... another yet upcoming
So last week I went for my scholarship interview for the NTU's College scholarship. Hopefully this gives some help to any future hopefuls who Google the appropriate keywords.As usual, for interviews or anything in life really, the basic level of preparation is always advised. No need to overly research and memorise - for that would defeat the purpose of an interview where interviewers get to have their own first-hand view on what your character is like and reaction and mindsets etc : all that would be useless if you drilled yourself for every question. (Those of us students who have undergone Project Work Oral Presentation (OP), remember that the drilling for OP is different - for that every level of preparedness is expected and well-benefiting in the end - trust me, you don't want to flounder)
The interviewers will be able to tell if you overly prepared for it; NOT that that is bad but it is just one thing to consider.
Anyway, it was held in conjunction (or it just so happened to be) with the Tea Session with the NTU President, so i took the time to stroll and just chitchat with the professors and student volunteers there, as well as some other fellow interviewees.
Interview time came, entered a quiet room (okay not that literally quiet what with talking) that had 3-4 sectioned-off corners (well, a typical room has 4 corners, yes). Directed to one corner, behind the panel sat two gentlemen, whom i realised I never got their names. Oh wells. It would have been nice to know exactly who is interviewing you - you could ask i guess.
They started off with a simple question of "What is a scholarship to you?" or something along those lines.
I spoke frankly that it is essentially in the very basic level what it is: covering monetary needs so as to relieve of one burden at least, which is to me already a big deal as I do not want to siphon my parents' money if I can get the opportunity not to.
The rest just dithered off into various topics including (and not limited to): What I was going to pursue, What I have been doing, What will I do with the scholarship if given, (and because i expressed interest in teaching,) What i learnt in class.
It really was a back-forth kind of thing as the interviewers also gave me some tips on teaching and things to consider and warn me of next time when dealing with some situations, and also told me more about scholarships and the flexibility involved.
NOTE: Be careful what you say each time you respond, for one theme i noticed was that in this interview it is less rigid than some I have had in previous years, more of a literal back forth chat, and they use points that you bring up in a previous answer to carry on another question.
Occasionally they do refer to your application too, so do read up and remember what you wrote in your essay yeah? They will ask you to back up your words or give example to further elaborate/substantiate.
Oh, I asked them a few things, including what were they looking for for the scholarship holders and for goodness sake the guy replied cheekily "What do you think/Who do you think deserves a scholarship?" Aw, be like that. Haha.
All in all, less rigid interview than some others, depth-wise is moderate. Don't panic, don't give ..undesirable answers (common sense is basically key) and no worries!
((Honestly, I suffered from my usual cold and stuttering again but I did my best to lessen it and the gentlemen were kind enough to ignore it, thank you))
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Anway, above is the main interview content.
Met several Profs that I recognised from previous tea session in end Jan, met some friends there for the tea session too, and gosh, the freebies given were a lot and very useful. Haha, immediately replaced my card holder. And there was a NTU bluetooth headset - haven't tested it out yet though.
I'm due for my MOE Award interview soon so wish me luck there too. Knowing my luck, they will ask plenty of current issues which are not my area as I rather dislike such topics that basically deals with unhappiness - but hey, can't escape them, can we?
Cheers
