Steve was my wife’s first supervisor after she graduated from college over 10 years ago. And, I still remember his good intentions. My wife and I used to work and live in Beijing, China where we have started our professional careers.
Steve helped her a lot in tough times when she was trying to find her first job a couple of years ago. If you are a fresh graduate who tries to find your first employer right after college, you know exactly what I am talking about – it is a difficult job to find a good job. There are millions of fresh graduates around the world entering the international job market every year, so competition is fierce. In China alone, there are between eight and 10 million young people entering the job market every year.
Steve gave an unprecedented chance to a young person who was just the fresh alumna without much work experience in business at that time. He let her shine offering ambitious position even though she mistakenly considered him as Chinese when they first met. Steve is Korean though.
Instead of 5-10 years of work experience resonating from her humble resume during the first and final job interview with Steve, my wife put her big heart full of passion on the conference table.
Although a few months after hiring my wife, Steve had left Beijing to manage another business in the US while my wife later also changed that job that Steve had offered her, they stayed in touch. She even remembered his birthday date and sent him Christmas postcards a few times.
Practice being grateful because gratitude is important. And always remember to be grateful to someone who gives you an opportunity when you are really in need. When you ever have a chance to meet your own ‘Steve’, you should consider yourself the luckiest person in the world.
