Red Wine and an unexpected call.

I'm having my usual day of just staying in my room in front of my laptop with the lights off while watching/waiting for my downloads to finish/and playing poker on Facebook, the only different thing is I'm having a glass of wine tonight---okay, my SECOND glass when my Mom entered my room and handed me the wireless phone. She didn't even had the chance to answer my question: "Who is it?" (cos I don't normally get phone calls on the landline) I reached out for the phone and said my "hello". It was a guy's voice. He doesn't sound like any of my friends and he immediately called me in my complete name so that's a give away that I don't personally know him.

The "conversation" went something like this:

Me: Hello?

Guy: Hi, is this -my complete name-?

M: Yes, who's this?

G: -someone someone- (I didn't catch his name!) from -company- and I just read your CV for the -position-. You're still interested, right?

M: Yes, yes.

G: So, basically I will be conducting a phone interview right now. Would that be okay with you?

M: Okay, sure!

Wait, I would LOVE to share the whole conversation to everyone but I can't. It's still in my head but I can't type it. Hahaha! Wine's kicking already. But to cut the not-so-long story short, I had my very first phone interview while I'm having a drink alone in my room playing poker on Facebook. He asked me a few personal questions like what my hobbies are, if I have any vices, what my preferred working hours are, do I love to go out (this question seem a little a weird but he did ask me "Do you like to go out?" and I'm not sure what he meant), etc. etc. I'm not assuming nor exaggerating when I say this but it was a FUN phone interview. Like we're friends or something. :) I was caught off-guard, I'm totally unprepared for it but I found myself answering his questions and talking naturally. No stuttering, no mental block of any sort. We even laughed and sort of "joked" around. And man does he have a handsome voice! So blah blah blah, I'm going to have another interview tomorrow at 1PM. Unfortunately, it won't be with Mr. Handsome Voice, he gave me the name of the person to look for. Wish me luck on this one. This is nothing big but I would like to start working soon! And oh, if ever I get the job I'll start on the 28th. Remember my "to-do"? Have a job before February ends? Coolio! :) I hope this is it. If not, then okay, I hope this is it! LOL!

Tomorrow is THE day!

Friends, readers, visitors, everyone, in less than 24 hours I will be having my final interview already for the job that I have applied for mid last year. I'm not sure if I have already shared the info about it (except for the interview schedules) but I promise I will share more details once the final interview is done.

I am set for 8:30 AM tomorrow which is in 10 hours. Again, I am asking everyone to please please pray for me. Pray that whatever the result may be, whether I get the job or not, that it would be for whatever purpose HE has for me. I promise to do my part and stay as calm and as focused as possible. The rest I leave up to Him already.

I think this is gonna be the last time you'll hear about me raving and ranting about job interviews. :)

Thanks to all those who've prayed for me, will pray for me and those who are still praying for me and including me in their prayers. This is incredibly a big deal for me. I don't want to sound negative but I also don't want to get my hopes too high even though I think I have the right to since I have waited for their call for more than 6 months. Whatever the employers' decision may be I'll accept it.

*staying positive*

*thinking happy thoughts*

*praying*

Today's distractions.

Tomorrow is THE day. The big interview day. MY interview.

So, I'm all nerved up and anxious about it that I needed to find some distractions to at least keep my heart beating in a normal pace.

- Thanks to those who've wished me luck and prayed for me. You all know who you are and I'm thankful for your well-wishes.

- I stayed on YM while doing my readings on Job Interview Preparations and stuff. Thanks to those who've talked to me via YM: Zano, Kiko, Kester and Ian. You all calmed me down a bit.

- I have also downloaded and listened to some songs to calm me: Nirvana, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Oasis, Relient K, The Veronicas, One Tree Hill's songs and thanks again to Ian for "introducing" me to 10 years. 

- I uploaded photos in my Facebook account.

- Did my usual online routine.

- Answered a Personality/Temperamental test online. My result: Phlegmatic Melancholy. Find out what it means and take the exam for yourself by clicking HERE.

All of those things I did while preparing for my interview tomorrow. Multi-tasking. I'd rather do a lot of things at the same time and finishing them one by one than staring blankly at the screen.

