn who is who."

He grew more serious. "Employment practices. I've mentioned senior and junior partners and factors. Then, there are the assistants. May be more accurate to call them apprentices or paid interns. Anyone can get hired through competitive examination, or because they know somebody, or because they have real-world experience. You fit category two and three. Learn the business and move into any of a number of positions. Take Wilkins. He likes elevator duty because it gives him plenty of time to study, and because Accounting and Banking are both two floors down and he can pop in whenever he has a question."

"The best or worst answer to your job duties would be 'all of the above'. I'm directly responsible for every deal, every person, who works out of here. I'm hoping you can develop into my interface with what is being done, which clients need a pat on the head and which need personal attention, and keep the details that make the company happy all in order. And as much of anything else you feel competent, or want to be trained, to do. With me so far?"

"And as far as muggle or wizarding goes, there money all spends the same. I don't really differentiate except maybe in what we tell them about where things come from or go to."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

addingvalue
2015-03-30 01:29 pm UTC (link)

Lucy raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Afraid I've just got the one," she said. "But mum was a childminder, so I grew up with at least as much of the child-friendly faux-swearing as I did the real kind. It's about 50/50 which I'll go with on any given day, assuming no children or customers are present." At Hogwarts she'd always felt that her muggle swearing marked her out as not fitting in - something she was less worried about now, and in retail she'd had to hold her tongue and smile politely no matter what.

She nodded seriously as he expanded on the hiring practices. For now, any job would do, but maybe down the line something specifically in accounting or some other maths-based department... She didn't even know if there were wizarding equivalents to the various certificates she'd wished she could try for in the muggle world, or if there was any way to fudge her missing GCSEs to let her take the muggle ones. She filed those away as questions for later. "It's good to know I've got options," she said. "Wouldn't want to get bored once I've set up a system for the paperwork so you don't actually need me anymore." That might not be strictly possible, but at least she had confidence she could set up a system that could be maintained by anyone coming in at entry-level.

Lucy was pleased that Richard kept reinforcing the possibilities for growth and progress. It might be all talk, she couldn't tell yet, but it was better than being hired as some typist or secretary who'd be expected to stay in that role and not bother her head about anything more complicated. "Someone to man the fort here while you and your agents are out finding new business," she ventured. That was what it sounded like anyway. "Pretty sure I can do that, though it could take some time to get up to speed." Judging by the state of the office, anyway. "When would you want me to start?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

the_richard
2015-03-31 02:08 am UTC (link)

"Charms and spells." Rich made a quick dismissive gesture with one hand. "If I can't do the one you need, we'll run you over to our in-house department and let them have a go. Eight or ten of the most necessary, and work from there. Who knows, they may have even come up with one to translate American to English by now."

He leaned back in his chair and took a quick drink of water. "Thing is, for all the piles of paperwork around here, it's really a minor part of the job. Most days we have two or three assistants up here helping put things together. I ran them off for a while so we could talk privately. But it's good training and let's them review deals from beginning to end. In the long run most of our clients could do what we do for themselves, so it's up to us to to it better, faster, and more cost effectively than they can. Clients, customers, always come first."

"When can you start? Yesterday? You haven't asked about pay, so I should probably go over that, too. International Exports pays each assistant a base of 20 galleons a week. About enough to starve in an attic room somewhere. First month I'll bump that 50 galleons a week. After that you're on profit share, based on what I bring in; the principle being I can make more if you're doing a good job here. After your first month, one percent of my take. Three percent after six months. Fifteen percent of any contract you close on one of my regular customers."

Rich pointed to the desk in front of Lucy. "There's a calculator there; run some numbers. You can work with Pounds Stirling, I assume. Say I write a 100,000 pound contract. Say my fee is 7.5% - I usually run between five and ten. IE takes an average of 20%. Three percent of what's left nets you...?" He paused while she caught up. "One hundred eighty pounds. Or 900 if you did the deal yourself. Last year, not counting the big resort in Dubai, I wrote well ove seventy million pounds worth of contracts. With Mils free to get out more, this year should be substantially better. Even at 1% that's still a fair bit of brass. Still interested?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

addingvalue
2015-03-31 02:01 pm UTC (link)

It took a second for Lucy to piece together what Rich was talking about - slightly alarmed when he started talking about charms and spells. When she mentally traced it back to the language issue, she nodded, and then he mentioned other people doing the spells and she relaxed. If she didn't have to do them herself it would be fine. Not ideal, she'd come to really relish her independence since leaving school and going back to a state where she needed people to do simple things for her would suck, frankly, but needs must.

