Please upload your resume

Sunday, 11:30 PM. It was a rainy night and I was waiting for the bus to arrive from Belgaum. The bus was supposed to arrive at Hubli by 11:00 PM, load its passengers and take off to Bangalore. I was already losing my patience as I had a huge luggage with me and I was completely drenched by rain. The bus finally arrived. I took a note of my seat number, placed my luggage above my seat and I settled down.

I found that I had a co-passenger beside me. A dark thin fellow wearing specs took a moment to have a glance at me and then looked outside through the glass window. The bus finally commenced its journey at 11:45 PM. Fifteen minutes later, we had an interesting conversation.

"Bangalore?", he asked.

"Yes, you?", I responded.

"Me too. Software Engineer?"

"Yes, you too?"

"No, I am a District Officer..."

I thought for one moment that he is a high profile government official. But, he looked quite young to hold this position.

"... of ABC Cements.", he completed.

Ahaa! he proved me wrong!

"Very nice. Pleased to meet you. And my brother works for XYZ Cements.", I said.

"You know ABC Cements is very popular as compared to XYZ Cements. XYZ Cements is quite new and lacks quality."

"I don't agree. You cannot say that. You might be knowing, XYZ Cements is one of the tough competitors of ABC Cements. Although it may not be as popular as ABC Cements, its popularity has grown rapidly in recent years."

He took a step forward and started explaining what ABC Cements is doing to fight for being the best cement manufacturer across the country. And why should people work for ABC Cements. And slowly he began to project himself as superman of ABC Cements. "I am doing this... I am in charge of many units...blah blah blah", etc, etc, etc. To all these things, my replies were "Good, good!", "Oh, that's nice!", "Cool!", "You are doing a great job!", etc. This went on for 15 minutes.

"Now then, why don't ask your brother join ABC Cements, I'll take care of him. Here's my card.", he said. Obviously, his phone number, e-mail address and company's website were mentioned in it. "I am not sure whether my brother is looking for a change now, it seems that he is quite happy with what he is doing. But, yes, if he changes his mind, I will ask him to send his resume to you." I said.

"No, no, no! Don't take the trouble of sending his resume to me, just ask him to upload the resume in our company's website.", he responded spontaneously. I was completely taken aback and baffled by this reply. How could he ask me to upload a resume in his company's website when he is acting as a direct reference to me. I would have sent the resume to this guy. Moreover companies will be more considerate if an employee recommends a potential candidate directly, as it may cut down few steps of their standard procedure. I did not show any surprises and I calmed myself down quickly.

"By the way, I also have a younger brother", he said.

"Oh, I see!"

"He graduated last year"

"Hmm, that's good!"

"He is in search of a job now. Please give me your business card."

"Cool! Here you go."

"Are there any openings in your company?"

"Oh, yes! There are many open positions. I am one of the interviewers."

"Fine then, I will ask him to send his resume to you."

"No, no, no! Don't take the trouble of sending his resume to me, just ask him to upload the resume in our company's website. Its mentioned on my business card", I responded instantly, without a second thought!

Rest of the night was spent without a word between us! I reached Bangalore with a smile on my face.

This short story based on the experience of my co-worker.