When the peach blossoms started waving and smiling to me on the campus, I realized that spring was in the air, a time for college graduates like me to find a job. Soon enough I was sitting in the interview room of my very first job interview. I panicked because I only had a little bit of experience as an intern.

"My name is Lee," said the interviewer. "Let me tell you about the pattern of our interview today: First, we will take 10 minutes to have a pre-talk. Then we will do one case study together, OK?" Lee began.

"OK," I said. I squeezed out a smile, but began to worry about the case interview.

Our pre-talk went smoothly: I gave a brief introduction of myself, and he introduced the company. I calmed down gradually, and smiled more at ease.

Then it came to the case study. I relied on my common business sense and basic administration knowledge, but I did not feel alone.

Lee was not as tough as his serious face appeared. He even surprised me by his efforts and patience in leading me to the right point. I felt relaxed and confident to present my ideas.

At the end, Lee concluded: "Maybe I should not be so strict with you, for you have never experienced such kind of interview before. But frankly speaking, you had a bad performance today."

I froze. "What aspects do you think I can improve?" He pointed out my strengths and weaknesses, and suggested some better resolutions. His sincere comments helped me recover my natural smile. I knew that there was little chance for me to stay, but that was not the most important thing I should learn.

Misfortunes never come singly. Several days later, I learned that I had failed the entrance examination for postgraduate studies. My smile was jailed for a few days, but I finally realize today, failing this exam did not mean failing my life.

Out of the blue, Lee called me again: I could take the second interview. The team manager interviewed me this time. He was an easy-going person who was always smiling and nodding with understanding.

I had more confidence to present my ideas. We finished this round quickly and happily, like two friends chatting at teatime.

What impressed me the most was the three words he used to describe the working environment: active, warm and family-like.

On my way home, I was cocooned by the scent of sunshine. Spring had already come, I thought smilingly.

In the following weeks, I fell in love with this warm family. Whenever I had problems in research work, data analysis or proposal design, nice colleges were always there to help me.

"You must be hard-working, but never neglect efficiency; you must have the commitment to your job, but never accept all the jobs other people burden on you if you can not handle; you must develop your fast-learning ability, but never try to learn everything perfectly."

I asked Lee curiously: "Why did you choose me? You said I had a really bad performance." He replied: "Actually your performance was the worst among the interviewees, but your bright smile which lasted in the end changed my mind."

(China Daily 06/24/2008 page20)