Chapter 53 (1) - The Mysterious Art Museum
"Hello, senior!"
"Junghoon oppa! It's been a long time!"
"Hey! You should call me boss."
"Thank you for calling me, senior!"
"It's only our seniors who take care of us juniors!"
Seeing the juniors after a long time.
Among them are familiar faces, and others I only remember by face from passing by at school.
'The Ace of the Art Department Yeonjeong, the top of the Painting Department Jiyong, and that guy who was the top of the Oriental Painting Department. Youngju really brought the right people.'
Having never missed a scholarship during my four years at school, I recognize most of the aces from other departments and years. Except for one or two, these are juniors I've seen at least once at the scholarship ceremonies.
I greeted the juniors with a happy face.
"Welcome, I'm grateful you've come to help."
They wave their hands as if denying.
"No, senior! We should come, of course."
"That's right! If senior calls, we are ready to jump even into a fire pit!"
These guys. Maybe it's because they're preparing for jobs, they seem very disciplined.
Back in school, they used to float around the campus like ghosts with dark circles under their eyes from all the assignments.
But why do they seem to be flattering too seriously now?
Their eyes sparkle.
Hmm, this is not even a formal employment, just a short-term part-time job. Do they need to flatter this much?
I've been doing part-time jobs since my school days, but I never acted like this when a senior called.
I nudged Youngju, who was standing beside me, with my elbow and whispered.
"Hey, did you lie to them about paying them 500,000 won a month?"
Youngju chuckled and clapped his hands to gather attention.
"Everyone, we're not ready to start working right away. We'll start in a week. Got it? It's hard to come all the way here, so don't worry about commuting as your workplace isn't here in Paju but at the W Hotel in Hannam-dong. It would be sad to send you back after just greetings, so let's ask our boss to treat us to a meal, shall we?"
The juniors cheer loudly and clap their hands and whistle.
I was planning to feed them anyway, so I smiled and nodded.
"Of course, we should. It's a bit far, but there's a good meat restaurant downtown. Youngju, you know the place, give them the location and the name."
The juniors clapped again.
After all the juniors left, Youngju finally answered my question.
"What do you think these juniors are most thirsty for?"
From what I remember, Yeonjeong from the Art Department is a year junior to us. It's been just over a year since she graduated. If she hasn't found a job yet, maybe money is the most urgent?
"Maybe, money?"
Youngju shrugged.
"Depending on the family situation, some might be. But think about it. You've prepared for a job, right?"
"Yes."
Of course, I couldn't just do part-time jobs forever.
I have a dream of doing pure art.
And like everyone, I've prepared for a job to make a living.
Youngju continued.
"Remember the interviews?"
".."
Ah, the interviews.
So ridiculous.
I saw an advertisement, sent a resume, and got an interview. Then the interviewer said this.
"Ah, I'm sorry. You're a newbie. We're looking for experienced candidates who can be immediately deployed on-site."
Crazy, then why did you even accept my resume?
I almost said something if they didn't at least offer transportation money for coming to the interview.
The problem is that there are quite a few companies like that.
I almost complained when they didn't even give me transportation money after thanking me for coming to the interview.
The problem is that there are quite a few companies like that.
I understand it takes time to train new employees and they prefer to pay a bit more for experienced workers. But if everyone only hires experienced people, where am I supposed to gain experience?
Moreover, some shady companies hire employees with 1-2 years of experience and then tell them to leave when it's time to raise their salary after 3-4 years. Finding another job isn't too hard. The problem is, after this process repeats a couple of times, the new companies become hesitant to hire because they feel burdened by the excessive experience.
I reminisced about the unpleasant memories of job-hunting and said.
They said they were hiring experienced professionals and not newbies.
Young-ju immediately responds, knowing she got the answer she wanted.
Right? It's similar in other industries. But where do these fresh college graduates gain experience?
That's why a portfolio is necessary, and some friends even work without pay to build it. Of course, I couldn't afford to do that and only looked for paid jobs. Consequently, I ended up doing jobs that couldn't be added to my portfolio.
Ah, Young-ju was talking about gaining experience at our company.
"Ah, is working here an opportunity to build a portfolio?"
Young-ju snaps his fingers.
"It's not just any portfolio. You get paid, and more importantly, its a chance to be part of the ceiling painting project at W Tree Hannam's theater. Its not a typical short-term project but a major one that will take at least three months, as we've calculated. It's the ceiling painting of a theater that will be visited by hundreds of thousands after opening. That's why they are so excited."
Now I understand.
If I had been offered such an opportunity as a junior in my career, I would have been extremely grateful.
I nodded and handed over my card.
Its a new credit card, still shiny and sparkling.
Feed the kids.
Arent you coming?
I have to work before I can deploy them.
Eat something first.
Its okay, Ill order something if I get hungry. You go eat and then head home.
Wow, the president working while I alone eat?
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The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l