Know A Little About A Lot: Interview ~

Alhamdulillah, today is the forth day of Ramadhan. May Allah grants us more strength and taqwa so we can become a better Muslim once this Ramadhan comes to its end. Aameen :)

As part of my Ramadhan resolution, I think I would like to come with "Know A Little About A Lot" series in this blog. In this series, I would like to share anything that I believe will help much in our daily life, be it something that related to job applications, house core matters, financial planning, books that I have read, tazkirah, and many other things. I hope that this kind of sharing will not only help me in enhancing my writing skills, but as well as to promote any other blogs and articles that I believe worth reading.

The first time I saw this quote was when I read  Rich Dad, Poor Dad written by Robert T Kiyosaki. I heard about this book when one of my batch mates told me that he wants to finish reading this book while we were having chit chat through Gtalk. Impressed with the title, I googled about this book and luckily I found one in PDF format. And I would say, this book is a must read book, especially for those who are just started entering new phase of life; be it in relationship, working or pursuing your study. 

It has been almost six months I finished my study but yet, I am still at home. To be honest, I am so thankful for being unemployed until this moment, because by this time, I think I already find the hikmah of why I am still at home. :)) It is so true that whenever you put your trust in Allah, and let Him decides the best path to be taken in term of any HARUS matter, you will definitely find the sweetest fruit in the end of your searching.

Honestly, throughout my unemployment periods, I did got few offers but after a thorough considerations, I need to let it go. It's not a matter of being too selective or being too picky, but I believe, everyone have their own path to be taken and so do I. So here are the few tips during the interview based on my experience and I hope it do helps you guys :)

Client Companies (Oil & Gas)

Honestly, my target is to be an employee of a client company only, thinking of my long term as a future wife and mother. In Malaysia, the most popular client companies are Shell and Petronas, and I did went to both interviews. I would say that client companies have their own interview structure, and what I can conclude is, client companies do not care much about your technical abilities during the interview. They are more concern on your attitude, capacity to think, learn and enhancing your soft skills, decision making and how you communicate. The full story on how the interview is conducted can be read here; Shell & Petronas.

Consultant & Service Provider (Oil & Gas)

In this type of company, your technical skills and knowledge is really a BIG MATTER. Whenever you are being call for interview by this type of companies, make sure you have all the technical knowledge with you, and few common answer to HR questions that you can easily found by searching in Google. They are particular about the project that you have been involved in, the software applications that you know and mentioned in your CV, and do not forget your big projects such as your FYP and FYDP (applicable for Chemical Engineering students). Make sure you know the differences between their company and the major client companies, and also a little bit on their company background. Speak technically is more preferable as they are assessing your technical knowledge but still, you still need your soft skills to make the conversation a fruitful one. Be updated about their current status such as the contract that they have got and how you can be a valuable asset to them.

If you get the interview from offshore based company, such as Schlumburger and Murphy Oil, you will need to attend few stage interview. I would say it's quite tough (based on my friends' stories) and I do got a few, but I just declined it without try to attend since I know that I have no passion at all in this type of business nature.

Manufacturing Based Company

Manufacturing based company do not stress too much on your technical skills, but it still there. Usually this type of company requires hard work, I mean less work-life balance as they need to always maintain the demand of their product. I would say that based on my experience, being frank during the interview is the key in winning the heart of the interviewers in this type of industry. Do not pretend that you are the angels or jack in all trades, as you will be trapped easily especially if you do not have much idea on what they products are. The interviewers in this type of company also tends to arrange a last minute interview; they even call or email you during weekends and out of office hours.

Other Types of Companies

I only got one interview opportunity outside of engineering based company and it's kinds difficult for me to make any conclusion. Since I also did not get the offer, I would say that this out of engineering world company is totally depending on your passion and your willingness to work.  

I really hope this first series of "Know A Little About A Lot" will help you in any way, and I hope Allah will grants me the strength to continuously writing through this series. :))

Salam Ramadhan Al-Mubarak, lets be productive!

Google Image

~berdoa dan terus mengharapkan redha Illahi...~