MAXIS SCHOLARSHIP FINAL INTERVIEW

Assalamualaikum :)

Well I know it's a bit late to post about this because it was like months ago. 

DATE : 13-07-2012

VENUE : Level 8, Maxis Tower, KL

TIME : 2.00 PM

DRESS CODE : Formal

Okay, so I received a call from Maxis informing me that I was qualified to the final selection interview 3 days before the scheduled interview. I was happy of course. Not to mention my mum. I would say very very much super happy for me that she started to stress me out with lots and lots of tips, which of course only passed my hearings like lectures. The only difference is just that I take notes during lectures. Haha.

My interview was scheduled at 2.00pm and if I'm not mistaken, 13th was actually Monday. My mum sent me to the tower and I knew I was all alone the moment I stepped out the car.

Nervous, panic you name all the feelings.

The night before the interview I googled on previous Maxis candidates experiences, searching for any tips that might be useful, just so you know, I know what to expect for the big thing tomorrow.

And I did find a few related blogs. The one that caught my attention was a blog written by a chinese guy. He said the 1st level of interview was quite easy and the most relaxing interview he ever went. Well, seriously he was right about that. And as for the final interview according to him, there were 4 panels. And his interview only lasted for about 10mins! Of course he panicked because it took shorter time than everyone else but then one of the Maxis staffs there said that he had higher chance of passing the interview simply bcus they don't have much questions to ask probably bcus he answered them confidently, and maybe it was what they wanted to hear. So his interview was short.

So I aimed to answer as best as I could so that my interview shall be short as well. Buuutt, my interview , lasted for 30mins++ -___-
Yes, I was interrogated for that long.

The moment I stepped out from the panel room, I knew I was doomed. And you know, I just wanted to get out from there as fast as I could. Well, something happened in room, something that embarassed me. Haha! 

As I said just now, there were 4 panels. I prefer not to name them, I might be sued for giving them titles like these. Shhhh! Don't tell anybody I said that.

OLD MAN

Well you know le old man, OMG! Everytime he asked me questions, I felt like " OMG did I say that? Somebody shoot me in the mouth!" 

He turned my answers against me. Beware of this old man, he is not to be underestimated. And I have no idea how he'd do that and that my answers were that questionable. You might as well wanna preserve his brain after he's dead, he is that cunning! His questions       
suffocated me everytime, I was almost at lost of words, but I did not left any of them unanswered. Out of all the questions he asked, I found that this one was a real brain-teaser! "Can you tell me what has mathematics done to help the world?" I was silent for a moment, couldn't really answer it confidently. Truth is I did not know what I told him. Haha. Mathematics is not like Superman or Spiderman whom I can really count on to actually help people but I know mathematics helps people to create a better world. I just didn't know how to put it in words.

THE VOGUE LADY

She always tried to bring me down, well at least not by literally pulling me down. She might look mean but the old man was meaner. Haha. She was smart and always smiled. As much as I love people smiling at me, her smiles made me confuse though. I don't know, I was just confused. Do the panels really smile at the candidate that frequent? No, I don't think so. It was either she was happy with my answer or I answered stupidly or..... both *sighs* She asked more about my determination, willingness, and resiliency like "why do you apply for this course instead of other courses like medicine, architecture, etc?". She was kind and she was honest in her question. I mean most of her questions were not meant to test my ways of thinking or my ways of doing things, she was just simply curious. 

But one of her question really caught me by the heart, "You know that this course is hard. We all know that it is hard. And often times students under our sponsorship did not make it to the end of course and changes courses when they are half way there and even some who did not drop the course still performed poorly. And under such circumstances, we have to choose very carefully this time. Give me reasons why should we trust you?"
Hah! It felt like I was in a trial for committing highly offensive crimes! I think I answered her the honestly and the best that I could.

UNFRIENDLY & STARING LADIES

                                                         

Well they are 2 different person actually but they were not active in asking questions. I had a hunch that one of them might be the body language reader, I think...


A few weeks later I got an email that I passed the interview and Maxis was willing to sponsor my study in University of Malaya Bachelor of Science (Pure Mathematics) . Yeay! But it was unfortunate that I have to decline such good offer because I already accepted another offer. I doubted that I even stand a chance after that awful interview. I thought I was not qualified because I had not receive any response for a quite long time from Maxis. I thought that I was not doing good enough but maybe they saw me as a qualified candidate. Good luck to those out there! Hope this entry helps. I understand how you guys feels right now. Trust me, I've been there ;) All the best!