Читать книгу Designing a World-Class Architecture Firm - Patrick MacLeamy - Страница 12

The receptionist took me to meet Gyo Obata for my interview. He was in his mid-40s, slight of build, with a graying crewcut and dressed in a white shirt with a narrow black tie. Obata was filled with energy. His first question was “What are your ambitions?”

“I love architecture and feel I may have some gifts. I want to do great work,” I said.

Although he looked through my portfolio, Obata seemed more interested in who I was as a person. After some conversation, he looked me in the eye and said, “This firm is going places. We just won the largest high school project in the country to design five new high schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to replace all the high schools in the city. It's a big, challenging project and you can get in at the beginning. I will oversee that project and want you to work directly with me. How about $650 per month?”

My father had schooled me in how to handle this question. “Always say you were hoping to get more,” he had told me. “I was hoping for more,” I said. “Okay, we'll make it $700,” said Obata. I was immensely impressed with my dad's advice: I'd been hired one minute and the next had successfully negotiated my first raise—$700 a month would be … $8,400 a year! “If I can get up to $10,000 a year, I'll be rolling in clover,” I thought.

“When can you start?” asked Obata. I explained that my last class was in 10 days, then I would attend graduation and come to St. Louis. “Forget that,” he said. “No one remembers their graduation. You start the Monday after your last class.” And it was settled.