18 JUN 2019.
UPSI, Tanjung Malim, Perak.
0815 - 1300.
Interview for TESL.
1400 - 1600.
Ujian khas TESL.
Bismillah.
Assalamualaikum.
Hai.
D-DAY. 0700-ish from home. This time, my sis drives, her daughter ikut, my mom tak ikut, my sister also tag along (a year older, she was working on the day of my ujian MEDSi). All the way from home, kami kena layan karenah budak kecil baru bangun, belum mandi tapi sibuk nak ikut. Sesat, salah kampus. Jam dah pukul 0830-ish masa kami finally jumpa gate masuk kampus ke tempat interview. LATE, for the INTERVIEW. What a ‘smooth’ beginning. Dah jumpa the right block, kena rempuh lautan parents yang hadir memberi sokongan buat anak mereka. Jumpa tempat daftar, suruh my sisters pergi makan and mandikan si kecik tu dulu. Tanya sekeliling how do I proceed from there. Thankfully, diorang ramah dan sangat membantu. Hebat bakal-bakal guru ni. Time tu dah 0915-ish.
Beratur, quiet long. Sembang dengan candidates bilik sebelah. Dengar cerita dari bakal-bakal guru hebat. Lama jugak, baru dapat daftar. Dia semak fail, segala dokumen. Dia buat ujian buta warna sikit. Tak lama pun, dah selesai, dia pulang balik fail dengan bagi kertas yang ada butiran kita sikit untuk makluman penemu duga. Then, tunggu lagi sampai nama dipanggil. Sembang lagi. Dari pukul 1000-ish, sampai 1100-ish.
Satu session, lima calon. Dekat bilik lain, satu session ambil masa dalam half an hour. Tapi bilik kami, satu session sampai over one hour. Kami dah cuak. Tanya calon dah selesai, dia kata interviewer tanya soalan banyak. Laju kami yang masih menunggu giliran ni menaip di papan kekunci telefon pintar masing-masing, cari info semasa, nama menteri dsbg. Calon bilik lain semua dah selesai, calon sesi petang pun dah mula datang. Kami group paling last bagi sesi pagi. Kami masuk bilik tu dalam pukul 1240-ish. Interviewer tu kata since kami last, dia tak nak tanya banyak sebab dah almost 1300 and kami ada ujian khas lagi petang tu. So I’m gonna jump straight to the questions they asked me.
² Introduce yourself. Name, family, educational backgound, anything that can leave a good first impression of yourself. *Keep it short, don’t brag too much.*
² What about your extra-curicullar activity? Any competition, leadership or something you were a part of that contribute to some success.
² Why do you chose education program? Why TESL? It’s literally on you. Be honest, show that your enthusiasm. Don’t just say that someone forced you. Show a little excitement.
² Why do you chose UPSI? Talk as you are confident with your choice. Prove that you really mean business.
² Why do we need to accept you as a student? Again, stand your ground. Tell them your worth.
Then, comes the ‘general knowledge’ questions:
v Which state are you from again? Perak
v Who is the minister of Perak? Yang Berhormat Dato’ Ahmad Faizal Bin Dato’ Azumu
v If you can travel oversea, where would it be? Japan
v What is the capital of Japan? Tokyo
My session was cut short because we lack of time. The previous session had it tougher for them. Soalan untuk uji pengetahuan umum, nama-nama Menteri di Malaysia. Menteri kesihatan, pendidikan, and others. Soalan pendapat pasal isu semasa. Pendapat mengenai isu penggunaan bahasa melayu dan bahasa inggeris di sekolah-sekolah. These are some examples of questions. Those yang ambil TESL, were questioned and need to answer in English. Those yang ambil Arab, in Arab. Tapi boleh minta izin untuk berbahasa Melayu kalau tak fasih, only if interviewer tu izinkan.
So, my tips?
ü Be prepared. Pastikan dokumen semua cukup.
ü Be on your best. Wear the nicest outfits, put on the brightest smile, walk and talk confidently.
ü Study a little bit. Ambil tahu isu semasa, fakta tentang jurusan dan universiti yang dipilih.
ü Make some friends. Jangan jadi kera sumbang. Sembang dengan calon lain, boleh share maklumat and kurangkan rasa gugup.
ü Chill. Jangan overthink. Bila overthink, benda senang pun jadi susah. Take a deep breath, and yakin dengan diri. Interviewer tu tak makan orang, don’t worry.
ü Give a good first impression. Lagi gugup, lagi interviewer tu tanya macam-macam. Confident ja. Buktikan diri kita dah bersedia.
Nak cakap banyak pun tak boleh. Diri ni, malam sebelum hari interview tu baru kalut nak cari fail, susun dokueman, sijil. Dalam perjalanan dari rumah nak ke UPSI baru cari tips temuduga dekat blog-blog. XD Maka, get ready awal and good luck to you lots who’s going for an interview.
Till next time,
Stay peculiar, cause normal is boring.
