Kring, kring! It's Shell calling!

My scholarship journey has been...interesting so far, to say the least. Shortlisted results here and there but for the most part, rejections. But all is well, this is part and parcel of life, ain't it? Haha righttt.

So, Shell was the other one who was kind enough to shortlist me for their scholarship, alongside PNB and JPA (God bless them!) and their interview was done in a pretty unorthodox way.

Instead of the usual face-to-face interview, their first stage was the phone interview. Someone was saying, how would they know they're talking to the right person when it's only over the phone? For all you care for, it could be the mother who's answering for the child right?

Okay, anyway, I did answer the call on my own and the interviewer, a very professional-sounding lady explained to me what's the interview like. It should be around 45 to 60 minutes and she will test me in three different aspects: Capacity, Achievement, Relationship.

I shall not delve into the finer details but basically, I talked about my personal achievements and the things that I had been proud of throughout my years in school and afterwards. And she told me to choose a topic of discussion out of the 4 that she offered (CSR, renewable energy, quality of graduates for the employment market and the use of internet in business field).

I chose corporate social responsibility. I did read up on this prior to the interview but I've found that you can read all you want and you'll still end up with unexpected questions from the interviewer which requires you to think for the answers on your own. For that, I have my debating skills and experience to thank for, really :)

I felt today's interview was real and personal. Mainly because we talked about things that were close to my heart. Like my experience manning the editorial board, my debate moments, the volunteer stint I'm doing with the disadvantaged youths.

This had been pleasant. If I passed through this stage, then I'll be called up for the second-stage interview, a face-to-face one which will be even more grueling. Hopefully something good will come out of this, as always :)

Ohh I should also tell you about the other scholarship rejections. On how snooty and inconsiderate some of the other officers from the other companies can be. But I shall save that for another day.

Stay tuned!