• Prepare a Neat CV

With the spellcheck and auto-correct features in Words, I am dumbfounded that there are still graduates who send to us CVs with typos and wrong spellings. This is not acceptable. It shows either you couldn’t care less to prepare a good CV, or you are not meticulous enough to do a thorough check of your work. It gives an early bad impression to the hirer. 

A CV is your calling card and the introduction of yourself to a stranger. Please arrange your details in a structured and ascending historical way so that it is easy for the hirer to read and review your application. Usually, the hirer would receive hundreds or even thousands applications a day and their attention is not long. You need to capture their attention within the first page itself for you to get higher chances of being considered for an interview.

• Do Your Homework 

Please have the courtesy to do some research about the company you are applying to. It will make you look bad and unprepared if you are unable to answer basic things about the company. Making a prior background check demonstrates your eagerness to be part of the company and gives the impression that you are serious about getting the job. 

However, some multinational companies might have a different approach, like my interview with SHELL IT back in 2006, whereby it was them who took 30-minutes to explain about their company and the salary package that I am getting should I join them. It was a different experience altogether because you were treated like the company was the one who needed you, and not the other way around.

• Dress for Success 

No harm dressing the best for your interview session. It does matter how the first impression when the interviewer sees you walking into the room. Be aware of your attire, a corporate shirt with a tie, but wearing a sports shoe or sneakers would be a ‘No’. Putting on a tie with floral patterns is also a turn off and not appropriate for corporate culture.

Best Attitude for The Interview Day

This is because many companies do not like people ‘flooding’ their reception area. They might think that you have no respect for time. This rule only applies for scheduled interviews. For an open interview, crowds are something normal and have already been anticipated.

Therefore, if they ask you to come at 3.00pm, please don’t come at 2.00pm. You must understand that the company has made the necessary arrangements to ensure a smooth interview process. That is why only a certain number of candidates are entertained at a certain allocated session. By coming too early, you are becoming a liability to them and an ‘eye sore’ at the reception area. Respect the time unless you are instructed by them to be 1 hour early. If not, then 30 minutes would be just nice. 

• Don’t Worry So Much About Your English 

Yes, the employer is not hiring an English teacher, so don’t worry so much about your English. What the employer is looking for is the way you express your mind, convey your thoughts, construct your argument as convincing as possible and how mature you are in responding to their questions. This is what most Malay candidates lack. 

Usually, some Malay candidates took quite some time in answering because in their heads they are trying to translate their thoughts into English. They are also trying to get the best English words for that matter. It is quite normal since they are not using English for daily conversations.

It is not so much about how candidates failed to provide excellent ideas, but the time taken to convey the message would be the main issue. The delay in responding to questions will give the impression to the interviewer that you are not confident enough or hesitated to answer. You may have plenty of bright ideas and top-class arguments but if you are wasting time looking for the right words, then it would become a disadvantage to you.

• Be Prepared for IQ and Arithmetic Test 

Some companies, mostly Banks and Manufacturing, like to set an IQ test for the candidates. Don’t worry, it is not for them to evaluate how smart you are but more to assess how you are doing under pressure.

• They want to assess the way you handle pressure – How many questions you can answer correctly in a limited time frame and in that stressful environment.
• They want to assess what kind of worker you will become – Are you carelessly trying to answer all questions but failing in most questions in the attempt to do that? Honestly speaking, no one ever managed to finish all the 100 questions in 1 hour or half an hour, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Answer the questions carefully but quickly. The number of questions does not count but the number of the correct ones will be your benchmark.
• They want to quickly eliminate the non-potential workers – It is quite fair considering the number of candidates that turned up for the interview which is usually very high. This IQ and Arithmetic Test would be the qualifying round for you to advance to the next stage.

Some Tips from My Experience

I have gone through quite a lot of interviews and tests. Some of the things that I am sharing may still be in practice and some may not. Therefore, just read through the following for your knowledge:

1. Number Crunching Test

I went for an interview back in 2002 in one of the Japanese electrical manufacturing companies. As for the test, every candidate was given 1 sheet of paper containing simple numbers 1 to 9. There were 50 numbers in each row and there were 100 rows.

The instruction was very simple: add the 2 numbers side by side, but only write down a single number (1+2 = 3 write down 3, if 9+8 = 17, just write down 7). The exam was timed, and for every row they gave 30 seconds only. When the 30 seconds time was up, they would shout “NEXT!” to answer the next line.

Interestingly enough, candidates were very eager to answer at the beginning and started to slow down as the test progressed to the 30th or 40th row. Mainly it’s because your hands are already tired and you can no longer think straight.

At the end of the exam, what the HR people did in front of us was that he took a marker pen and started to link the lines (last answered in row 1 down to row 100). Eureka! As for those who already slowed down halfway, they would surely get a declining graph. Interesting, isn’t it?

As for myself, I managed to score because my Business Math lecturer back at the University, Prof. Razak (thanks dear Prof) had already shared during his lecture on how to tackle this kind of test. What you must do is, 1) start slow, take your time 2) then only start answering aggressively towards the end. The philosophy behind it was:

• People are expected to perform better (improve) when doing repetitive/routine work (answering rows 1 to 100 requires the same method of calculation).
• People is expected to maintain a good performance as time progresses (if you show declining traits, it gives the impression whether you are a quitter or easily lose motivation)
• It is normal for people to get very enthusiastic during the early days of employment, and start losing momentum as they progress. This was shown by the candidates aggressively answering the questions at the beginning and slowed down towards the end.

2. Cue Card Role Play

This one was an interview with a multinational shipping company. There were 3 levels, 1) You must pass the written test, 2) You must pass the cue card role play, 3) Then only comes a formal interview.

What I wanted to highlight is the cue card role play. You are given 1 situation, then you must act (role play) to handle the issue. If you succeeded with the first card (first scenario), a second card would be given with more challenging problems. However, you would still need to maintain your role.

In my scenario, I was a Factory Manager of a chemical company. People around the area started getting sick and they blamed my factory for causing the problem. My factory had all the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) in place, and we did not dispose of any harmful material into the drain.

Card 1: Villagers send their representative to talk to me and demand my company to pay for all their medical expenses.

Card 2: The “green peace” came rallied in front of my factory. They did not want to move until I met their representative. All of them blocked any vehicle from entering the building by laying down on the road.

Card 3: The Y.B. (State lawmaker) interfered and came with the Director of the State Health Department. They threatened to close my factory for a week and carried out an investigation.

Card 4: A disgruntled employee of my factory was sacked for a disciplinary problem. As revenge, he made up stories that my factory was polluting the drain with harmful material. The media is now covering the story.

Well, to simply put it, you need to defend your company at all costs! In fact, it was not like your company was involved in any illegal operation or anything. This was created more towards ‘crisis management’ and how you were handling external stakeholders.

My tips on this are not to just sit there and defend bluntly. Try to create something that was not mentioned in the cards i.e., your company had already gotten the approval from the Department of Environment or in compliance with the Environmental Quality Act 1972. Be creative, there is no right or wrong answer.

After they were convinced with you, then only the formal interview (Level 3) would begin. This cue card was fun though, looking at the interviewer’s face when you refute their facts with made up facts which are not mentioned anywhere in the cards.