Ok. If you came across this post by chance, it might mean that you are currently in a similar situation as  I did. Or... you can simply be reading this for pleasure, either way works for you. First and foremost, CONGRATULATIONS IF YOU ALREADY GOT A CALL BACK! You did a great job for looking this up hahah.

PRE-INTERVIEW

28.9.2017 (THURS)

So going back, after my online submission for this Pinjaman Pelajaran Selangor, I received an SMS within 2 weeks. From the Setiausaha Kerajaan (SUK) people. It came in my message inbox smtg like 

My heart was pumping hard. The only thing my brain registered was "temuduga" so in my head I straight up thought... I'M IN!! BUT silly me. That text was only meant for applicants to check it for ourselves lol. #facepalm especially when I realised I needed to check their website AFTER I told my friends who were around me that I got through lol. I was still clueless for the next 12 hours before I can check my results, bcos I was out the entire freaking day and connection was real bad YAY.

Alhamdulillah when I finally did my semakan, it was such a relief to know that I GOT THROUGH FOR REAL!!

Fun fact: Wherever you may be studying in Msia, they'll come to you. Your place of interview will be determined by your current state that you're in. So takyah la ngada-ngada nak balik sangat. Unless if you left behind all those much needed documents (*cough* me *cough*), then go la balik huehue.

Let me just be direct and spoon feed ya'll in what you should at least know.

1. The name of Sultan Selangor. Full name, may I add.

D.Y.M.M Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Al-Haj

2. The name of his wife

D.Y.M.M Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin

3. The Raja Muda a.k.a his son

D.Y.T.M Tengku Amir Shah

4. The Menteri Besar

Y.A.B Dato' Seri Mohamed Azmin b. Ali

5. The districts in Selangor

Name all 9. Tip: Refer to the map for visual aid.

6. Benefits for rakyat

Previously known as Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor (MES) but now it's Inisiatif Peduli Rakyat (IPR). As of the time I'm typing this, there are up to IPR 17. Here's the link.

7. Your Naib Canselor's name

8. The name of current Agong

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V (ke-15)

9. Governing politician party

Pakatan Rakyat (PR)

10. General government updates

Refer websites like SelangorKini or IPR Selangor.

That's my 10 points, now onto my personal experience. The sort of questions that I faced.

Btw, everything was conducted using the Malay Language. However, you can somewhat use bahasa pasar, though it'll be best to try and minimize as it is a formal occurence.

I came pretty on-time (30 mins before 9am). There was already a namelist being displayed on the door, and I noticed that our name was listed according to our institutions. Apparently Universiti and Politeknik candidates undergoes different panel according to our namelists.

There was no one in-charge in the room when I arrived. But not long after, 2 lady officers came in and we were given our namelist to be passed around and were required to sign right by our names and to jot-down our sequence as we pass along. I was the 2nd candidate to sign on my particular list. Turns out I'm the 2nd person to go in. Wow.

Note: Make sure in your Borang Permohonan, you have your passport picture neatly pasted. Please never leave anything blank whenever you can. As a rule of thumb, ALWAYS KEEP AN EXTRA PICTURE IN YOUR WALLET/ PURSES! It'll save you in a lot of different urgent occasions, trust me.

I encountered some unpleasant start, when I intentionally didn't bring the complete documents. BCOS I particularly mailed my hardcopy of documents beforehand, such as my parents' paycheck and their ICs along with all the requirement that was being asked during online submission. Since I did so through the ADUN's office, we were told they'll send it directly to the SUK office for us. Therefore, my dad assured me that I don't need to bring another copy of the same things, as we literally handed in everything through my ADUN's office.

But the thing that made me pissed was that the lady there told me, "Nanti you pandai-pandai la settle sendiri dengan panel. Panel mesti tak suka". Then give me the 'tak ikhlas' look. Ugh, talk about working ethics.

I was just like, "Hm ok". Fine I settle sendiri la, my business anyway since I am well-aware of why I did what I did. No need to be all bici la. Then she told me to head out to the first panel. 

I can't tell how stupid the procedure was. Chaotic and terrible flow of pre-interview. Since I was the 2nd person, there was literally no other candidate I could reach out to ask. Being the clever and 2nd year me, I pretty much can agak where the suitable room would be. Thankfully, I bumped into a Mak cik who seemed to work there, then I asked where Panel 1 is. She brought me into this meeting room where they labeled Panel 1, 2, 3 all on the same long meeting table. 

She was Panel 2. Lol. 

I was the first to arrive... Where's the 1st candidate who went on before me?

