Well… two days have passed since I last made an entry and what a eventful couple of days it has been: three interviews and three phone calls that had given me an absolute dose of "hot tea or ice tea sir?" experiences.
First the interview (1) at Acc***ture was terrifying. Mr. Lim, if you are reading this, let me now admit to you that I was incredibly intimidated. Although I thought that I was confident enough, you destroyed any optimism I had. I’m not saying that you are not a nice person; I’m just saying that it was a tough interview and because I couldn’t get any positive reaction from you, it seems like everything that I said was rubbish. I was so relieved when you said it was over.
The second interview (2) that day was at S**tchi & S**tchi, a major global advertising firm. It was the most screwed up conversation I ever had. To June and David who were nice enough to invite me over for a discussion, I’m sorry that I did not live up to expectations. I simply wasn’t prepared enough. The past 2 months, I have been preparing cases, doing mathematics and verbal tests, practising my replies to standard interview questions from business leaders… but it was of zero benefit when I was asked the "oh-my-god-it’s-such-a-easy-one" question of "What was your favorite advert and why?" I can’t believe that I even screwed that one up. So, thank you for the opportunity; I really appreciated it and I guess I simply wasn’t good enough.
And then I got a call (1) from Acc***ture on the same day where the HR-in-charge (whom I was acquainted with for about 2 months) told me that the company is offering me the role of an analyst in their SAP group, a role that Zhiqin is currently engaged in. It was one of the most stressful news I can receive, albeit being good news. I had to indicate my acceptance of employment within 5 days, which is next Wednesday. What should I do???
What about L.*.K. Consulting, the company which I really wanted to join, my first priority and career choice? It was more than 2 weeks since they last interviewed me and there was still no news. However, I could do nothing as it was way past office hours and I still had to prepare for the next day’s interview at General El**tric.
So my third interview (3) was at GE as a candidate for its FM programme, a prestigious worldwide programme that grooms its talents into future financial leaders in the company and industry. Was I a finance major? No, but I do have interest in the area. So what happened? Well, the case discussion went well; the interview didn’t. I made a huge mistake by being honest and telling them why I did not return to the bank where I did my Final Year Project with for a permanent position. It was a horrifying career-destroying statement. And when I move on to the stage where we had to do an accounting test, I couldn’t do it. Everyone was delighted at how easy it was; well, it wasn’t easy to me. I guess I learnt two things today. One, the programme is not a finance programme but an accounting one. Two, I sucked at accounting. Hopefully, they would be looking at a FIT of a combination of perseverance, passion, personality and technical abilities. I pray hard that they would. I’m not too sure that I personally would hire someone who couldn’t even balance a simple Balance Sheet accurately though.
So there’s just two more calls (2) that I have not described yet and one is the call I made to L.*.K. Consulting after the interview at GE today. I asked Guna, the recruiting coordinator, about my application and indicated that I had another offer but would turn it down instantly if they would take me. And he said, "In your interviews, we have some positive feedback about you, so give me until Monday to look through all the candidates before we give you an answer".
The other call was made to me by Price*****houseCoopers where I submitted an application for the position of an Associate for the International Assignment Services. I’m not really sure what the job scope entails but I’ll keep the opportunity, just in case. I think it’s quite obvious how badly I want to move away from doing technology work, even though it could be the highest paying offer I will receive.
Sigh… Man, I hope Monday would be a good day for me. L.*.K., rescue me please!
