Tips Interview

i hope you would find this helpful or at least informative.

last saturday, Shell people came down to our beloved campus and held an interview workshop like thing, called Shell Management Games.

it was early in the morning and i was quite sleepy (the nite before penat sangat) and i was thinking about skipping it. but my good conscience said i had nothing to lose by going. and so, with great effort, i got ready and head towards block B with roomate and her bf.

they showed us a video for introduction, which i find is not so important to explain in details now. so i'll just jump into the activities eh?

#Activity 1

in a big group of roughly 10 people we dont really know, we have to describe our 'mentor' (their people la) without using words. we had to draw la basically.

anyway, after 15mins of drawing and interrogating si mentor, kena lah present.

my group's mentor's name is Anis. but i mistakenly introduced him as Sani. apa kes?? ughh.. sorry encik wan ahmad anis.. =p

so from here, i guess we were tested on our communication skills (asking and conveying) and of course, analytical thinking skills (which and what questions to ask).

#Activity 2

same group, discuss the topic given by them. topic for groups are different and standard questions were given.

example:

CSR program enhances the commitment of the companies towards society, community and country.

Q1: definition of topic

Q2: importance of topic

Q3: pros and cons

Q4: if we were given the authority to change the topic, what would be the changes?

Q5: how to make those changes

*tak ingat sangat but i think its like this la..

so here's the problem with most students. take note!!

being an engineering student, i realise that i can't really translate words i wanna say. i can't really spew out the correct terms but i can give many examples.

this problem is not only faced by myself, but for many. it's simply because we are too technical. words that we tend to put in are like 'fluctuation', 'probability', 'experimental', 'rate of __', 'vinyl acetate from natural gas', 'fyp', dan sekutu dengannya.

however the bis/ict students, fuh.. cakap macam takleh henti. because they were 'raised' in their course which feeds them with management-al terms and it flows out easily for them, their ideas.

so when the interviewer asks you your DEFINITION OF THE TOPIC, i suggest you give your understanding of the TOPIC.

contoh? (back to the topic ek)

ehem.

i do believe that CSR does enhance the commitment of companies towards society and such because with CSR, employees can work hand in hand with the society to search for improvement, thus increase trust among many communities, hence increase revenue for the company. sejurus itu, country pun maju! tadaaaa~~~

suka hati la korang nak jawab camane, ni contoh je.

diorang kata, "look at the topic at a large scope. then go down to the main point."

masalah kami, we recognise the main points and we dont know how to structure our sentences. we usually work our way up. itu tak preferable la ya.

nak jawab, look at the bigger scope like, Financial, Economic, Social, etc etc. then you work down your points under respective headings. faham?

#Activity 3

same group. kena organize charity fun day for children and raise money (for something, lupa).

so, sini, just basic co-operation and understanding the objective of the task: for children to have fun and raising money for charity.

so biasa je.

#Activity 4

same group. build a vehicle.

here's where co-operation, creativity and technical skills were put to the test. we may not all be mechanical engineers, but we have technical skills and knowledges that does help. sini, i suggest budak2 bis and ict duduk diam2 (takde la diam sangat)and tengok your engineering friends ok? because ni je la satu2 nye test yg kita can apply our knowledge.. it doesn't hurt to observe and assist when you need to ya, no offense!

so yeah. team work ok! no need for competitiveness in this part too. from what i saw, when you're competitive sangat, you tend to rush and not listen to others' suggestions, which might be better than yours.

so itu saja ya.

conclusion?

1. read articles so that our lidah won't terkelu when we need it the most. try newsweek, the times, star, magazines (not cleo or remaja type laa duhhh).

2. before answering questions, TAKE YOUR TIME to THINK. 1-2 mins would be ok. because if you jawab melulu, confirm you jadi gelabah bila dia twist sikit from your answer.

*get structured*

3. keep an open mind, take time to discuss and listen to your team. if you bajet terror sangat, it will annoy your teammates and you will not achieve anything. listening helps your idea flow and at the same time, u'll learn something. best kan?

that's it kot for now. if ada yang nak sambung idea, please do. kita berkongsi ilmu.

=D