He was a faculty member at a local College for so many years, until he decided to leave his full-time work for the time-being to pursue his doctorate degree. He looked for part-time work to sustain us while he is enrolled in the graduate school. Thus, the tales on his interviews began.
Breaking The Ice
He was applying at a non-government organization, for a position of a Training Manager. Normally, applicants were required to do a training demo, so he conducted one. As a teacher, he would lecture passionately and he did the same during his training demo. When he finished, he paused and looked at his audience. The members of the panel were quiet, as if waiting more from him. He smiled and asked: “Would you still like to see me dance?” It broke the ice, and the panel which was obviously caught off-guard broke into a quiet laughter. The next day, the position was offered to him.
Sports They Played
There was a time when he applied at a foreign company. He was asked by a British interviewer: “What did you do in your previous employment?” My husband said: “I did all the dirty work”. The British proceeded to ask what was his boss doing then, to which he replied, “He played golf”. Being a golf player himself, the British asked my husband, “Do you play golf John?” He replied “No, I play badminton”. Whether or not the British knew what badminton was (a sport usually played by people in the lower middle class in our area), my husband did not know. But the British chuckled, and then he hired my husband as deputy director.
Korean Epic
During his interview at a Korean company, the interviewer asked my husband what he knew about Korea. My husband has never been to Korea, but he likes to watch Korean television series. At that time, he was nightly watching an epic entitled “Jumong”, a story of a hero destined to lead and unite his country. My husband began his answer with this line: “Well, Korea has a very rich culture, it is pictured in the story of its epic hero named Jumong…” He had no idea if the interviewers knew Jumong, but he believed it was one contributing factor why he was among the five short listed applicants who were called back for the written exam.
Motivation Techniques
He was again required for a demo in one of his prospective work. This time, it was a teaching demo. Being a teacher for more than a decade, it was a piece of cake. He proceeded with his demo on efficiency, analogizing such to 100 ways of capturing a woman's heart and choosing only one efficient way to get the same output. He used the chalk board, hand gestures, visual aids and other techniques to make his lecture as lively as he can. After exhausting every technique imaginable in his demo, the panel seemed dissatisfied and asked: “How do you motivate your students to be attentive in class?” He quickly replied with a grin: “I can sing… and I can dance!” To his surprise, he was praised for his show of confidence and he was hired.
Those one-liners made his interview experiences more memorable. They continue to bring a smile on my lips every time. Maybe I can try them myself in the future.
