MARA Program Ijazah Luar Negara 2012

Assalamualaikum;)

Sorry for this late entry. I wanted to post it yesterday, but I was so tired out and too busy Skyping with Nazran, reading Detective Conan online and talking to a few friends that I pushed this aside.

Okay, I know the PILN interviews for this year (2012) are done (I think), as it started a few days ago. But never mind, just is just for memory’s sake, plus next year’s batch might find it useful as they prepare for their interviews later on. And perhaps it would help some people who are still preparing for interviews, not only for MARA, but any other interviews.

So. On to yesterday’s interview. I kinda woke up late (well, does 8:30am sounds late to you?) ’cause I slept quite late. I was too busy Skyping, editing my blog and talking to WMA to go to sleep. I got ready, printed out my offer slip, showered, ate breakfast, and by 9:30am, I was in the car with Dad, on our way to Bangi.

Reached PKTM Bangi at about 10:20am. Straight away called Uyaq, and met up with the rest of the Eldaterra people. Talked to Famas, Skeen and Uyaq while waiting for our turn to register. Helped them prepare some answers. While we were preparing, Yuyou came and join us. :DD

10:35am. Registration time. Went to the table for Panel 5 and quickly registered myself. Got my number tag – E3. Caught up with Uyaq and Yuyou, wished them luck, hugged Skeen and Famas as their turns were after us. Tried to call Firas to meet him to say good luck, but he already went up to his designated room, so never mind.

I made my way to the place where I should be going and met my groupmates. There were 7 of us, 4 girls and 3 boys. There was Haziq from BJ, Safwan from SEPINTAR, Afiq from MRSM (couldn’t remember which one), Tasha from SMK Datuk Bahama, Nabihah from SMSS and Hanah from Kelantan (yes, all the way from the north) [oh, booyeah, I remembered all their names!]

As we were doing ice-breaking outside, the people from inside came out. That time all of us were like, “OMG OMG we’re up next.” I was trying to calm myself down when someone called my name. “Eh, Syaza?” I looked towards the voice and couldn’t hide my surprise. “Eh, DILAAAAAAA!” Hehehe. My ex-dormmate from SSP :’) Huhu.

One or two minutes after that, we were called into the interview room. There were eight tables set the middle of the room, with three interviewers. We took our respective seats according to our number and said Basmallah.

There were four sheets of pink papers on the table. I shared the paper with Afiq who was sitting on my left. Our case study was about a university facing economic downturn. So, the Board of Directors of the University wants to cut down the costs in these three options :

a) Students – Increase fee structure / No free lab access
b) Professors – Trench all the professors who are at the end of their service / Force those who stay to multitask
c) Management – Trench all contract and part-time workers

For each option, we should discuss / debate to answer the task, which was to justify why these should not be implemented for your group.

Afiq, Nabihah & I decided to do Professors, Safwan & Hanah chose Students, and Haziq & Tasha picked Management. So we discussed in our small groups for about fifteen to twenty minutes before getting together and pitching in our ideas.

After discussing through everything, the interviewer told us to stop and asked one of us to give the conclusion of our discussion. I was about to volunteer myself when they called Tasha to speak, ’cause I think she was one of the quietest among us during the discussion. So she talked through our conclusions, with some of us adding in a little bit of information here and there.

After that, it was time for the Q&A session. Out of the seven of us, only 3 were questioned. There were Haziq, Hanah & Tasha. Haziq’s question was, “Do you think the discussion was a good one? If we give you more time, what would you improve on?” (something along that line) Meanwhile, Hanah got “In your group, who do you think is the leader? Why?” and Tasha’s “How do you think a good leader should be? Do you think a leader should always be the talkative one?“

The last question made me feel like laughing, ’cause the interviewer was referring to me. But never mind about that, I’m trying not to think about that. 😛 We finished our interview at about 12, so we took a group picture before going back home. I went back straight to Shah Alam to attend my cousin’s wedding, and arrive just in time as the bride and groom were walking into the hall. But this one will be in another post, insyaAllah.

Okay. So. For those who would be going for the interview next year, or any other interviews at any time of the year, here’ some tips that you might or might not find useful.

1. Be CONFIDENT. Even if you suck at English, just try your best and have faith in yourself. Just show that you have the confidence to speak in English.
2. CONTRIBUTE. Give ideas, and TALK. Even though the ideas and suggestions that you have might be small ones, just share them with your groupmates. Every little idea count, and get yourself involved with the discussion. The interviewers want to see how active you are, your contributions to the discussions and everything else.
3. LEAD, but don’t CONTROL. Yes, there is a difference between leading the discussion and controlling the discussion. Be the one who get everyone involved. If you see someone who’s not talking much, ask them questions. Get their opinions. Try to get everyone involved in the discussion.
4. Be POLITE. Respect other people’s views and opinions. Accept their perspective on the topic, but if you don’t agree much, don’t just go and say, “No. I think that’s wrong.” Instead, just say “Okay, I agree, but it would be better if….”
5. Greet the interviewers before and after starting the discussion. Look at them, do eye-contact, and answer their questions with a clear and loud voice.
6. Be PREPARED. The questions might or might not be relevant to your choice of course, so just be prepared. It can be some random question out of the blue, or it could be the same as the previous interview sessions.
7. ANSWER the question – Read it properly and answer it. If the question asked you to JUSTIFY THE REASONS WHY THE OPTIONS SHOULD NOT BE IMPLEMENTED, then answer it. You’re supposed to DEFEND yourself (in this case, your group), not discuss ways to reduce the cost or increase the revenue.