Through all the kecoh-ness outside, I heard one of the officer's annoying tone directing the candidate where to go. It was the 1st candidate. And what I thought was a possible one-to-two interview turns out to be a one-to-one, and so I was kicked out. No kidding. The lady asked me, "Awak nombor brape?" "Dua" "Kenapa awak yang duduk?" while bringing in the lost 1st candidate. PADAHAL TADI SURUH GI KE PANEL 1. NOW LARANG PLAK ORANG MASUK. What is their problem?!?

I was so pissed. Ugh. Still annoyed thinking bout it. Ugh.

While waiting furiously, I dialed my dad to confirm again about all the confusing mailing process that we went through. We talked on the phone for about 2 mins or so, and not long after I hang up, the 1st candidate walked out. He's done. As I walked in and sat down, my dad rang me up again. Probably he thought of another thing to say. THAT WAS JUST HOW QUICK THE PREVIOUS CANDIDATE WAS. Like a blink of an eye.

I was welcomed in a very friendly manner. Compared to those 2 ladies outside, the interviewer who was a lady about my mother's age seemed to be very much nicer. She handed me (for what I've seen the 3rd time), my namelist and asked me to sign it, while I handed her my salinan of documents (ofcos beserta pengesahan from my Ketua Jabatan Fakulti) with the original.

Note: Just in case, get the cop pengesahan from your lecturers or whoever suited, and their signatures for all your photocopied documents even when they don't specifically ask for them.

IV: So awak dah berapa semester?

Me: Technically 3, tapi termasuk semester 0 so ada 4. Semester 0 tu khas untuk ambik subjek wajib.

IV: So sekarang CGPA awak 3.58. Bagus bagus. 

Me: (was awed la jugak walaupun apa la sangat CGPA gitu)

IV: Cerita sikit tentang latar belakang awak.

Me: (points mentioned: full name, siblings and course taken. I was blank on what else to say lol)

IV: Ibu bapa awak?

Me: Mak saya seorang pegawai Eksekutif manakala ayah saya merupakan seorang pemandu Grab.

IV: surprised Oh, menarik tu pemandu Grab.

Me: (I briefly talked about what he worked as before, and why he quit)

IV: Banyak juga dapat eh jadi Grab. (God knows where she knows but I assumed maybe my parents' paycheck IS with her after all, who knows?) Boleh awak bagitahu saya nama Sultan Selangor?

Me: *says the full name with title and ibni*

IV: Awak tahu Raja Muda siapa?

Me: Tahu. *says his name with title*

IV: Awak pernah dengar pasal IPR?

Me: Pernah.

IV: Apa yang awak tahu?

Me: Dulu dikenali dengan Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor dan sekarang ditukar nama kepada Insentif Peduli Rakyat.

IV: Contoh IPR tahu?

Me: *list 4 out of 17*

IV: Bagus juga awak tahu. Ramai yang saya tanya tak tahu pasal IPR. Mana awak tahu?

Me: IPR ada website sendiri. Kat situ ada tulis semua.

IV: Oh jadi memang awak ada buat research la.

Me: Haah. Dan kebetulan saya juga pengguna bas free tu, tu yang saya tahu hahah.

IV: Awak tahu ke pinjaman ni under siapa?

Me: (I lowkey wanna answer kerajaan Selangor lol) Uhh, Tabung Wang Selangor? (Cubaan menghentam sebab tak pasti)

IV: smirk Tak... tapi dekat dah tu, Tabung Kewangan Wang Biasiswa Negeri Selangor (TKWBNS). Kita bukan dari Yayasan Selangor ye, ramai yang salah faham. ((TAKE NOTE GUYS)) Awak ada dapat tak SMS untuk semakan haritu?

Me: Ada ada!

IV: Nanti dalam 2-3 minggu awak akan dapat lagi SMS untuk buat semakan lagi ye. Ok itu sahaja.

Me: Oh. (dalam hati, bapak cepat tu je dia nak tahu?!) Ok terima kasih.

SIDE NOTE: Hands off the table while being interviewed. I was being too confident that my hand naturally rested on top of the table until I realised I was the only one who did. The rest was very sopan, and the other candidates were all boys at that time lol. K buat malu perempuan je.

End. Everything mentioned was mostly what happened. I started the interview around 9.06am and left the place by 9.13am. Shortest interview I've ever been to.

I already excused myself from my morning class and even handed my letter of absentee but I still came in knowing they were all doing cabling. So sad I have never done it before while some of my friends have even done it few times. Apa la nasib budak IT tak pernah buat cabling huhuhu.

Stay tuned and read the outcome on my next posts!

Dropping by,

Melynn.