Joshua completed the account setup.  Error detection software and identity checks had made the task harder.  Finally, the system asked him to perform a few activities to calibrate his physical statistics. 

[Do you need a break before the interview?] signing ‘lunch’, a clock appeared on the interface [15:00].

The drone army just delivered the groceries to the automated delivery door and decontamination was certified complete.  He was especially pleased to hear from his wife, Jess, that there was fresh vegetables and lettuce for the first time in a month.  These days, the food processing plants had a monopoly on raw goods.  Only if a farm over-produced clean food would they be distributed.

Five sandwiches were sitting at the table waiting on him. The kids were still jacked into their tablets and would grab them as needed.  His own was decorated with dehydrated bacon bits – a protein staple in this era.  Trying not to think too much about fresh meat or the rare smell of fried bacon he grabbed a glass of watered-down milk.  Glancing at the tablet interface, he had 12 minutes left.  The status of his virtual avatar was up showing his ratings:

Education: A2
Experience: B8
Social: B5
Fitness: D8
Average: B0

According to the site system this was not ideal, the average rating needed to be at least B5 for a single interview to be enough.  An A9 average has a 90% match to their profile.  B0 barely hit a 14% match.  The statistic results were based on a psychological profile that was given as a joke on a fiction site in 2020.  The one statistic not mentioned was the so-called “Discipline” value.  It is a difficult value to place importance on.  How likely is the subject to follow routines and procedures and how likely is it that it should matter to the company?  It had been proven in the past that certain industries don’t require discipline and others do – artists versus soldiers was the way it was put.

Quickly finishing and taking care of business, he checked his clothing and stood in the home office.  The interview specified to use a flatscreen, not goggles for this part.  It always amazed him how the $40k setup used in his home had become the standard for corporate officers once it was published in the online interview two years before.  A simple $500 setup was required for the average citizen and furnished by government grant along with the internet.  It was his oversight to not purchase goggles previously but it was built to allow Jess to conduct exercise classes online during the second plague.

[Please stand.  Your interview is being connected.  If you are not present when it connects, your application will be deleted.] Great, at least he was dressed presentably in jeans and a polo he was expecting a goggle-based interview.... He didn't have a chance to install the updated software for the image overlay.  It would increase immersion rates in some of the adapted video games from last century's platform systems.  If only it was the 4th, it'd be a Friday, casual work clothes.