Jake has just got a new job at Bowen Mantel & Fireplace Fire Company Ltd. He was offered the job at the end of the interview. Jake's been looking for work since he left college, so presumably he's pleased. At Bowen's—as the company is affectionately known by its employees—every worker is regarded as equally important: a member of the Bowen Mantel & Fireplace Fire Company Ltd family. There was only one thing left for Jake to do: tell his biological family the good news. No doubt they would be as pleased as Jake.

By the time Jake returned home from the interview, his mum, stepdad and sister were already arranged in their usual seats in the living room. He heard the sound of them talking to each other through the window as he walked up the driveway. He heard his baby stepsister giggle. They all stopped when Jake closed the front door behind him.

"Jake?" his mum chirruped.

"Hello!" said Jake.

"Tell us how it went then!" shouted his sister.

"I'm coming!" Jake hung up his coat in the hallway and removed his new black interview shoes. He walked into the living room and leant on the mantel piece, trying to suppress his grin. The interview had gone well.

His mum beamed at him from the armchair. His sister beamed at him from the sofa. His baby stepsister beamed at him from the floor. His stepdad raised his eyebrows.

"They offered me the job!"

His mum and sister expressed their pleasure at the good news. His baby stepsister expressed her pleasure at their pleasure. His stepdad nodded slowly.

"Well done, Jake. About time. When do you start?"

"Tell us about the interview first Jake!" pleaded his mum.

"Yeah, it went well––."

"What did they ask you?" interrupted his sister.

"One thing they asked me really put me on the back foot: 'Have you got a Bowen's mantel piece fitted in your home, son?'"

“And what did you say, Jake?” demanded his stepdad.

"Well, I went 'Naaaa...' and then I went 'ugghh, yeah!'"

"Quick thinking, lad!" his mum cheered.

"Then they said 'what Bowen's mantel piece have you got fitted in your home?'"

"No!"

"What did you say, Jake?" his mum asked, gripping the armchair cushion.

"I 'fessed up. I said 'to be honest, I don't know what exact model we've got'. They said they liked my honesty!"

"Oh, Jake!" his sister cried.

"This is when I knew it’s going really well. They said, 'Listen son, that was a joke. We don't expect you to know one Bowen Mantel & Fireplace Fire Company Ltd mantel from the next – not yet, anyway!'" Jake's family laughed at his retelling of the interviewer's joke, as Jake had laughed in the interview.

"The reason they asked, they said, was that they wanted their workers to be proud of where they worked." Jake's family all nodded seriously in agreement. "Then they asked me whether I'd be proud of working for Bowen Mantel & Fireplace Fire Company Ltd. I said of course I would!"

"Then did they tell you you'd got it Jake?" his sister asked.

"They said they wanted me to do an activity for them first. They said because they wanted their workers to be proud of where they worked, and because I had said I'd be proud to work for Bowen Mantel & Fireplace Fire Company Ltd, they wanted me to pretend I'd just got the job."

"Pretend?"

"Yeah, they wanted me to pretend I'd just got the job, pretend to come to my pretend home, rest my elbow on the pretend mantel piece and tell my pretend family the good news!"

"Pretend family?" his stepdad said.

"Yeah, they said you'd respond like that, too! Realistically."

Jake's mum and sister exchanged concerned glances.

"You did get the job, right Jake?” said his stepdad, angrily. “This isn't”—here he paused, uncertain how to continue—“this isn’t…part of the interview?”

Jake thought for a moment. "No, this isn't part of the interview. But they did ask me to do an activity. They did ask me to tell my pretend family the good news!"

"Fair enough," said his stepdad, "best to be on the safe side. If I was an employer, I'd want to make sure any potential employee was going to be proud of where they worked."

"Exactly. That's it."

"So, are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Proud, Jake." Jake's family all looked at him expectantly.

"Of course!"

As Jake's family grinned with relief, the door suddenly opened and one of the people that had interviewed Jake came into the living room.

"Excellent Jake," said his interviewer, "nicely done." The interviewer sat down on the sofa between Jake's pretend sister and Jake's pretend stepdad. "I'm pleased to offer you a permanent job here at Bowen Mantel & Fireplace Fire Company Ltd."

"That's great!" said Jake. His pretend family nodded in agreement.

"You can start Monday, if you like?"

"That's great."

"There's only one thing left to do: tell your family the good news!" His pretend family laughed. Jake shook the interviewer's hand and said goodbye, waving to his pretend family as he left.

When Jake returned home from the interview, he heard the sound of his family talking to each other through the window as he walked up the driveway. He heard his stepsister giggle. They all stopped when Jake closed the front door behind him. His mum, stepdad and sister were sat in their usual seats in the living room. They were dressed in the same clothes as his pretend family.

"Jake?" his mum chirruped.

"Hello," he said.

"Tell us how it went then!" shouted his sister.

"I'm coming..." Jake hung up his coat in the hallway and removed his new black interview shoes, as he had done during the interview, and walked into the living room and leant on the mantel piece, as before. His family were beaming at him from their respective positions around the living room. Jake took care to use the exact phrasing he had used at interview: "Good news. They offered me the job!"

Everything proceeded in the same way as it had at the interview:

"Well done, Jake... when do you start... what did they ask you... have you got a Bowen's mantel piece fitted in your home, son... then did they tell you you'd got it?"

Jake then told his real family that the interviewers had told him they wanted their workers to be proud, at which they all nodded seriously, in agreement with Jake’s new employers. Then he told them that because his new employers wanted their workers to be proud of where they worked, and because he'd said he'd be proud to work for Bowen Mantel & Fireplace Fire Company Ltd, they wanted him to pretend he'd just got the job.

"Pretend?"

"Yeah, they wanted me to pretend I'd just got the job, pretend to come to my pretend home, rest my elbow on the pretend mantel piece and tell my pretend family the good news!"

"Pretend family?"

"Yeah, they said you'd respond like that, too! Realistically."

"You did get the job, right Jake?” said his stepdad. “This isn't part of the interview?"

"No, this isn't part of the interview. But they did ask me to do an activity. They did ask me to tell my pretend family the good news!"

"Fair enough," said his stepdad, "best to be on the safe side. If I was an employer, I'd want to make sure any potential employee was going to be proud of where they worked."

"Exactly. That's it."

"So, are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Proud, Jake." Jake's family looked at him expectantly.

"Of course!"

Jake did get the job at Bowen Mantel & Fireplace Fire Company Ltd. The scene in Jake's living room wasn't part of the interview process. It took place after the interview process. Part of that process involved Jake doing a bit of acting: pretending to tell his pretend family the good news. Jake performed very well at interview. He is now part of the Bowen Mantel & Fireplace Fire Company Ltd family. At Bowen's—as the company is affectionately known by its employees—every worker is regarded as equally important. From part-time workers like Jake to senior executives, everyone is as much a part of the family as the next person. There's only one thing left for Jake to do: tell his biological family the good news. No doubt they will be as pleased as Jake.