anticipated interview

Finally....the call i've been waiting for.... interview call from BAT ( British American Tobacco (M) Berhad)!!!!!

But before that, I got an invitation call for interview from Citibank as well. So, I didn't really see it coming... both were my most anticipated interviews. For BAT's application, I've been wondering what happened to that application of mine after for that long time of period and didn't expect to receive the call at the late evening yesterday. Thought it was just an invitation call for interview.

Jeng jeng jeng...an impromptu phone interview! 0.o

Ok, I wasn't really ready for it (i mean i've read through the company profile a month ago after my application) but heck.. I was excited and glad to receive the call. Did my best to answer the questions and the next thing I know, Nesh (from the HR Division) invited me for the second stage of interview which was this morning.

Glad to know that my housemate is going for the next interview too!!! :)

Ok, so first when we got there we have to wait at the guard's house. After sitting there for a few minutes, the place was slowly filled with other candidates. I must say all the candidates were like...WAHHHHH! (in mandarin, li hai lor).

We even had our own ice-breaking session with everyone starting to shake hands with the rest and getting familiar with the names and faces...hehehehe. At least, the atmosphere was not that tense and awkward lor..

Finally after filling up the registration form to enter the building, we headed straight to the meeting room.

"Ok.. why are we in the meeting room just for the paper tests?? thought there would be 20-30 people sitting in a so-called 'exam hall' for the tests???...'' on and on i was having this monologue of mine and i can see all of us were rather curious too.

Then, Nesh came in and welcomed the 10 of us. Without wasting much time, we had the first paper on numerical test... next was (sort of) english comprehension. The most challenging part was to get it all done within the allocated time. Seriously, I don't think we all have enough of time for it. Tough questions too.

So here's the lowdown, for those who had went for Petronas's screening test or other major companies, I'm sure you know what kind of paper tests i was talking about. For the last screening test I attended for Petronas, I didn't even make it to the next level. *whacks head* #_#

After completing the two papers, we were told that only those who pass for both papers could proceed to the next round for another paper test. HmMm...

Only then we had our ice-breaking session with Nesh and a brief Q & A session regarding the post and company. I'm really really impress with all of the candidates. Everyone has a very good background and portfolio.

Most of us are currently employed though...so it's expected, they have more experience than me. But there's this one lovely girl, Azza (not sure of the spelling though) who just came back from overseas, it's in fact her first ever job interview. However, she's pretty impressive on our brief debate session.

I must say my brief working experience with JTM does equip me well with the situation. So, I'm glad with the exposure (which is nothing compare to the rest though ) to boost my confidence.

Oh yeah, met a Mirian too during the interview. Very very rare coincidence. Salute to him though, Danny is a very very awesome guy. I was mind blown by his experience and personality...*thumbs up*

By the way, how naive I was about BAT. Seriously, most of the candidates know or heard of BAT before. I never came across to know about it until I read it on jobstreet. I mean BAT organizes one of the great party in town...and the benefits of working with this company is tremendously beyond my imagination.

BAT offers good range of salary for the first year and increment yearly.. surprise to know one of the benefits though... haha..beneficial to the smokers i guess. But not gonna tell you here..:p

But seriously when Nesh notify us about the remunerations, my jaw dropped (ok fine, it was just a hyperbolical expression :p)

Then, came the most agony moment of waiting for the result in this very very cold meeting room...we were all restless and wondering what the result could be.
I was shivering..No joke.

Shivering = cold surrounding + nervousness. AH!

Well, the room was filled with our noisy conversation between you and me across the table...between she and him across the other side...everyone was engaging in the conversations. But then there's the dead silence moment too...

I guess we were all immersed in our own thoughts and mixed feelings. Wondering what happened next.

" As if we were in this Apprentice or The Firm reality show plak.." one of the candidate suddenly blurted out...hahaha..agree!

Later, Nesh joined us in the meeting room only to inform us that he's gonna call us one by one to notify if we were qualified for the next paper. One by one leaving the meeting room without coming back.

For those including me who were still in the meeting room was wondering if he/she gonna come in back ...I was the last one to be called out....

Sad to say that I didn't make it to the next paper, together with all of the girls. All three of the male candidates made it to the next paper test. I admit I didn't do well and was running out of time to complete each paper.

However, it was a good experience for me to attend the interview in BAT. Out of 111 of the applicants, only 11 of us were selected for the interview. But I wish i could have done it much much better!!!

FYI, BAT has established over 90 years in Malaysia. Although, it's a controversial industry but in understanding the core principles of their operating system, BAT is actually deepening their understanding of what is expected and to define the demonstrating responsible behaviour.

Also, BAT rank amongst the top companies on Bursa Malaysia and continue to demonstrate strong performance, winning accolades in 2006 such as:

Best Managed Company
•Best Corporate Governance
•Best Commitment to Strong Dividend Payment

Now, better concentrate on my preparation for Citibank's interview.

p/s: by the way, check out David Archuleta's new single, Crush.

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