Interview oh interview. I was so transparent that I admitted so many things. I could not explain well and kept repeating the same example again and again. And my tears even shed in that room and everyone on the floor could hear me. What a situation I had back in the 5th floor of PNB office. That was a brief description of my CCM interview session. Obviously I failed the interview. How could I cried in front of them. That was so nonsense.
But, my main objective of coming to London was not entirely for CCM. I hold a bigger responsibility to become an employee of PETRONAS to be exact. I was a scholarship holder of that GLC that just contributed slightly more than 30% to country's GDP if I am not mistaken. (My economic knowledge sucks). Given that, I have to serve the company for at least 10 years to pay back the grant supplied for my 6 years education in UK. So, I came to London with high hope and fast adrenalin rush.
Basically, if you are PETRONAS scholar, you don't have to worry abouy your transportation and accommodation. Everything is well covered or else you can make a claim. For my batch, we were placed at Cumberland Hotel, Marble Arch. It is located just at the end of the famous Oxford Street. The evening before the tough day commencing, we had dinner with all candidates and interviewers. At that time, you would not feel the seniority atmoaphere because all interviewers would become your friends who share experiences and motivation to the candidates. The session started with a company briefing montage and presentation of the structure of employment specifically. The chit chat session turned out to be coincidently separated into two big tables i.e. Technical and non-technical groups. Being the only female technical candidate did not create the awkward moment as the air was also freshen up by the female interviewer, Dr. Syahidah. The fatherly comments and jokes then came from the male interviewer which I now forgot his name.
Since my session started at 11 am, I did not bother to iron my cloth on that night. I rather slept as soon as I reached my room together with my roommate, Alia.
I woke up for Subuh prayer and could not fall asleep again. So, I got ready for an early breakfast. That morning was not an easy morning for me. I could not eat variety of food served at that big lounge. My new friend, Danial advised me to take at least one banana just to stuff the stomach a little bit more since my session would be dragged into lunch hour.
I went up to my room and Alia just finished her first session. Non technical candidates went through new set of interview scheme so they had two sessions i.e. Individual and group session. In a meanwhile, since the technical candidates were only 6, we still used the old scheme that involved only an individual interview.
Later, when the time for me to go to the interview room arrived, I checked myself into thw mirror and smiled. I was ready for the 'battle'. But, I rather made a silly mistake as I did not know the exact room to settle the documentation part of the interview. I even knocked the room which a real interview was still on going. Lucky, En Hamdan (only now I remember his name) was just fine with it and assisted me to the right room. All occupants of the documentation room laughed at me that I actually intervened an hour lagged interview. I was told that the second candidate was not yet started, so I had to wait a little longer. While they were chatting up, I filled the forms needed. I am sure everyone would understand my situation by then. I was so nervous to see the first candidate, Aamirul coming to the room with a pale face. We were not supposed to be seen together as all questions and what had happened in his session were confidential. Nothing can be acquired and I think that is fair.
As soon as the second candidate, Danial finished his session, it was about lunch hour. Dr. Syahidah and En Hamdan requested for lunch break and had subway sandwiches. If I were in class, my tummy also would need to fill up by that time. But, on that big day, it did not ask for a refill. The interviewers chatted with us to reduce all our anxiety for the day. En Hamdan even had a video call from his MOZEC alumni friend and showed us to them. All interviewers needed to attend a program organised by UKEC for the annual career fair event. So, we cut short the lunch hour and straightly went to the business before the clock ticked to 3 pm.
I knocked the door and greeted. Remember, walk confidently and smile. None would eat nor harm you for that extra sadaqah. I sat. All bright faces shown outside the room were just them by nature. When we met at the room, the professionalism was shown. Dr. Syahidah started the conversation with the briefing of the interview. Basically, you are going to have three parts i.e. Case study presentation, role play and behavioural Q&A ( I honestly could not digest the real name of the last part as I was busy toning down my anxiety).
I was given a case study about research and development (I will start using RnD to shortform). RnD was quite relevant to me in some ways. First, I was in the middle of doing a research project for my final year MEng research module. Second, I had an internship experience with Petronas Research Sdn Bhd (PRSB) in 2012. The case is presented with the help of a few notes that you originally prepared within half an hour prior to your interview. I had 5 pages of them and all were scribbled as mind maps. That is the best way to generate ideas though because you can present it holistically in term of different aspects. The main thing about this case study part is to think in a bird view, taking into account all factors that contribute to even an element of the case. Starts with who, which, when, how and you can direct your thinking systematically. At the end of the first part, the interviewer will collect all notes, so better prepare them in nice clear handwriting though. Dr Syahidah slightly laughed while commented that women were always like this, few pages long and scribbling here and there.
The second part turns you into a great spontaneous actor or actress. What needed in this part is your spontaneity in delivering solutions. The interviewers hold several cards and one card at a time is given to you containing the problem that you need to solve. When you pass a card, you will be given the next card and so on. In my case, I was a customer service manager. A case was filed by a rich Datuk (acted by En Hamdan) saying that his sports car was at fault because of the lubricant of my company. The second card involved a lawyer which was also acted by the same guy. The lawyer wished to settle everything off the court given that adequate compensation was provided. The third case proceeded as I needed to face the big boss of the company on the overall settlement of the case as forgery issue surfaced then. I am not going to sample out my kind of answers given at that time. Individuality differs from each person, so as the thinking skill. You may handle the case differently as I am.
The third part involves several questions on how you solve real life problems that you may have encountered. It can be on how you tackle an unexpected problem in a short time, how you tackle a subsequent problem, etc. I remembered giving an example on how I managed to sort my summer vacation, how I even tackled the transportation problem across Italy-Switzerland problem and so forth. The interviewers even commented that one of us had opposed our parents resulted on us stumbling against subsequent problems. I just laughed and smiled. Parents' instict is always right. I don't dare to fight against their talks.
So, after I submitted my thesis report to the school office, I finally had the reason to call the STS office. I passed the structured interview. The feeling of knowing it was nice and relieved. At least, I know that I don't have to pay the half million worth sponsorship. Alhamdulillah. And now, I am still waiting for the call from the recruiters. I hope the call will come sooner as I can't wait to build a great future for my family and me.
InshaAllah...
Pray for me, okay?
