GIC Interview: TJC Higher Education Blog

hey all you scholar and freshman wannabes (like me),

do visit the TJC higher education blog and share your experiences applying for scholarships and universities and at interviews! Visit http://tjchighed.tumblr.com/

Here's my first post:

Hi there,
Season’s greetings!

Since Yan Liang had meant for this blog to be a medium in which we can share experiences and material with regards to careers, higher education and scholarships, I’d start by sharing a little about the GIC scholarship interview (first interview) I had earlier this month. Surely you have read a lot about scholarships and scholarship interviews, including Sean’s write up on his experience acquiring the GIC scholarship, and I hope that speaking from my perspective (one of a less experienced, just-graduated JC2) would be insightful too.

I started my day with coffee at Starbucks on the first floor of Capital Tower, before heading for GIC’s office on the 37th floor. I was there 30 minutes early and got to meet and chat with the 4 other interviewees while waiting to be sent to the 48th floor for the interview. By the way, the receptionist is really nice, so we should all remember her name!

OKAY, NOW TO THE INTERVIEW. I feel that what the interviewer wanted to know was the true me. This might seem apparent, but I think that interviewees (including myself) tend to sound too prepared (or worse, rehearsed) sometimes without realizing. Don’t get me wrong, preparation is good – the more the merrier in fact – but it’s important to sound like you’re thinking and not go off like a machine gun. I guess convoluted and rehearsed could well be the opposite of sincere and truthful.

About the questions, there were many during my interview – 24, to be exact. They ranged from my CCAs to academics (strengths and weaknesses, but more of the latter) to knowledge of the financial markets and “why GIC?”. What would really help, I feel, is a deep understanding of yourself so that you can sell yourself and match your values/attributes to the needs of the organization. Knowledge of the financial markets is also important, I believe, in showing your interest in the field of fund management – something which, I observed, they are looking out for. After all, all the candidates are probably as capable as each other and a burning and sincere interest would be one thing that makes you extra special.

You might be wondering about the length of the interview (I was). From what I know from asking/observing 4 different people, theirs lasted between 15 to 30 minutes. That’s just to give you a taste of what’s coming; duration probably depends on a myriad of factors and in itself doesn’t imply much. My interview lasted 35-40 minutes.

Another thing about the questions I learnt that probably applies to all interviews. In attempting to know you better, the interviewer would ask you questions regarding a broad range of topics. By saying that I mean that once you have displayed a strength or competency in a certain area, he/she would probably divert the topic of the interview to something else. Which makes sense – if you want to know more about someone and have already found out about his strong points, why keep asking him about those strong points? For instance, if they know you’ve been getting 100th percentile for Economics since you were 9 and that you won 10 math Olympiads, they’d probably be satisfied with your intellectual capacity and change the topic to, say, “do you consider yourself as having many friends?”, “do you consider yourself as arrogant?”, “Chinese is something that you just can’t do well in isn’t it?” or “are you a perfectionist?” (I was asked these). To tackle this, I guess it’d help to prepare broadly and focus on your weak points. But of course, you will, with almost 100% certainty, have to think on the spot and articulate your thoughts (the most important ability, I believe). Whatever the answer, I think it’s good to have it linked to your core values or one of my primary messages.
Alas, I had lots of fun conversing with my interviewer and we had a few good laughs. 35-40 minutes passed way to quickly and I hope it had went on for longer.

All the best for your scholarship and university applications! Happy holidays!

Daryl
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P.S. For Tumblr noobs like me, here’s a reminder of how to post your experiences/tips here (Yan Liang told us how, but that was awhile ago):

1. Sign up: http://www.tumblr.com/register?redirect_to=%2Fjoin%2FAyA3jlBOCx&user[email]=

2. Go to tjchighed.tumblr.com.
 
3. You’ll see a Dashboard button on the top right. That will bring you to a page with a blue background

4. Enusre that the label on the top right reads "tjc higher ed blog" and not "untitled"
 
5. Click “post text”