It's been a while since I last wrote... I was pretty busy preparing for a job interview.
I've been working in a semiconductor company for 5 years already, and I think it's about time I made a move towards career advancement. Singapore is a good place to start. It's home to a lot of semiconductor companies.
So far, I've been interviewed twice. On both of them, I didn't get the job! I'm not ashamed to tell this to the whole world. I may have failed twice, but I did learn a lot from those interviews.
I got those blunders in those two tries because I did not know anything much about interviews yet. I may have a 5-year work experience, but I got the job straight out of college. I was a scholar back in my college days, and part of the agreement was to work for the company that gave me the scholarship right after graduation. While my classmates were busy preparing their resumes for job interviews, I was already working, because I was already assured of a job. Now I realized this may have backfired a bit. Now, after years of working, I found out that I'm a real novice with regards to interviews --- totally no knowledge at all! After flunking my first two interviews, I thought it would be better to share my experience, especially for people like me who are aiming to find work in Singapore.
Here are three important things that I've learned.
1. PREPARE FOR THE INTERVIEW!!!
- Interviewers usually give out the same questions. Prepare how to answer these. The first question in both my interviews was, "Tell me something about yourself." Formulate a good answer to this before the actual day of the interview. Remember that this is your chance to give a good first impression to the interviewer. So smile, look confident and tell them something about WHAT YOU DO. Yes, you've read it right. Tell them WHAT YOU DO. They may be asking some background about your self, but they're not really concerned about this. Here's one thing I've noticed with Singaporean interviewers. They are not interested in knowing where you completed your course, or if you graduated with honors or not. They want to know how you can fill in the position that they need. So talk little about your personal background (education, hobbies, strengths) etc. Instead, highlight your work performance. Give them short but precise examples that can depict what you are really doing. There are a lot of other common interview questions. You can find them if you do a Google search. Just be prepared to answer any of those.
2. THE INTERVIEWERS MAY SOUND RUDE, SO BE VERY POLITE. IF YOU ASK A QUESTION, BE CHOOSY WITH THE WORDS THAT YOU'LL BE USING.
- It is usual for interviewers to look tough and to sound rude. It's probably their way of checking if you can handle pressure, and if you have what it takes.
My first interview only lasted a few minutes. This was because my interviewer got mad at me and didn't want to proceed anymore. He just asked my these two questions: 1. "Can you tell me about yourself?" and 2. "What do you do?". And after that, I said goodbye to my chance of landing a job with that company.
I missed his second question. He asked about what I was doing. So I was giving him general descriptions about my job. But then he didn't want my answers. I expounded more. He still didn't like it. Then I made my first mistake. I asked him this in a nice way, "Can you explain to me more your question, or probably give me an example, so that I can be able to answer you better?" I read from a job interview website that I should be showing confidence. So that I did. I asked the interviewer a question. But... I didn't realize that by doing so, I was killing my chances of getting my dream job! The interviewer got mad after I asked him this! He said I had an attitude problem, and that I was talking back to him. But of course not! My intentions were good. I just wished to clarify things because I wanted to satisfy him with my answers... but it didn't turn out that way.
So be very careful about your words if you ask questions. In my second interview, I had a similar scenario. I was asked a question which sounded vague to me. I'll tell you now how I averted a possible "PART II" of my previous mistake:
1. First, I asked him politely if it was okay for him if I asked him a question. He said "NO!!!"
2. With that, I knew I shouldn't be asking him to elaborate his question, no matter how good my intentions are.
3. So I just told him that I was going to answer his question as to how I've understood it. I gave him an answer.
4. It seemed he didn't like what I told him, so obviously, I had interpreted his question wrongly.
5. He then explained to me more what he really wanted to know.
With this, I was able to get what I want. I was able to let him expound on his question without me asking him directly. Who knows what interview disaster would have happened again if I had made the same mistake!
3. PREPARE FOR A TECHNICAL INTERVIEW.
- On my second interview, the questions were pretty technical. I answered some, but there was one which I didn't. It cost me that position. The interviewer wasn't impressed. So before that big day, make sure you have loaded yourself with technical knowledge about your work. Review if you had already forgot the basics. Remember, you will be assessed with what is inside your head.
