Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Another Interview Aftermath

Just settled down after a long day out. Um, today's interview was okay... I presume. But the events before it was damm dramatic.

The interview is at 3pm at SPH News Centre. A while back, they sent an email to my inbox telling me the location and attach a application form with it. However, being the stupid guy i always am, i comfortably assumed the News Centre is at Genting Lane, which is inside an industrial park. So i happily ignored the map they sent me and search online Street Directory for directions. Yes, the online Street Directory was excellent in giving me the clear direction to get to SPH. However, when i reached there at 3.10pm, one big terrible news struck me. Being late is not the main issue here, though i should not be late, but but but, the SPH at Genting Lane is... not the News Centre! The SPH centre at Genting Lane is for the magazines department. Magazines that comes from SPH include Maxim, Her World and Seventeen. I only realised my mistake after asking the security guard. Aargh! It was 3.15pm and i am fifteen minutes late and a big distance away from SPH News Centre. So quickly, i ran out and luckily, a vacant taxi happened to pass by and i reached SPH News Centre at 3.35pm. So ya, i am 35 minutes late. Cool huh?

There are 3 other candidates in the conference room when i entered and surprisingly, all are from my school, JJC! Woah! I quickly explained my situation to two ladies who are the the interviewer and luckily, they were kind enough. Can't thank them enough.

Both of the interviewers continue their briefing and ya, i pick up the briefing halfway. But the half briefing was enough to answer my questions. Pay is $6 per hour, work from 9am to 2pm. The job is to promote Career Guide 2006, which is a book, to students. That means we will have roadshows at various schools. 5 days a week and no work during public holidays. The stint is quite short though. From 18th of Jan to end of Feb. But nevermind, at least i have a job, if i am accepted, for one and a half month. Will continue scouting... maybe will just get a factory job ba.

From today, i learned that
1) If you are visting a place for the first time, try to leave home earlier. If you reach the correct place and you are early, it is better than to be late. If you reach the wrong place, at least you still have time to make your way to the correct place.

2) There are two SPH buildings in Singapore. The first one is at Genting Lane, which is inside an industrial park. The other one is at Toa Payoh Industrial Estate.

3) If you are using online Street Directory, after you have searched for the place you want to go, unless the search result shows only one result, do look through all the search results. The place you are going may not be the first one on the list.

On a side note, to show that i am even stupider, i visited SPH News Centre before. It was last year August for a talk. Oh my goodness... no wonder when the taxi approached the News Centre, i felt so familiar. Damm, i am stupid. Yes i am.

After the interview, there was a downpour and i have no umbrella. So no choice but to take shelter inside the News Centre. Luckily it stop after a while. So i went over to PC for evening gongyo and perform my Taiko duty. After that i was dragged by Eileen to... of all place, Marina Bay! Yes, another BBQ buffet dinner. But this time, we managed to find seats at Zhen Huat and all i could say it is nicer and better than Chong Bang. The variety of food is better than Chong Bang. Quality wise, still okay la. Not much difference between Chong Bang and Zhen Huat. Oh, don't worry, my throat become better as the day progressed and it is still okay now. The good thing about Zhen Huat is that it offered live prawns and boy, it created a commotion at out table today. Normally, the live prawns hardly move, even though it is still alive. But today, don't know why, the prawns are hyper active, especially the ones given to us. When we open the lid(it is put in plastic boxes), one of them jump out and sharing a table with four girls, you should know what happened. Even worse is when we put the prawns on the hotplate, two of them jump out again. Woah, another painful moment for my ears. But luckily, the other prawns are not hyper active and my ears are saved. But i do feel kind of sad and cruel when i saw the prawns legs wriggling and struggling desperately on the hotplate. Woah, i just could not bring myself to see the prawns while they are being cooked.

Yup, that should be all for today. An eventful and definitely an dramatic day.