Another Take of UiTM Mass Comm Degree Interview

The previous post was about my experience during the Mass Comm Degree interview.
Now, depending on who your interviewers are, it could be a totally different experience for you.

So, now I'll share what the others' stories about their interview:

That's right people. Read the newspapers!

1. CHECK OUT THE CURRENT ISSUES

Some panels would ask about current issues. Friends have gotten the question:

PANEL:
What happened in history yesterday?

STUDENT:
*in his head*
What? I only watch Maharaja Lawak last night?
Should I say, "Sir, yesterday in Maharaja Lawak, Jihan was finally eliminated!"

Thankfully, he did not answer that.
But I can imagine how hilarious it would be if he did.

After he came back, we thought about what exactly happened yesterday.
Ha! Something popped into my head!

I know it! Prince Charles and Kate Middleton got married!

... Wait a sec, wasn't Prince Charles the FATHER?
Imagine that, the father marrying Kate Middleton.

I was lucky my panel didn't ask me that question.

Or else, I would have answered it like the above.

2. GET THE NAMES OF OUR MINISTERS

Let's play a game of 'Who are the Ministers?'

PANEL:
Who is the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia?

STUDENT: *confidently*
I know that our Prime Minister is Najib Razak.

PANEL:
Okay... the deputy?

STUDENT: *retains confident face* *then shakes head*
I. Don't. Know.

The friend above did not know what the word 'deputy' means. So that was why she only answered for Prime Minister.

Now, if you CAN answer the question above, the scenario will be a little different.

PANEL:
Who is the Deputy Prime Minister?

STUDENT:
*gives correct answer*

PANEL:
You said you are from Selangor, right?
Who is the Menteri Besar of Selangor?

STUDENT:
*gives correct answer*

PANEL: *quietly thinking*
... Ha! Now who is the Menteri Pertahanan??

STUDENT:
-_-"

Haha. Yes. The panel will dig deeper until he or she found a minister that you don't know or cannot name.



3. BE PREPARED IF PANEL DOES NOT EVEN WINK AT YOUR CERTIFICATES

I think half of us actually worked hard to get the certificates just so that we could impress our interviewers.
So to see it being wasted just like that, must have hurt.
It did somewhat hurt for me.

They hardly touch the file. My panel only opened my file to see the first page- my transcript.
Half of the times, they would not even touch your files.

There was one guy who was persistent.
He got up to the table,
the first thing he did was opened the file to the desired page and put it in front of the panel.

The panels' reaction?
He immediately closed the file and pushed it aside.

Yes. Pushed. It. Aside.

Unless you come in with a file that's unique- like a HUGE file, or with sparkles and glitters all over, I doubt they'll even look at the files.

UiTM Mass Comm Degree Interview

Statistik terbaru. Broadcast 51 applicants, PR 32 Applicants, Advert 22 Applicants, Publishing 14 Applicants, Interpersonal 10 applicants, Journalism 10 Applicants, Policy 5 Applicants.

- Dhiya

The above were the statistics of the students applying for Degree in Mass Communication in UiTM.

Yes, quite a competition there.

We had to go through an interview first during 30th April 2011.

Here are just some of the random things we've learnt from that day:

So, did I fare as great as the scores above?

1. BE PREPARED TO TALK ABOUT YOURSELF

This was where I was stuck at. Talk about where you come from, what you are currently doing now, your family, parents' occupations...

I stumbled and fumbled through this and ran out of things to say.

PANEL:Yes, go on.

JAZ: I'm from Ampang...

PANEL:*motioning with his hands* Go on, go on...

JAZ: I've just graduated my diploma yesterday...

PANEL: ... Go on?

JAZ: ... What else is there to talk about???

Yes, I seriously asked that question to my interviewer. TWICE.

Very bad move on my part. And I did not prepare for this question at all.

So yeah, please please please be prepared with an autobiography of yourself in case the panel likes to hear the story of your life.

2. BE PREPARED IF THE PANEL DEBATES AGAINST YOU

Oh yeah, I was stuck here too.

PANEL:So, what are you doing now?

JAZ:I've just graduated my diploma yesterday.

PANEL:Ahh, I see. Final paper yesterday, eih?

JAZ:Nope, it was a presentation for our research. There was no paper for that subject.

PANEL: *a 'duh' face* Yes, that was what I meant. The paper IS the subject. So when I said final paper yesterday, it meant final subject. Regardless if it actually has an exam paper or not.

I just nodded my head.

But I still think a 'Paper' refers to an actual 'Final Exam Paper', not a 'Subject'.

JAZ:I choose to major in Advertising because it's a constantly evolving industry.

PANEL:Why do you say it's evolving?

JAZ:Previously, we used to have only newspaper advertisements, television advertisements... Now, it evolves into many different non-traditional forms.

PANEL:Yes, but the traditional ones still exists.

JAZ:Yes, I don't see a problem with that.

PANEL:Non-traditional advertising is only a miniscule of the industry. Companies don't invest much in non-traditional advertising. Do you know what form of advertising they mostly invest in?

JAZ:Television advertisements.

PANEL:Are you sure?

JAZ:... Newspaper advertisements?

PANEL:You don't even know?!

JAZ:I don't know. But it's either one of the two, I think.

How easy I was to be psycho-ed by the panel.

Sometimes interviewers would just debate with us on purpose to see how we think and react.

Only 5 minutes after I walked out of the room that I could think of a sensible idea to rebuke that point

It does not take a large portion of company's budget because non-traditional advertising is quite cost-effective and cheap.
Just because not much money is spent there as compared to traditional advertising, it does not mean that the advertising method is not effective.

