Jenny works in our International Development Group. Today, she made her third speech for Toastmasters.

I want to tell you about someone who made a big impact on my life. Eight years ago, I arrived in Australia. I was no more than the wife of a young Chinese student. I knew I had to find a job. But I had never written an English letter or even a resumé. Who would lend me a computer to do this? Who would proofread my broken English? I was very doubtful anyone could help me.

I was lucky. Some wonderful Australians at a neighbourhood learning centre let me use their computer for two hours. They read over my letter, and they also sent me to a training session to teach me how to do interviews. This was my first experience in this country.

I found the perfect job and began writing my letter. It was for “an ASX listed company”. That is what the advertisment said.

Oh, I was very, very confused. What was ‘ASX’? It wasn’t in the dictionary. I thought, “This must be a very normal word that everyone knows.” ASX, ASX. How could I find out?

The learning centre people gave me a phone number of someone who might help. The number was for ‘Ray’. I called the number and this is what I heard.

“Hello, Ray speaking.”

“Hello. My name is Jenny. I am writing a job application but I need help. Someone told me you could tell me what ‘ASX’ means.”

After a short silence, Ray said, “Well, Jenny. ASX stands for the Australian Stock Exchange.”

And do you know what I found out then? Ray… Ray was the National Director of the ASX. I was very, very embarrassed.

But not only did he answer my question, he also asked me to come to that tall ASX building on Collins Street so that he could look at my resumé. After speaking to me, he took my resumé and at the top wrote his own name and phone number as my reference.

Well, of course I got the job after that!