I waited for ten minutes before Vicky called me back in, frowned at Swami and then shook my hands. ‘You are the only applicant whom we can extend an offer to, Robin. We hope you will agree to be a part of the Dufresne family and begin your career as a management consultant with us. Please say yes.’

SCORE!

Now a normal person would immediately say yes, shake hands, sign on some papers and run out to call home. Or go partying or whatever.

That is how an amateur would react to a job offer. Leap on it with juvenile enthusiasm; sign on the dotted line with stars and big bucks gleaming in their eyes.

Would Einstein act that way, Diary?

Of course not.

I knew exactly what I had to do.

I had to indicate some sort of interest, of course, but also show that this offer was only moderately important for me. That I was somewhat pleased, but nothing more. That it would take much more than an offer from Dufresne Partners to impress me.

This composed response often makes employers realize your real value as a potential employee. Some respond by tempting you with a salary revision—upward, of course—while others, sometimes, offer that rare foreign posting. Overall a restrained response almost always earns more respect from the interviewer. If you explode with joy immediately and wax eloquent about how this is exactly the sort of job you’ve been dreaming about since joining business school, then the company will take you for granted from Day One.

I smiled in a restrained manner and told Vicky I was grateful for the offer but I needed some time to think and make up my mind. He asked me if I had any other offers right now. I told him I was expecting at least one—Goldman Sachs(!)—but Dufresne was definitely among my list of ‘employers of choice’.

Vicky looked at Swami for a second, then looked at me, quickly glanced at his watch and then finally told me that I could think about the offer for exactly seven minutes before he took his cab to the airport. I immediately grabbed the papers in his hand and signed each sheet at the bottom.

Instant decision making is one of the critical qualities of a good manager.

As we walked out to the car park I told Vicky that Dufresne Partners was exactly the sort of firm I’d been dreaming of joining since business school and I was really looking forward to starting as soon as possible.

Vicky said he was very happy too and that I would hear from someone in Human Resources soon.

I waved at the car as it rolled out of the main gates.

The moment it was out of eyeshot I began to pump the air with my fist and shout in celebration.

That’s when my cellphone began to ring. Shashank screamed at me to come back to the pool. Goldman was announcing the second and final round of interviews and wanted to make sure that all the applicants were there when they did it.