The Inner Voice

There are times in my life when I have heard the inner voice. Some may not want to call it God. I have no problem doing so. Regardless, this is an occasion when I certainly heard it.

When I was in England, I typed a résumé on a manual typewriter in the highlands of Scotland. It took me a long time to do and I had to type the pages several times to get them right.

My goal was to make copies of it and take it around to several Canadian companies in London to see if I could get any work. Having worked in broadcasting, I decided to try the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the CBC, first.

Money was running low and Marie kept asking me when I was going to take in my résumé. Time after time, I heard this voice tell me, “Not today,” and I told her so.

One day in October, I woke up and I heard the voice tell me, “Take in your résumé today, John.” I obeyed the voice and took the train into London.

When I arrived at the CBC, I asked the receptionist it there was any work. She passed me off to Daphne, who was in charge of human resources.

I handed my résumé to her and asked her if there was any work. She glanced at it and her eyes widened. She looked me right in the eyes and said, “We have people coming in here every day thinking that they can get a job with the CBC because they are Canadian and they are in London. We turn them away. Well, we created a job just two hours ago, and you fit it perfectly.” I did my best to assure her she was right, and she was.

They wanted somebody who knew how to edit videotape who also had a knowledge of the Canadian sport system. I had worked at three television stations and at the National Sport and Recreation Centre in Ottawa. I was, indeed, perfect for the job.

The managers in London were impressed, but I had to speak to Bob in Toronto. He called me and asked for three references. I gave him some from the CBC in Edmonton.

He called me back a couple of days and said, “How come nobody you gave as a reference remembers you?” I told him I was very disappointed, but that it told him three things:
1. I wasn’t a genius at my job. You always remember them.
2. I wasn’t terrible at my job. You remember them, too.
3. I quietly did my job efficiently.
His next words were, “You’re hired! You start on December 1.” I had to inform Bob that if I had to start on December 1, I would have to decline the job because I didn’t have enough money to last that long. We renegotiated the start date to November 1.

Years later, one of my references saw me in Toronto and said hello to me. I asked him why he hadn’t remembered me when Bob had asked him for a reference. Turns out that Bob hadn’t contacted my references at all. He wanted to know what I would say when he told me that they had forgotten me. I must have said the right thing.

I still am amazed at what happened because I was in tune with the inner voice. There have been other instances where I have heard it, usually when I least expect it. Seldom have I heard it as loud and as clear as this occasion.