The Interview
A Promptoberfest story
© 2024 by Walter Reimer

Thumbnail art by  tegerio

Prompt: credibility


The coati looked up and got to his feet as the advertising company’s Human Resources director stepped out of his office. The husky femme smiled and shook paws with him as she said, “Mister Peters?”

“That’s me,” he said, matching her smile.

“Thank you for coming in,” the husky said as she led him into her office and gestured for him to take a seat as she closed the door. Settling in behind her desk she looked at him as she rested a paw on a file folder. “I called you in to discuss your resume.”

“Yes?” the coati adjusted his tie. The tie was black, with diagonal stripes of a light greenish-blue.

“Yes. For example, the section on education.” She opened the folder and glanced down. “You state that you graduated with honors from Eton College.”

“Yes.”

“Eton has no record of you ever attending. In fact, the only school that has a record of your attendance is Wetbum High in Harmsway, Minnebraska.” She flipped a few pages. “You state you were a producer in an off-Broadway production of Moose Murders.”

The coati smiled. “That’s right.”

The husky flicked her ears. “Well, we can’t find anyone that will admit to performing in the play, but the theater you cite as the venue closed and was demolished a year before the date you have on the resume.” She turned a few more pages. “And then there’s your employment history. You list a total of ten jobs over the past twenty years, and we cannot find most of these companies, but most of the ones we have been able to locate have no record of you - ”

“I was under an alias,” Peters said. “Under my mother’s maiden name of Perez.”

“Your biography states your mother’s maiden name was Roberts.” The husky straightened the papers and closed the file folder. “Mister Peters – if that is your real name – you have misrepresented yourself in an attempt to get a job here. What items are real on your resume are largely lies, while the rest is, if I may be indelicate, bullshit.” She lapsed into silence, gazing across the desk at him.

“So, I don’t get the job?” the coati asked.

The husky smiled. “You do get the job; in fact, you’re perfectly suited for a job in advertising. We’re transitioning to an AI-driven strategy, and our research and development folks will love to have you educate their new computer program.” She half-stood and extended a paw. “Welcome aboard, Mister Peters.”



end