On 21st of May 22, 2015 I had a simulated job interview for Market yourself course.
Prior the
interview we had to write a C.V and a letter to be presented to the interviewer. Overall it was
a good experience, which I did not do well. I admit I enjoyed the process writing my C.V and
my cover letter as it brought back some good memories that I forgot and some of my
accomplishments. However, I did not enjoy the 8:15 am interview at all due to that I was not
actually ready for the interview until the night before the interview. Despite the fact that the
interview was less than fifty minutes, it felt like it was more than that.
I hated the pre-interview preparation, because it eliminated the remaining time that I had that
night to do any last night revision for the interview. Also, it reminded me to how much I hate
when people judge people based on their appearance. In short, what matters is the skills and
personality of the interviewees have not their looks and clothing.
Printing C.V and cover letter just before the interview has made me even more nervous. We
when I was about to print the C.V and cover letter I realized that I did not put a picture of me
on the C.V. I had to get any sort of images that barely fits the C.V. Moreover, I realized that I
do not have barely have printing credit to print two copies of the C.V and cover letter. I
overcome the problem by printing the C.V on two sides of the page.
I found the interview valuable, because it showed me some of my weak. The interview has
exposed my fear of having 1 to 1 communication with people, especially if I do not know the
person and he is in close distance to me. During the interview I was very nervous, as I was
overthinking wither my answers are correct and how would he it affect the marks of the
assessment. During some questions I forgot what his question was, I answered based what I
thought he asked me. I was doubtful is I should asked him to repeat the question.
The experience has reminded me with some events that occurred in my life. It reminded me
with the first time I had a driving test. During the driving test I felt the same amount in anxiety
and insecurity. On the other page, when the interview asked me about my invention, which I
won a medal for in Kuwait, I was very Enthusiastic and happy to pitch my system to him. This
Enthusiasm to pitch reminded me to the time I was asked by a Bahrain Polytechnic Tutor to
pitch my device in front of his students in an entrepreneurship class. I think I was happy
because in both situations I was self-satisfied and prideful.
The time the interviewer asked to ask questions my brain was out of any questions, as I was
asking I am done with this pressure and time to work on my next assignment. However, I had
to come up with question out of blue so I do not feel bad that I did not ask questions.
Pre-interview preparations reminded with my childhood to the night before the first day in
school, where I had my new school bag and new school uniform. Both event were a step
toward a new part of my life. I felt this feeling more than both of my previous interview,
because when I had my first I already know the interview and in the second I entered the
interview knowing I will decline their offer.
The atmosphere of the interview reminded me with the interrogation scene from the first film
of the matrix trilogy. Where Mr. Anderson who is known as neo was interrogated by Agent
Smith. I felt myself wearing Neo's hat in that interrogation, because the other side was trying
to get more information about me and how would I behave with his questions. I also felt I am
targeted which made me feel more insecure. Moreover, the interview reminded me with "the
internship" which the two main actors were asked non-orthodox question who did not expect.
During the interview I was expecting a set of questions, however when he asked me wither if
I would be fine to work in web media position than an ICT one. Such question, has reminded
me that during the interview I should expect any sort of question, no matter how much nonorthodox they were.
I have learned from this experience that I should have more confidence in myself as this was
one of the main factor that I believe had affected my performance in the interview. I also
learned not to hesitate to ask the interviewer to repeat his question. In the next interviews I
would calm myself even more as anxiety is drastically impact my performance, especially
when traditional style of interviews. Additionally, I would not be so defensive in answering
questions not offensive so the interview do not know feel me weaknesses or my face to face
interviews fears.