So the day finally came, after waiting almost 2 months for the Final Interview, I felt my AD had passed long ago already. Even half of my batch already got their OH mail on mid of January. I was really happy for them but also nervous about my upcoming FI.
Luckily I have such a long time to prepare myself by reading more blogs, asking some people who already got their OH mails on tips for the interview, and I also had time to make casual photos, I ended up bringing 10 photos to the FI and my lovely recruiter helped me choosing the best ones she liked the most. I also managed to review my previous experiences in all sort of things, from organization experiences in college to current working experiences, trying to pick up some good samples for different questions.
- Complete online Psychometrics Test (the link will be given prior to the FI)
- Fill in the Pre-Joining Administration Form (will be given prior to the FI)
- 2x colored passport photocopy
- Updated resume (no cover letter needed)
- 1x formal full-length photo 10×15 cms or 4×6 inches
- 8x passport size photo 4.5×3.5cms or 1.5×2 inches
- 1x casual full-length photo 10×15 cms or 4×6 inches
- 1x casual close up photo 10×15 cms or 4×6 inches
- Photocopy of (highest) educational certificate
My Final Interview was scheduled on Feb, 23rd, 2015 at 12:15 PM. I wanted to show up early as usual. I woke up early, had breakfast, also tied my hair in a low bun, exact shoes as I wore to the OD/AD, red lipstick, and red nail polish but this time I decided to wear a dark grey shift dress and a blazer. As I thought that I would be more confident wearing this dress ;)
I arrived at 11:00 PM, asked to the concierge where the interview was held and went to bathroom to freshen up before going to the meeting room. I met a friend who had the interview schedule before me. And since the first candidate showed up late, the schedule was pushed back a bit. When the recruiter finished with the first person and invited in the second girl, she surprised to see me already waited outside the room and quickly asked is it okay if I had to wait a bit longer because we’re running late and if I had time. I answered no problem at all, with my biggest smile :D I can tell that she looked pretty happy that I showed up early, and had a really good manner by asking me if I had time or not. Well OF COURSE I had all the time in the world for an opportunity to interview with Emirates ;)
I checked on my make up once again, read through some Q&A I have prepared and learned during the waiting process. When she invited me in, she opened the door and let me through which I thanked her to show my appreciation. She greeted me nicely: “Hello! How are you?” I felt a great relieved after that. We sat between 2 desks in the middle and she started with small talks like asking if this hotel is actually located in Jakarta or outside of the city, because it is actually one hour away from Jakarta, so she was pretty confused about it. I sat up straight and put my hands on the desk while waiting her sipping her coffee.
After a little chit-chat, she went through a check list of my documents, I was glad that I had all of them in hand, so I wouldn’t need to email her later. She only picked out 2 casual photos out of 10 that I brought. Then she explained that she would ask me few questions regarding my past experiences, something that I had actually done, NOT something that I would have done. If you haven’t had such experience, don’t worry and be honest to her.
I learned that this is called behavioral interview that should be answered using STAR technique to make us easier structuring our answers.
Here are the questions she asked me:
- Can you recall a time when you bend the rules/went extra miles for a customer?
- Can you recall a time when you gave an idea to your boss? How did your boss react?
- Can you recall a time when you had a conflict with your co-workers?
- Have you ever worked with people from different cultures?
- How you adjust dealing with people from different cultures?
- Have you ever had to adapt to new environment at work?
- Can you recall a time when you were feeling disappointed?
As you can see the questions are pretty personal, so you could never find the answers anywhere else, unless you review on what you had done in your past experiences.
For example, I answered yes, I had an experience regarding to question #1 and she asked further details on how I did it and why, how was the customer reaction and how my boss reacted on it, she wanted to know everything. I’m working in a restaurants business, when there was one customer called me and asked for my help. Then I had to go beyond my scope of practice to help the customer and I did it because she is our loyal customer, so I didn’t want to disappoint her. And she felt very happy as I granted her wish.
I tried to answer the questions using the Situation-Task-Action-Result Technique to keep it short and clear.
Another example, answering #7, I tried to think of a non-working related experience, as disappointment might be misunderstood as dislike towards my current employer, and I wouldn’t want to bad mouth my employer, BIG NO NO in an interview, DON’T ever do that, no matter how bad the situation is. I came up with an answer explaining about my religion activity experience where I didn’t get a role on a performance so I felt really disappointed, but that’s just a fair thing because I missed some practices due to my workload. I managed to still come and join the practices weekly and I finally got the role because they saw how determined I was. She asked (again) in details on what made me feel disappointed, why did I think I wasn’t chosen, and how did I overcome the situation.
And that’s all, to wrap it up, she asked if I had questions for her. I asked her name because she didn’t introduce herself at the beginning (different recruiter on the AD and FI), then I asked if all my answers were clear enough or not, only to show my politeness. But she smiled and said “Sorry I can’t provide you any feedback. You will get the result in 2-4 weeks” I understood that she had misinterpret my question and didn’t want to take it any further so I said sorry and I thanked her for her time, shook her hand, and made my way out. 40 minutes of interview felt longer inside that room.
Red Revival 