Y'see. The thing about interviews is that the more you attend, the more... composed you get. A bit of practice makes perfect, but more like what doesn't kill me makes me stronger.
I'm the type of person who learns a great deal from my experiences and failures. Something like that round Omnidroid thingy from The Incredibles.
Once the superheroes defeat him, he'll adapt and become stronger. And i was fortunate / unfortunate enough to attend my first failed interview at P&G last year. Man, that lady was tough-as-hell nuts, and i wasn't really prepared, and i blabbed in panic and was thoroughly humiliated.
And now, of course, i've bounced back. Quicker, smarter, sharper, and tougher than before! Nyahaha.
After getting over the initial apprehension, interviews are pretty much easy. Just be honest, straightforward, and confident and there shouldn't be much of a problem.
Wednesday: Unilever for position of Customer & Market Insight Executive
Thursday: Alliance Bank for Personal Financial Consultant, but turns out to be Mortgage.
Friday: Data-Radius (authorized dealer of Digi & its multi-faceted mobile plans) for Corporate Sales Executive, which is jazzed up name for salesman
Monday: Permanis Sandilands (distributor and franchisee of Pepsi and etc) for Youth Marketing Executive.
My interview schedule. Interesting, ain't it? 4 working days in a row.
*Horror* During all of my interviews, i was on my way recovering from my bout of cough / flu / snot-phlegm congestion crap. My nose was constantly jammed with this wad of goo that required a stupendous nose-blow to get rid of. My throat was constantly itching to explode with a rumbling cough, spraying out globules of green and yellow phlegm, and it was just disgusting and uncomfortable.
Unilever interview came with a test showing me a table full of market share / market value growth figures and asking me which of their product categories were a) doing well b) not doing well c) worthy of funding d) in need of saving.
While i was taken aback at the sudden onslaught of numbers, primarily due to my rustiness in marketing figures, i managed to decipher them and made my case eloquently. Interviewer was my would-be boss, with an impassive expression.
I wasn't completely sure what type of candidates they were looking for in terms of ass-kissery, as some of the interview questions were presented in a way that allowed a lot of room for ass-kissing. Like, why Unilever? Why not Nestle? Or P&G? I could've mentioned the prowess of Unilever, and its global presence, and that it's a great starting point to a high-flying career in the FMCG industry given its strong brands bla bla bla and having a magnificent reputation in the industry yada yada. But... as my talent for ass-kissery is pretty much 0, and any sort of ass-kissing comments from me somehow magically turn insincere and sarcastic, i settled for a "well i saw your ad on jobstreet and i applied".
So i guess that's the weak point of my interview. lol! I guess it all depends.
Alliance Bank interview was just play play la... I knew i wouldn't want a career in a bank, but they asked me to come anyway so i thought, what the heck? The experience could be worth-while, aaaand i could buy St Cinnamon at Mid Valley. And then the lady came in and said i was actually interviewing for a mortgage job and i wanted to come flying out screaming coz a) i suck at persuasion b) i hate paper work c) i haven't got my own transport to go flying around pestering people to take loans. I was asked about my strengths and weaknesses and the giant interview cliche came smacking into my face. I forgot about the list of politically correct strengths and weaknesses i had in my mind. So i blabbered and ended up just staring at the interviewer. But i could detect that she had detected my lack of sharkiness needed for mortgage, and i wasn't really exuding rays of hopeful enthusiasm for the job anyway. So she just ended the interview and i skipped off to Mid Valley for some jalan jalan. =D
My most successful interview was with Data-Radius. I guess, because of its slightly smaller scale (less choosy), and that it was for a sales job. Or, a more derogatory word would be salesman. The office was split into 3 sections in Damansara Uptown. One was next to OCBC, on the frickin 3rd floor no less, with no elevators. Fuck. I heaved-and-hoed my way up only to be directed to cross over to another block on the first floor of the pan mee place. After filling up a form, i was then asked to ascend more stairs up to the 3rd floor. Forced workout... I can lose 5kilos in a month by just climbing those goddamned stairs.
Next interview on my list. Permanis Sandilands. Youth marketing executive, tasked to market the beverages to the youth market. Oh my goodness, such a fun job scope. I think this would be the most... interesting job among all of the above. I am hoping to fight tooth and nail for the position but the only drawback is that the headquarters is located in Bukit frickin Bintang. Nightmare-zone of all traffic jams. Will be popping over tomorrow. Will see how everything goes. And hopefully i don't get lost again.
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