//------------------------------// // Job Hunting - Not too Hard if You Know Where to Look // Story: The Silver Rainbow // by ImAPonyXY //------------------------------// When Blaze woke up the next morning he wasted no time. He brushed his mane, had a shower and ate breakfast all in the time-span of half an hour. As soon as he took the last bite of his border-burnt toast he took off. Leaping off Rainbow's balcony and taking flight, soaring down to town. Today was the day he was going to get a job. He knew it. He didn't have a specific place in mind, but he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to do something in customer service. Whether it be a waiter or cashier he didn't care. Although he had only arrived in town yesterday he figured that it would be a good idea to get a job now so that he would have money later on. That, and also he would be able to pay for his fair share when Rainbow took him out or when they had to buy groceries. Looking around, Ponyville came to life as Blaze saw the commercial side reveal itself to him for the first time. The amount of shops, cafes, restaurants and community centers that were dotted around town was amazing. Surely that Blaze would have no trouble finding a job with this many opportunities surrounding him. Wrong. After roughly and hour or two of searching store after store trying to find a vacant position for him to occupy he had no luck. Everywhere he went was either full or just couldn't afford to have another staff member at their disposal. At this rate he was going to have to try bigger and richer stores, such as Lil' Drop or Sugar Cube Corner. But there was no chance of him getting a job at either of those places. They had good reputation, one that couldn't be sullied by an inexperienced worker who had never dealt with the tyranny of customers before. He referred to the customers as tyranny because he realized that ponies could be in any mood when purchasing food and primarily they're in a bad mood if prices are high or if the staff are lacking and he feared that customers would take a disliking to him with his inexperience and unprofessional vibe that all newbies gave out when beginner a job. He didn't exactly want to experience such hardship when going for his first job in a new town. He wanted to do something he could handle. Something with little to no challenge. Something like simply making medium-standard coffee, or serving mediocre ponies preparing for a long day at work. Something like... Rifo's! Rifo's looked as though to be a small cafe run by two ponies from another kingdom. As Blaze entered the store he was overwhelmed by the amount of hospitality he received from the cashiers as they stood behind the counter and waved at him upon entrance. He couldn't help but smile as they even said, "Welcome to Rifo's. What can I get for you, sir?" That was the kind of service that you'd expect from a high class or even posh establishment. But no. The staff had just been either trained well or the managers hired well. "Umm," he scratched the back of his head nervously, "Would it be alright I were to speak with your manager?" he asked, trying not to let his nerves overwhelm him. He had never been too good at getting a job, but he wasn't terrible once he got comfortable with the situation. "And what should I tell him it's regarding?" a mare responded. "I'm looking for a job and I would like to work here." The mare squealed and beamed happily, "Excellent. I'll fetch him for you immediately!" she rushed off eagerly. Blaze could tell she was young just by the amount of energy and excitement she possessed. Also that her mane and tail were long and fashioned in the style of a pony-tail. After his brief analysis of what he hoped to be his future coworker, he saw her trot happily back with a brown, unicorn, stallion wearing a tie and holding a clipboard in front of him. As he looked up to see the young pegasus known as Blaze his handle-bar mustache came into clear view and his big, blue eyes looked him up and down. "Are you the stallion seeking a job?" he asked simply with a strong voice. Blaze nodded, "Yes sir," he replied. "Excellent. If you would please follow me to my office I can begin the interview," the stallion turned tale and held a hatch open for Blaze to walk behind the counter and into the employee only area. He lead Blaze to a small room featuring a desk, chair and a bookcase as well as a noticeboard containing rosters, notes and upcoming promotions. The stallion sat down and pointed to one directly behind Blaze, "Take a seat," he said and flipped a few pages. Taking out his pen and waiting for the blue stallion to sit down before asking his first question. "Firstly. What's you're name?" "My name is Silver Blaze. Although I prefer to just be called Blaze. I don't much like the name Silver," he answered. Feeling as though he was a little to detailed when explaining his preferred name over his actual name. He wrote it down and without even looking up he asked another question, "And how old are you?" "I'm nineteen years old sir," he answered again, feeling good as he didn't over explain it. "I see," he wrote this down too, "What's your availability? Full-Time? Part-time? Weekends? Or Weekdays?" "Full-Time." "Name of your emergency contact?" "Rainbow Dash." "Rainbow Dash? Really now?" "Yes sir." "Impressive," he muttered and wrote it down. "Have you ever worked in a cafe before Blaze?" "No." "Okay. not to worry," he wrote again in his clipboard, "Just one more question. Do you work well under pressure or do you work well interacting with customers? Both involve working in part of team but you answer will determine if you're either a customer service team member or a food service team member," Blaze gulped, he didn't entirely know which one to go for since he had never worked at a place like this before. He assumed that working under pressure meant working in the kitchen and working with customers was serving customers. So he replied with, "I'm better at working with customers, I stress out under pressure and I would possibly make a crucial mistake." "Great!" the stallion stood up and held out his hoof, "Welcome to the team Blaze." Blaze felt a wave of joy burst threw his body. Although he had a hard time finding a place that was hiring he was glad that he went through all that trouble. It surely paid off. He stood up too and shook his boss's hoof, "Thank you sir. I won't let you down." "I have complete faith that you won't," he sat back down and went through some papers, "Oh, and before you go I have something to give you." "Okay? What is it?" "It's our menu. I want you to study it and learn off by heart by next week," he handed him a large laminated sheet of paper, "And you start in two days. Be here at eight in the morning on the dot." "Thank you sir," Blaze said again, unable to think of anything else to say. "Oh and call me Rifo."