Finally I have submitted my entries to Project Pink, after a long time of procrastination! I really must kick this bad habit to procrastinate! I have been saying I want to kick the procrastination habit for years, but I keep putting if off. :-p
The articles come from some of my earlier entries, with re-editing and additions, plus a few that I have never posted in my blog. And because Project Pink is going to be fully anonymous, as and when my entries do get published, no one will know which ones are the ones I contributed.
This has been a real busy week, with a couple of closing deals, and more for next week. I took the day off on Wednesday due to my interviews.
The one I went to at the telecommunications company does not seem promising since they prefer someone who has engineering technical knowledge, which makes me wonder why they shortlisted me in the first place since I have not indicated I have technical background.
The one I went to for the hotel and spa management company was better. The one interviewing me is the Assistant Legal Counsel, and he seems like a jolly chap. We chatted about the job scope (very interesting job scope!), and normal interview questions.
Then today, they called me back for a second interview. I was ecstatic of course, as I thought I stood a chance. The second interview was by the Human Resource Executive and the same Assistant Legal Counsel.
Before that, the Human Resource Executive emailed me an application form, asking me to fill in, and attach it with a passport-size photograph together with all my educational certificates.
This time, the Human Resource Executive spoke to me, and asked me questions on why I think I would be a contribution, what my career goals are like, what my strengths and weaknesses are and what I expect out of the company.
I told him I am used to working under stress, can multi-task pretty well, am meticulous, have experience dealing with heavy documentation work. I am focused on what I want to do, and will go all out to achieve and try my best at whatever task I am given.
I can get along with people well. I have learnt to deal with different types of people along the way. I will take the initiative to help out when others are in need, I have been doing filing and organizing so am adept at administration support as well as assisting in legal drafting and correspondence.
However, I can be a pushover, I do not know how to say no to others. So even if I am swarmed with work, I will still accept more work, until it comes to a time when I can get totally burnt out. But now I am learning to say no, to have better time management, and if I really cannot, I will politely decline and request the thing to be done at a later stage.
My career goals? Hopefully within five years, I will learn enough to be able to climb up to a leadership or managerial role, and train others or to head a team. I believe I can have better career development and learning opportunities in the company.
Then the Human Resource Executive brought out a piece of paper filled with Chinese words, and asked me to read the first paragraph out aloud. That was the horrifying part. I am alright with reading and writing Chinese, but ask me to speak, and everyone will laugh.
Besides, I have not read aloud any Chinese characters ever since I left school. So although I managed to recognize almost every word, my reading was so hesitant, and full of the wrong intonations (like saying the third intonation instead of the first and so on). I hope the interviewers were not laughing at me in their hearts!
After the reading, they asked me what that particular paragraph was about. That I could answer, at least I managed to understand enough to get a gist of the paragraph. Even though I did not translate word for word, I managed to summarise what the text was about.
The final question was if they were to offer me the job immediately, how keen am I on a scale of one to ten? I answered nine. With that, they thanked me and said would keep me posted soon. I wonder just how well I answered? For all I know, I could have sabotaged my own chances by not answering properly.
A few hours after the interview, my job agent called me and said the Human Resource Executive is pleased with my attitude and personality, so they are keen on me. However, I need to give them two references on the first two law firms I worked in, even though I provided references to them from my teaching job and my latest job.
It is hard actually, since the first law firm I worked in, the person I worked most closely with had already left the firm. The second law firm I was in, some of the staff had left too. Besides, it had been some time ago. I doubt if they could still remember me even if I gave references.
So I explained to my job agent and she said she would let the company know. A while later, she called me again, asking me if I would be interested in another position in another company.
When I asked her what happened to the company I went to interview for, she said they have not gotten back to her. However they did not say anything about rejecting me upfront.
So now I wonder, do I stand a chance? I was looking forward to working in this company. And if they do hire me, I will be really happy and proud of myself! I really wish they can get back to me soon!
The articles come from some of my earlier entries, with re-editing and additions, plus a few that I have never posted in my blog. And because Project Pink is going to be fully anonymous, as and when my entries do get published, no one will know which ones are the ones I contributed.
This has been a real busy week, with a couple of closing deals, and more for next week. I took the day off on Wednesday due to my interviews.
The one I went to at the telecommunications company does not seem promising since they prefer someone who has engineering technical knowledge, which makes me wonder why they shortlisted me in the first place since I have not indicated I have technical background.
The one I went to for the hotel and spa management company was better. The one interviewing me is the Assistant Legal Counsel, and he seems like a jolly chap. We chatted about the job scope (very interesting job scope!), and normal interview questions.
Then today, they called me back for a second interview. I was ecstatic of course, as I thought I stood a chance. The second interview was by the Human Resource Executive and the same Assistant Legal Counsel.
Before that, the Human Resource Executive emailed me an application form, asking me to fill in, and attach it with a passport-size photograph together with all my educational certificates.
This time, the Human Resource Executive spoke to me, and asked me questions on why I think I would be a contribution, what my career goals are like, what my strengths and weaknesses are and what I expect out of the company.
I told him I am used to working under stress, can multi-task pretty well, am meticulous, have experience dealing with heavy documentation work. I am focused on what I want to do, and will go all out to achieve and try my best at whatever task I am given.
I can get along with people well. I have learnt to deal with different types of people along the way. I will take the initiative to help out when others are in need, I have been doing filing and organizing so am adept at administration support as well as assisting in legal drafting and correspondence.
However, I can be a pushover, I do not know how to say no to others. So even if I am swarmed with work, I will still accept more work, until it comes to a time when I can get totally burnt out. But now I am learning to say no, to have better time management, and if I really cannot, I will politely decline and request the thing to be done at a later stage.
My career goals? Hopefully within five years, I will learn enough to be able to climb up to a leadership or managerial role, and train others or to head a team. I believe I can have better career development and learning opportunities in the company.
Then the Human Resource Executive brought out a piece of paper filled with Chinese words, and asked me to read the first paragraph out aloud. That was the horrifying part. I am alright with reading and writing Chinese, but ask me to speak, and everyone will laugh.
Besides, I have not read aloud any Chinese characters ever since I left school. So although I managed to recognize almost every word, my reading was so hesitant, and full of the wrong intonations (like saying the third intonation instead of the first and so on). I hope the interviewers were not laughing at me in their hearts!
After the reading, they asked me what that particular paragraph was about. That I could answer, at least I managed to understand enough to get a gist of the paragraph. Even though I did not translate word for word, I managed to summarise what the text was about.
The final question was if they were to offer me the job immediately, how keen am I on a scale of one to ten? I answered nine. With that, they thanked me and said would keep me posted soon. I wonder just how well I answered? For all I know, I could have sabotaged my own chances by not answering properly.
A few hours after the interview, my job agent called me and said the Human Resource Executive is pleased with my attitude and personality, so they are keen on me. However, I need to give them two references on the first two law firms I worked in, even though I provided references to them from my teaching job and my latest job.
It is hard actually, since the first law firm I worked in, the person I worked most closely with had already left the firm. The second law firm I was in, some of the staff had left too. Besides, it had been some time ago. I doubt if they could still remember me even if I gave references.
So I explained to my job agent and she said she would let the company know. A while later, she called me again, asking me if I would be interested in another position in another company.
When I asked her what happened to the company I went to interview for, she said they have not gotten back to her. However they did not say anything about rejecting me upfront.
So now I wonder, do I stand a chance? I was looking forward to working in this company. And if they do hire me, I will be really happy and proud of myself! I really wish they can get back to me soon!
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