My life as a Civil engineer is not as long and as glamorous as other civil engineers. I just started working about 2 years ago and i want to share my experiences with interviews and stuff.
I finished my degree at IUKL, stands for Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur at 2013 and started looking for work. As a fresh grad, It is really hard to find one. I went to several jobs fairs but nothing comes from it. i opened accounts at jobstreet and any online job finder but fruitless. Browse through jobstock facebook etc, sending a dozen or 2 resumes companies but nothing at the time.
So........ at that time i am still at KL, tanam anggur jalan sini sana for about 2 months coz i still waited for all the documents from my uni are cleared. My parents are still paying for my house rent whereas their son practically do nothing for months. Well long story short, after all the documents are ready, took it and back to KCH.
KCH : Ngabis ke beras ba rumah (habis kan beras di rumah) (eat eat rice until rice finish only) PRACTICALLY NOTHING! play games, eat sleep, eat some more. sleep again (kasihan parent i). So i started looking for work a soon enough i received an interview invitation from several companies.
1. Giant Tree Sdn Bhd
My first job interview ever!!! They were searching for qualified person to fill a vacant for site engineer. They are the main contractor for a housing project at tabuan tranquility area and since it is a big project, they looking for a candidate that can handle multiple job (site eng/site supervisor/qaqc engineer etc. Since i was a newbie/noob, they rejected me straight away ( in a good way of coz) but it kinda surprising that thier HR department shortlisted a fresh grad at the moment. Guess they do it randomly as long as you have the qualification but it is a good experience for me to polish my interview skills. Thank U!!
2. Perritech Sdn Bhd.
My interview is with Perritech is for a position of Site Engineer and it is really a good thing (coz i working with them after that - 2 years). The interview take place at KWSP building in kch and it is under the Tenaga Kerja Malaysia office. At that time i was lucky that there not much people going for the interview and i was the 2nd person ( i think) to be interviewed. At the time, there are 2 person interviewed me, Mr. Then and Mr. Alvin (remember their names coz i work with them after that haha). Both are quite active in questioning me but Mr. Then were the most lively. They were explaining to me more about the company rather than interviewing me.
I think the interview lasted around 30 minutes and a week later i received a phone call telling me that i got the job (i accept it la) and served me well for the next 2 years i worked there.
3. Jurutera Perunding Akal (JPA)
My 1st interview is with JPA. JPA consultant is located in the city of oil (miri la ya) but what the heck, dpt jalan2 jua. hahaha. At the time Perritech haven't offered me the job so i was eager to go there. I bring along my mum and we went to miri by air and stay in a hotel just near to the office. The distance from the hotel to the office is around 500m and my interview is scheduled at 9.20 AM. I reached the office at 9 and waited for my turn. Upon entering the office i need to write my attendant at the counter and there i saw a few candidates earlier than me with one girl in the office for more that 1 hour. Maybe she waited for her turn that long or she had her interview for an hour. BTW, at that time there were 2 interviewer (a man and a woman) and i presume both are from HR or maybe one of them are engineer? coz there are little to no technical question thrown at me.
From the way i answered, a bit rubbish and i just finished it under 30 minutes (way to go!) haha. What do u expect from a "fresh from the oven" graduate but surprise surprise, a week later JPA called me telling that i got the job! But due to the location of the job and i just received an offer for Perritech, i respectfully declined the job.
4. Jabatan Kesihatan Malaysia.
Punya susah mok dpt interview but i managed to get one from SPA. It is conducted at stallion tower (near saberkas behind Naim). Arrived there around 9am but waited until 11am for my name to be called. So i just sit there are browsing my facebook etc. I didnt study much (in my face) and wanted to do the interview based on my bulls#@t skills. So when the time they call my name, entered the room and there were 2 male interviewer, both are officer from kesihatan. Conversation has been simplified to not waste time.
Officers : Dokumen sume ade?
mua: (mampus... klaka semenanjung) errr.. ade tuan.
O : bak sini, eh, nape x letak dlm satu fail kan senang. letak ler dlm envelop pun ok. ni bagi mcni je mmg senang la nak hilang
M : err.. maaf tuan. (at the same time susun bagus2 bri ngan sida)
O : mcm 1st time je ni, 1s time ke interview SPA? nampak sangat x prepare ni.
M : yup tuan ni 1st time. slama ni x pna bgi peluang.
O : ok duduk. awk bgi tau ape keje sorang engineer ni?
M: Keje engineer bla... bla. (Bahasa baku+ sarawak+semenanjung).
O : jgn nerbes. nape x try jawatan2 lain d SPA? xkan jurutera je kot? try la yg lain2 mnetau ade nsib.
M : bukan taknak try tapi nanti kalau dah kena interview nanti payah nak jwb coz bukan bidang.
O : mm okla. tu je k? ade ape2 soalan?
M : xda tuan.
O : ok terima kasih..
muahhahaha... i fail coz i cant really speak bm fluently. Suddenly brain freeze. So from there i knew my result which is;
 |
| muahahahah!! fail |
5. Naim Engineering Sdn. Bhd.
Naim called me telling that they wanted to do an interview for the position of civil engineer. But 1st they want me to submit a updated resume of mine. So i did. at the time i was in Samalaju, Bintulu working on a carbon plant somewhere in the jungle and here are little phone coverage so i was lucky that i was standing in the right spot. I not quite sure when i submitted my 1st resume to them, but i think it was in a career fair at Hilton kuching 1 year ago. But sure enough a few days after i submitted the updated resume, i received a email about the details.
