First Job Application, First Interview and First Job

A father guides his son to his first job

The year was 1972. I was seventeen, enjoying my youth and revelling in freedom. On the threshold of adulthood, I was neither a boy nor an adult, an in-between.

In the previous year, there was a youth rebellion, a turbulent period in Sri Lanka. Many youths lost their lives. After it quelled the insurrection, the country tried to reform itself to address societal inequities. Sri Lanka became a socialist republic. Aligned with its left-wing policies, the government attempted to make securing a job for youth. In May 1972, a single application process for 50,000-odd jobs in all industry sectors was legalised.

The government imported one of the first computers to make this grand vision a reality. Vacancies from all agencies with the required skills and educational requirements for each job were fed into it. It was an independent and unbiased mega job bank, a pioneering initiative by the then Sri Lankan government.

While the country was transforming, I was living my life. I did not need a job. Looking for one was the furthest in my mind. Unaware of the government initiative, I was trying to find my feet at Aquinas University College, an elite private institution.

Joseph Perera was a senior government official, my godfather, my father’s best friend and best man at his wedding. He had first-hand information and possibilities emerging for the country’s youth from the new process for youth recruitment. He recommended my father explore possible career opportunities for me, his godson, in this modern system.

The application form from the government gazette was issued in May 1972

The form was to be filled with complete accuracy to ensure data entry into the job bank. My father pre-filled the inputs on a blank paper before he completed the basic input form to avoid errors. To suit the rural public, the form was in Sinhalese, the primary language in Sri Lanka.

My father completed and sent in the application with my details in July 1972, exactly a month after I started my course in accounting. It turns out this had been my father’s plan B for me. Plan A was to be a management accountant in the world of finance after completing studies in Aquinas.

The Director-General of Public Administration in the government of Sri Lanka acknowledged my application in July 1972.

My application reference number was 56944. There were a lot of applicants, at least 57000.

Six months went by. I continued studying in Aquinas, unaware that my details were finding their way into the Government database for matching careers. Then, a letter arrived, the month I turned eighteen. It stated that the Overseas Telecommunication Service (OTS) was reviewing my application, and it was progressing to the next stage for potential interviews.

I had no idea I had been shortlisted for one of the premium government agencies. My father was handling the correspondence on my behalf. Then, in March 1973, there was another letter from the Director of Telecommunication to attend an interview in a fortnight, with my birth, education and two-character certificates.

At that time, I did not understand the significance of my father’s actions in exploring career options for me. There was a lot of youth unemployment in Sri Lanka in the seventies; career choices were limited. Every parent was worried about their children’s future.

I wore my best clothes, Beige bell-bottom pants, an off-white shirt and a colourful matching tie. My father accompanied me to the OTS Head Office in Australia building at York Street, in the heart of the business district of Colombo. He made sure that I was comfortable facing the interview and left for his work leaving me to it.

I had never been to a job interview. Neither did I prepare for it, nor did I know any better. Confidence was my friend. I had no fear.

The interview was on the 1st floor of the building. The entrance to the floor was via an elevator with a collapsible grille door controlled by a lift operator. It was the first time I used an elevator. OTS was recruiting twenty-five new intakes. Many applicants from all corners of Sri Lanka had come for the interviews, spread over a few days. Some fathers stayed back with their sons while they faced the interview. Only males were recruited for Overseas Telecommunication Services. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics were the domain of men in the seventies.

The interview panel consisted of three members from OTS. Vernon Watson, General Manager; Neil Zoysa, Engineering Manager and Elmo Pereira, Operations Supervisor. The interview was in English. I sailed through the interview and nailed it.

“How can you speak so well in English?”. The last question by Neil Zoysa surprised and puzzled me. It was a left-field question.

I had no answer to that question. I did not think that my English was extraordinary. I was genuinely embarrassed. I feigned a gentle smile at Neil Zoysa in response.

After the interview, I went back and attended classes in the afternoon.

Two weeks later, I received a letter by registered post from OTS. I had aced the interview and was selected as a Trainee Overseas Telegraphist. It advised me to report for work on the 2nd of May 1973 at a monthly starting salary of Rupees 250. It was equal to about 40 US Dollars at the then-current rate. It was a decent salary for someone who had just turned eighteen.

Above is my acceptance of the job. Letters were typed in duplicate with carbon paper, and copy retained for record purposes. This was long before personal computers became common. My father handled the correspondence. Handwritten notations in this letter are his. Backed by an empowering and loving father, all I had to do was sign my life away.

I was the second-best candidate out of the twenty-five selected. I was also the youngest of them all. Many of them had far higher educational qualifications. Some had prior working experiences. The lesson here is that it pays to be naive and fearless.

I took no notice of these trivial matters and became good friends with them when we were telecommunication apprentices. I keep in touch with many of them today.

This was my first job application, first interview and my first job. It led me to many unchartered territories in careers later on, in many corners of the world in four Fortune 500 companies.

The documents illustrated in this story are originals, retrieved from my father’s archives. He had carefully stored them for posterity, which I am proud to cherish and share with you. I did not know the extent of his hard work on my behalf, at a vulnerable stage of my life, until recently when I went through his records. I am immensely grateful for his leadership. He had my back.

My father paved the way. Unknowingly at the time, I grabbed it.

The world is your oyster if you are bold enough to see it. This is the crux of this story.

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