"I'm still working for Variety until March 31st," she told him. "That's less notice than they really deserve, but it was their suggestion so I'm just going to get all the loose ends tied up and hand over to someone new." She hesitated a moment, considering whether she wanted to build a couple of days for herself into the switch over, but then decided not to bother. The Easter weekend would follow fairly quickly and she could sort out her own stuff then. "I could start April 1st. Do you close for bank holidays?" Did the wizarding world even have bank holidays? There was so much Lucy was suddenly realising she didn't know.

Though she reached for the calculator, Lucy worked a lot of the numbers in her head. £400 a month was just about enough to cover rent in the house she'd been living in, but nothing more. She didn't have to worry about that right now, since she was staying with Susan, but she wasn't willing to be a charity case forever. £1000 a month was obviously better, though still less than she'd been making with Variety.

Once they'd run through the numbers, and Lucy had added a few calculations of her own, Lucy nodded. "I don't know how tax works in the wizarding world, really," she admitted, adding it to a mental list of things she needed to learn as soon as possible, along with what rent was like in wizarding London and how Gringotts accounts worked, "but unless it's significantly higher than muggle taxes then I can definitely make that work." Even if those were the top figures and they fluctuated lower on some months, she should still be able to put enough in savings that she'd get by.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

the_richard
2015-03-31 04:05 pm UTC (link)

"That will have to do then," he nodded.

"Bank holidays?" Rich couldn't help but chuckle. "It's that whole world is round, time zones, our holidays aren't theirs thing. International Exports hasn't shut completely down in a couple of hundred years. I'm available twenty-four-seven-three-sixty-five. If you decide to stick with this madhouse, I'm hoping after training you'll be able to spell Millicent and I with taking over some of the on-call days. On the other hand, all time off is paid and we do our best to set things up so everybody has at least two days a week completely free, and more time off if we hit a lull."

His smile took a wry twist. "Tax men. The Dementors of the business world. It gets... complicated. I'll schedule you for some time with the tax boffins in Accounting. I maintain a presense in both worlds, so I pay taxes and fees in both, but there are the appropriate forms that more or less keep you from having to pay double taxes if you want to do the same." Rich picked up a sheaf of paperwork from his desk. "P&L and budget predictions, have a look if you like. By my most pessimistic estimates you should come close to a half mil this year; I can get you an appointment with the outside firm I use to keep you in good with both governments."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

addingvalue
2015-04-01 01:11 pm UTC (link)

So much for having a nice four-day weekend to get her life sorted in, then. Lucy didn't mind too much, she hadn't been planning on going home for Easter anyway, though she normally did. Things were just too chaotic now, she needed a few weeks to really come to terms with the massive change she'd made in her life. "Doesn't sound too bad," she said, smiling. She wasn't going to pretend to be thrilled - but two near-guaranteed days off a week was more than she'd got in her first job, and of course the pay was significantly better.

"It's something I need to find out about," she said, thinking about taxes, and the possible benefits of or reasons for paying in both worlds. She didn't intend to completely abandon the muggle world, after all, so she'd have to give it some consideration before she decided. She reached for the papers he offered, glancing through for now, but making a mental note to take some time to look over them when she had a moment. "Thank god I'm good at not getting my paperwork in a tangle," she said. Even the prospect of a combination of muggle and wizarding forms to fill out didn't daunt her too much - especially since she'd be getting advice.