My brain must be really slow to not think of this when I was supposed to answer the question. Bummer.

Another example of this debate during the degree interview can be read at Awin's blog post.

3. PREPARE AT LEAST TWO OF THE ESTABLISHED COMPANIES IN THE INDUSTRY

Since I was sitting for the Advertising major interview, he asked me to list two international advertising agencies.

PANEL:Name me two international advertising agencies.

JAZ:Leo-Burnett.

PANEL:*nods head*

JAZ:DDB.

PANEL:*nods head*

*5 seconds of awkward silence*
Was he still expecting an answer? And I really can't think of any other agencies at that time because I didn't prepare for this.

PANEL:*still nodding head, expecting an answer*

JAZ:*nods head with panel too, not answering*
... Erm... I've named two agencies already...?

4. POINT OUT STUFF TO THE PANEL

My panel wasn't very convinced of me. Can't blame him, I look timid in that interview.

PANEL:With advertising, you have to be good with concepts.

JAZ:*nodding head, not realizing it's a question*

PANEL:... Are you good with concepts?

JAZ:... Yes, I think I'm good at it...

PANEL:Are you good in writing?

JAZ:Yes, I think I'm good in writing.

PANEL:Why do you say so?

JAZ:...............................

Yes, how horrible was I?

I felt so unsure to boast about my skills when I don't have evidence to show it!

Reality is, I've had all those evidence in my files right on that table.

I've printed most of the designs that I've done throughout diploma- including an advertisement for Advertising class in semester 4 which got the highest marks in class that time.

And if that does not show my copywriting skills, I could have just pointed him to my transcript.

I've gotten A- for Advertising, and A for Journalism.

That would suffice to at least allow me to be confident with my skills, right?

*smacks face*

Thankfully, he took a look at my transcript and CGPA himself and my interview immediately ended.

Just like that.

From a normal human being, I suddenly felt like I was the chimp at the left because I was so clueless and unprepared for the interview.

Now, that felt REALLY bad.

It was like my CGPA was the only thing saving me from being a total failure at the interview.

Have learnt my lesson about preparation for next time.

Don't repeat my mistakes, alright?

A Sexy Photoshoot?

Haven't met my ex-schoolmates in ages!

So a reunion is in order.
They suggested for us to meet up at KLCC.

Question:
What's our agenda for the day?

Answer:

Photoshoot Seksi-Meksi di Taman KLCC.

Oh, dear. What should I wear? What should I wear?
I've never been to a sexy photoshoot before.


And so another friend posted up the Dress Code Guideline.

Since this is a sexy photoshoot,
all participants are required to:
1. Pakai baju yang tak cukup kain dan seksi-seksi.
2. Pakai baju yang terlebih-lebih kain, tapi transparent. INI TETAP SEKSI!

* Option Number 2 seems very interesting.

Well, of course. We were all just playing around for fun.

In fact, the sexiest photo of the day that we can get would be as below:

this photo is proudly taken by yours truly :)

See? No kurang-kurang kain or transparent-transparent kain, kan?

Pointless Conclusion:

We are very good girls 

and our mothers would be proud to have raised such poised ladies.

Now, Looking Down On Swimming Babies

Continuing from the previous post, about how I'm always doubtful of my brother, Kitten.

He wanted to join his school's swimming carnival.
When we asked what he wanted to join, he said everything.

Is this boy serious?!

So he signed up for

• 25 metres Breaststroke (Level 2)
• 4 X 25m Tube Race (Level 2)
• Water Games 2

Sheep and my first concern,

"Do you even know what a breaststroke is?!"

"Yeah! ... Erm, yeah?"

Not the most convincing answer.

And yes, we are very bad sisters, aren't we?

by  Sun-wing on deviantart.

Finally, when he jumped into the pool, we were surprised.
Kitten actually does know how to do a breaststroke.
Even more shocking, he got first in his group!

Again, Sheep and I were slapped by reality.
Our brother, our baby brother, is pretty good at something.

We were amazed,
couldn't contain our excitement!

... Until we saw another group of students doing another round of breaststrokes.


Could it be... 
(-_-") *awkward pause*

Kitten did get first,

but for the WRONG CATEGORY!

He was supposed to be in Level 2, but he competed in Level 1.

So for the next swimming carnival, we'll make sure he's in the right category.

He may not win the competition.

But he won our respect.

Looking Down On Babies

I'm sure everyone have faced times when their families doubt whatever they do.
My family is not that different.

Kitten (nickname).

My brother.

My BABY brother.

(Although he'll be 10 this year)

He likes to participate in activities. Which is fine.
But I'd doubt he'd win.

Yeah, maybe I look down on him.
Maybe it's because he seems a little wimpy at home.
Or maybe because I still think of him as a baby brother.

Few years back, he entered a colouring contest.
Sheep (my sister) and I looked at his artwork and laughed.
It wasn't ugly... But I guess it just looked funny to us.

When they announced the prize winners, Kitten eagerly stood near the stage, hoping for his name to be called.

Sheep and I just laughed.
While my mom went to Kitten and told him,

"You didn't win, dear. Now, move aside. Don't block the way for the winners."

"And the third place winner is... Kitten!!"

Yes, right at that moment, Kitten's name was announced.

Sheep froze. I froze. Mom froze.
Then she quickly cheered for him to go on stage, while we chased him with a camera, laughing at the sheer randomness of it all.

The person we doubt, proved us wrong.

You'd think that we learned our lesson after that, right?

Well, wait for the next post.

A similar episode, but with another random twist.