“A clerk. And I hope it is not at all unlikely that he may expand (as a clerk of your acquaintance has expanded) into a partner. Now, Handel, – in short, my dear boy, will you come to me?”
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 55. Herbert, who is going to Cairo to head up a branch office, offers Pip a job there. He suggests that Pip come with him to start out as a clerk saying that there is a chance he can work his way up to partner position.