"Anything else I need to know?" she asked, finishing the last of her coffee. "I'm sure I'll have more questions, but I don't know what they are right now."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

the_richard
2015-04-02 03:23 am UTC (link)

"Not much more," Richard replied, shaking his head. "But, maybe the most important thing you should know is how we do business. Ethics. You'll come across a few 'handshake' deals jotted down on a bit of paper. Our clients trust us enough to do them because our word is always our bond. Written contracts may be fairly finely detailed, but there're no lawyerish weasel clauses. Everything is straight forward and fair. Now that doesn't mean we won't charge extra for rush or special services, but everything is plainly spelled out. We don't ever lie to the customers or each other. I, we, pay our bills on time, and even give the tax man his exact due. Charity, or pro bono work, or even just giving somebody a hand up... sometimes, it's just the right thing to do. And maybe that sort of sums it all up; if there's some choice that has to be made, choose the right thing to do."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

addingvalue
2015-04-02 12:46 pm UTC (link)

Though it hadn't occurred to her to ask - Lucy was still reassured by the answer. "I assumed as much," she admitted. Perhaps she was a little naive in the ways of business. Though her first employers had been by no means particularly fair or above board with their staff, they hadn't been cheats, and she'd been working in charity ever since. "For a start, Hufflepuff, and then if you were being underhand you probably wouldn't be interested in hiring someone with my background." Not to mention, Rich had offered to help her out despite not really knowing her personally - and that spoke to a certain amount of good ethics.

"I think it's going to be a good change," she said, feeling more certain of that now than she'd felt this morning. Actually having a concrete job to step into and knowing more about how it would all work was doing a great deal to ease the anxiety she'd felt about throwing her life into chaos. "Thank you, by the way. For taking an interest in the first place."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

the_richard
2015-04-03 01:44 am UTC (link)

"Yeah, we'll... Don't put too much faith in the Hufflepuff thing. Bloody Hat tossed around Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff for me. Didn't really understand why until the war years. It's a long story, part of which has to do with why for a pureblood I'm so at home in the muggle world. Maybe I'll clue you in some day over a couple of wine bottles."

He shrugged. "As far as your special case... I was in Auror training when He-Who-Pushes-Up-Daisies' crew took over. I saw all the Quislings. So, any excuse is a good one to take a poke at the Ministry. And, it was the right thing to do. You needed a hand, and I'm in a position to give you one. To be honest, I did think of finding you a job as a bean counter somewhere safe and sedate, but... anything worth doing is worth overdoing. You seem to have a drive to get somewhere. It shows in how far you've come without any of the usual certificates. Seemed to me that if you could apply that drive to learning this crazy game we play here you could have the best revenge of all on everybody who tried to hold you back, keep you down; a successful life with an income in eight or nine places a year. The sort of life where if you do need those certificates, you can hire somebody who has them."

Rich raised one eyebrow. "What do you think?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

addingvalue
2015-04-05 09:54 am UTC (link)

"Still picked Hufflepuff, though," Lucy said, meaning either Rich or the Sorting Hat itself. "That says something." Logically, she knew that all Slytherins couldn't bad bad - even though in her school days that had certainly been her experience. At least she knew better of purebloods - Ernie had always been good to her, and never once blamed her struggle with magic on her heritage. "Not that I'm turning down conversation over wine. Sounds like your story is far more interesting than mine."

She listened as he related some of his history, almost surprised by how he spoke against the Ministry. She'd always assumed - or hoped - that it was better now the war was over, but Rich wasn't the first person she'd spoken to who still seemed to have reservations. Lucy's own experience hadn't been positive, though she did have to balance that against knowing that Susan and others still worked in and supported the Ministry. "Mmm, safe and sedate isn't really my style," she said, giving a slight laugh. Danger in the magic world still scared her, a little. She certainly didn't want to go through another war, but 'sedate' didn't really describe her life in muggle London.

She nodded. "I don't know how much of it is down to drive and how much is down to... doing what I had to do, with some luck thrown in. Hogwarts wouldn't take me back and my family don't make enough to support me indefinitely. So I had to get a job. It turned out I was good with numbers, so I moved up. I didn't remotely have a plan." Still, it was nice to hear it classed as 'drive' rather than pure coincidence.

"I think it'll take some getting used to," she said honestly. "But I'm willing to try."

(Reply to this) (Parent)