Bismillah.

My first corporate job interview was shortly after my final semester ended. The message came to me during final exam season, via Whatsapp. I had been job hunting for around a month then, and a surge of excitement came over me as I got the message. The process had been nerve-wrecking and anxiety-inducing, especially since my relatives kept smiling at me, patting me on the shoulder as they said "Ni grad engineer mesti kerja dengan P***" over the last Raya Haji. 

The job position was as a production engineer at a local company in Port Klang. I had mass-applied through various platforms, and this one I had applied at Jobstore. In case you're wondering; yes, it's not a typo, it's Jobstore not Jobstreet.

As I had said, I had been long job hunting by then, and was SUPER EXCITED to get this message. I instantly said yes I can go there physically meet you there at the company no probs yeay :)

Here's the thing: It IS a problem, actually. I just didn't think it through.

JOB HUNTING 101: 

1. REQUEST FOR ONLINE INTERVIEW (IF POSSIBLE)

I reside in Terengganu. To go all the way to Klang just for an interview, which, let's be real, I don't even know if I would've gotten it or not, is **ridiculous**. And this is for a local, SME company. I'm not insinuating that smaller companies is low standard or whatever - no i'm not. (though i would love to talk about my opinion on SME vs MNC, but let's leave that for another day, for now)

I'm saying that, as long as we can save money, then why not? By all means, if you have extra money to spend, go ahead.

All in all, it's just too costly. But I did not think it through and just said yes when they asked me to come.

I did learn the hard (and expensive) way. But you don't have to.

Disclaimer: This does not applicable to interview emails CLEARLY stating that it is a face-to-face interview.

JOB HUNTING 101:

2. DRESS YOURSELF PRETTILY (BUT NOT OVER-THE-TOP)

This is very, very important. Make sure your clothes are ironed, formal or semi-formal would do, and wear shoes! For girls, wear makeup. I don't care if you have never touched makeup or what, but for that one day in your life, wear it. Put some lip gloss on, powder your face. A senior once told me, "dress as that the interviewer would fall in love with you". Some might disagree with this, but this is what I hold on to. 

You wanna make a good impression? You want them to like you? You want them to hire you? Dress prettily.

"But I want to keep my face natural. They should hire me based on my qualifications."

Girl I hate to break it to you. But they won't hire you just because you're a first-class graduate (which, congratulations!). There are MANY other first-class grads out there. Oh you're a club president? Well so do 3000 other applicants. You won awards both in sports and academics? Yeah they've seen it in 5000 others. You are active in clubs while maintaining dean list every semester? You're not the only one babe.

So what will discern you from the rest of the applicants?
Attractiveness, likability. 

Here's the thing. We are humans; me, you, the panels. Humans are bound to be attracted to pretty things, people who can speak eloquently, dress well, who can catch our eyes in the sea of crowds. 

But in me saying this, do not be mistaken. Please don't wear revealing clothes (ie: off-shoulders, miniskirts etc) for your interview. LOLL 

Wear something different. I read somewhere, a hiring manager remembers a guy in blue blazer, not because he has the most skills, but because he's the only blue one in the throngs of men-in-black. Therefore, colour plays a significant role, too. If possible, try to avoid black (boring!).

JOB HUNTING 101:

3. PREPARE FOR THE QUESTIONS

Study the job requirements. What typa skills do they need? If you have time, practise it first. They might suddenly give you a laptop and ask you to organize the Excel data and give them a visualized dashboard in half an hour.

Practise both general and technical questions. Here comes the benefit of living in artificial intelligence era. My go-to tip is to paste the job requirements in the GPT, and ask them for a "proper, sounds like me" answer. Then, I improvise it to suit my liking.

Don't ask me for the correct answer, lol i'm not a hiring manager.

Anyway, you must remember: You WILL be nervous, and you WILL stutter; especially if they ask you a question you did not prepare. BUT remember to stay collected, take a breath, and LOOK THEM IN THE EYE. DO NOT FIDGET WITH YOUR HANDS. 

If you couldn't muster up your answer on the spot, say "I apologize. Can you repeat the question?" And while they repeat the same thing, force your brain to work on it. You got this! Okay?

Smile firmly! Depending on your facial features, practise your smile! Do not smile showing your teeth all the time, okay? That's creepy and just so weirdddd. Smile firmly, confidently! And occassionally, nod your head as if you understand whatever the heck they are talking about (if you want to, you can ask to improve your understanding).

If the questions asked in English, answer in English. But if they already say "you can speak campur malay english" then go ahead.

You can move your hands up in the air as you talk, but not too much and the gesture must not be big and overdone.

JOB HUNTING 101:

4. ASK THEM QUESTION

Usually, and most of the time, at the end of the session they will say "do you have any question for us?"

Do not be timid. ASK. Oh my God I cannot stress enough the importance of asking them a question. It shows you are proactive, confident, and am not afraid to ask questions (kinda obvious, duh).

My go-to question usually would be "May I know how does the company support the employees' growth and skill development?" - showing that you care, you are serious about career growth, and this will make them *unconsciously* try to appeal to you.

I'm typing this at 1 o'clock in the morning lmaooo. I have an early morning tomorrow so I guess I'll wrap this post here xx

p/s: at the present, I'm still struggling to find a job. Ironic, i know; giving out advices while I'm unemployed lol. But to whoever reading this, please pray for me so that I can land a good job offer (good salary, bearable jobscope, nice boss and colleagues) SOOOOONNNN. I know my blog only has, like, 5 readers, but each prayer counts, right? hehe