Please please wish me luck. Only less than 14 hours left before my interview. I'm starting to feel confident but still nerve-wracked about it. I'm feeling crazy.

Job Interview Tips.

I'm thankful to the wonders of modern technology especially the internet. How almost every information is available at the tip of our fingertips lessening worries for people like me.

I am also thankful to my friend, Anonymili, for e-mailing me articles about job interviews which she wrote.

I hope posting some of the good reads I have found online will also be of help to others with interview jitters.

1. Most Difficult Questions in an Interview - how and what to answer on the question: What is/are your weaknesses?

" Whatever weakness you disclose try and ensure you have something ready to say how you're trying to improve on the weakness. This shows you are aware of your weaknesses, are mature enough to admit to them and are willing and able to further develop your skills to ensure those weaknesses are no longer weaknesses."

2. How To Beat The Job-Hunting Blues - how and what to prepare while job hunting.

"You can't honestly sit and apply for jobs all day every day whilst you are looking for a job. You need to relax as well and if you are out of work and actively looking for work, it is impossible to dedicate all of your waking hours to job searching. This can be very demoralising and I always recommend that it's quality that counts when making applications not quantity."

3. How To Prepare For A Job Interview - self-explanatory.

"What do you do? Carry on working/studying/watching TV till your interview next week and wing it? God NO! Make sure you do some preparation before you turn up there all ready to show them your sparkling eyes and wonderful personality. These features/characteristics alone will not win you the job."

4. Ten Biggest Interview Killers - what to avoid during interviews.

"When you're on a romantic dinner date, you try to avoid "mood killers" -- talking with a mouth full of food, cursing an ex-lover, or complaining about a foot ailment. During a job interview, you have to avoid similar spoilers if you want to make a good impression."

5. Six Common Job Interviews - self-explanatory.

"One of the easiest ways to build confidence before a job interview is to prepare answers to questions you might be asked. Whether you're applying for a position as a web programmer, accountant, or legal secretary, interviewers often use some general questions to assess candidates, so you'll increase your chances for success if you prepare for them in advance."

Now that we have settled most of the worries and jitters on the interview, from the job hunting preparation to the job interview itself and questions to prepare for, all that's left to do is pray for God's guidance, try to relax and clear our mind of other things, and think positive! we wouldn't want negative vibrations surrounding us on our big day, right?

credits:

Anonymili (via Helium) for the first 3 tips.

Yahoo! for the last 2 tips.

Preparing for my Impact Interview...

... and for other future job interviews as well.

Monday is THE day for me. My Impact Interview. Maybe my "make or break" interview for that matter before the Final Interview on January 22-26. I don't know how it would go. I do know what an impact interview means, questions ask are about how you could handle yourself in a certain situation. It will show how responsible and professional you are and why the employer/s would want to hire someone like you in their company. I really did some research. So, sounds like a make or break for me. What's not clear to me is what would happen after the Impact Interview. I didn't even know we were going to have one. During my 2nd Interview, the interviewee said they'll inform me when the Final Interview would be when I get shortlisted and I did. There was no mention of an Impact Interview and now I'm thinking what if I didn't pass it, does it mean I won't get to have a Final Interview? How come one of my friends wasn't scheduled for it but he got a message informing him about the Final Interview? The message I got tells me to confirm my attendance for the Impact o be able to be lined up for the Final.

But no matter how anxious I am right now about Monday, I am still dragging my ass to prepare for it. I might still need it for the other interviews I might have in the future anyway. I'm doing some research about how not to screw it up. 

I have some questions that I know I should prepare for like:

1. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

2. Why should we hire you? (and other similar questions)

3. Tell me something about yourself.

4. What would you do in *this* situation?

These sound easy but really, when it's about you getting the job or not, it gets hard. That's why I'm starting to browse around the web looking for tips and advices to at least not blank out during an interview. I have read some good stuffs and I'm really thankful to my friend, Anonymili, for e-mailing me a lot of helpful articles she wrote.

I'm going to share them in another entry so watch out for it. :)