Luckily that time i'm on my leave (eventually resigning from Perritech), went to the interview and i notice that i am the only one there. Maybe i am early or sumting but there is no any other candidates. So i ask the HR guys and he told me that there are many candidates but most of them haven't arrived or they have been interviewed earlier.
My interview is conducted in a small meeting room in the 7th floor of the wisma naim. Present is mr. prj manager 1 (site cloths), mr. proj manager 2(smart cloth tie etc), and mr. HR. Most of the quest + technical ques asked by the site one. So maybe he at the site most of the time.
I spend around 30 min plus inside the room and i know that they are looking for manpower urgently so i kinda knew that i succeeded with this interview even though my english is tunggang terbalik at times. The HR told me that they will give me the answer in 2 weeks time AND YES in 2 week to told me that i managed to get the job. But then due to some factors here and there i decided to declined the offer coz at the same time i receive a offer from Bernas which has better benefits and everything.
6. Beras Corporation (BERNAS)
Bernas contacted my by mail telling that i got the interview for the position of site supervisor. At the time i am still with Perritech and working on a project at Samalaju Bintulu (few weeks before i knew about Naim interview). I decided to go to the interview. Take a leave, fly back to kuching and look for the office so that when the day comes, i already know the place.
I come early to the office and funny enough, the renovated the office so i have problems going into the office. But eventually i made it inside the office and went to 1st floor. I met with this one gentlemen who is one of the candidates for the interview. We chatted a lil bit, fill some forms and he will be the first one to be interviewed. Soon enough, i was my turn to shine.
The interviewer is the head of domestic rice, head of HR and head of finance. Since i'm not familiarize with our rice industry i just rambling about engineering and anything that relates to engineering. Then after i finished with my "speech" the interviewers continue with their story about the industry and how Bernas come about. The interview lasted for an hour. 1 freaking hour right? haha. for someone kaki kelentong dpt jua up to 1 hour.
They told me that i will know the answer in 2 months time and I GOT the job since they needed a officer that can speak Iban coz there are many ibans living in around the site area in Sri Aman. At that time, Naim also offered me but at the end of the day i choose Bernas lah not for they pay is better but of the benefits that they gave to me is so much better.
But then the catch is the position offered is for contract basis. But after a month of thinking it loud (chewah) i decided better seize the opportunity la.
7. Jabatan Kerja Raya Sarawak (JKR)
Every job hunter in sarawak most definitely knows about e-recruitment which is a website meant for applying for work in the state government agencies. I have my accounts since forever and in that duration of forever only once that the government invited my for a test or interview. Last year i got one.
I went for the test and to my surprise, a lot of people there (y do i even surprise?). They are 2 section in the test paper, A and B. Section A is Multiple choice question mainly about general knowledge and section B is essay. I still remember the essay part : " If you were to be selected in to JKR Sarawak, what are your contribution to the organization". As plain as that and i believe no more that 200 words ka or something like tat. So mun dah essay ya go head ajak la benda tulis harap2 sida paham sampah yg aku tulis hahaha . Tp rasanya sida paham kali sebab dlam 3 4 bulan mcm ya suruh g interview agi.
Interviewed by 4 person. building, road. hr and qs bosses i think. Lasted for about an hour. The interview is conducted for the a week long and there are alot of candidates shortlisted so i knew my chances are slim to none. But you noe what, miracles do happen n I GOT THE JOB!! (but contract basis la). Report duty date is on 1st of October and i already handed my resignation letter to Bernas with 1 month notice. Hopefully jkr will bring me a lot of success in the future and to be permanent staff as soon a possible.
8. Jabatan Hutan Sarawak
I received a test invitation for the position of civil engineer. I never knew that jabatan hutan would want a civil engineer but when opportunity rises, u got to take it. haha
As usual the question are mostly general knowledge and i believed that there are not many candidates for civil engineering but the opening is only for 1 place. huhuhuhu mmg x kenak la tok. Then a few months later, they wanted me to go for another test, the physical test which definitely i will fail. I yet to decide whether to go or not. huhuuhh.
9 Conclusion
From all of the above what can i advice is that:
1. Wear appropriate cloths. Formal cloth with tie, slack and sole shoe would be great. 1st impression is the most important.
2. Greet with confident and shake their hand firmly with eye contact. That is what i want people to do when they greet me too.
3. Prepare any documents early, photocopy important documents early too. If they require a certified stamp from authorize person, go get it early. Better yet go to your former school headmaster, they would definitely help you for sure. Don't forget your resume with 2 updated passport pictures just in case.
4. Come atleast 30 minutes early or the most 15 minutes early.
5. Be confident. Even if your english is berterabur, use dual language as long as u r confident.
6. Typical question and how i answer
a. tell me about your self
- i always started like " when i was younger i always fascinated by construction works. I like building structures with legos coz i feel the joy of it etc etc. Please dont start with i name is blabla.. born in bla2 siblings bla2.. boring skit.
b. where do u see ur self in 100000000 years?
- i see my self with a important responsibility in the organization where as i can contribute in making important decisions............ bla2 la.
c. don't ever mention bad things about your previous company to your potential employer eventho they are really2 bad to you. Just tell your potential employee that you wanted a new challenge in a new organization.
d. in my experience, never bring up about salary unless they started it. if they dont really fond at ur estimated salary, they will try and nego it with you. then u can bargain with them. if they dont ask anything, either they agree and let hr department nego with u.
e. dont bull tooooo much. but u can bend a little bit.
f. lastly, at the end of each interview most probably interviewer will ask u " is there any quest?". try ur best to ask relevant quest but dont ask about "what does this company do?" reflects that you dont do a good research prior to the interview.
