HOT STUFF : MY MARA PILN 2011 SCHOLARSHIP INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE :)

Assalamualaikum,

hello guys ! 

i am back again with more stories to be told and more experiences to be shared with all of you my dear readers.

YES ! finally my interview weeks had come to its end .. whoaaaa...i am so glad and relieved..

these two weeks was a really hectic with interviews, managing documents, printing resumes and lots of stuff 

need to be done. Well, this is what we call "Kerenah Birokrasi".. 

what? you don't get my idea? Hurm, think for yourself lah ! HAHA..

ok, as promised, I would really love to share my experience of attending the prestigious MARA interview

for Program Ijazah Luar Negara ( PILN ) 2011. 

As usual, please take notes to all will be shared here because it MAY be important and helpful though..

HAHA..well, i guess so :) 

ok, where is good to begin? HEHE :P

My interview was scheduled on 27th of April 2011 which is on Wednesday approximately at 11.00 AM.

The interview will be held at Pejabat Mara Negeri Johor, Plaza Larkin, JB. Due to my enthusiasm which 

could not be hold anymore, I asked my dad to drive me there earlier so that I arrived there at least an hour 

before the interview started. I woke up as usual to perform Subuh prayer and continued to sleep. HAHA..

Well, it was just 6.45 AM and I was too tired making final preparations for today's interview last night. 

MY DOCUMENTS PREPARATION

At 8.00 AM, I woke up and took my breakfast before heading to the bathroom to prepare myself. I had 

already iron my attires last night so I wore a light blue kemeja lengan panjang + a black slack + a nice blue 

necktie + black belt + a pair of black socks + a pair of black shoes :) smart isn't it ? i like ........

then, we started our journey to JB at 9.00 AM and arrived there at 10.00 AM..when i arrived, the building

was still quiet as not many people are there. Then, we headed to the MARA Office at the third floor.

Gosh, there were not so crowded but yet, there were already candidates waiting at the office with their 

family members. The office was quite small and i bet that if they were many people inside it, there will be 

such a hustle and havoc there. Luckily, it wasn't like that when I arrived. As I arrived there, I met Luqman 

Bukhary, my ex-schoolmate there. Actually, I had noticed him earlier but yet I was quite shy to call him :P

HAHA..then, I headed to the registration counter in which I were required to pass up the documents they 

already asked us to bring along. There were numbers of documents need to be passed up and the officer 

who worked inside the room looked really tired managing all the documents..HUHU...i found that there

were plenty big boxes around the room and it were all full of documents !! How I wish my documents will

be kept safely..safely saved and safely arrived to the Head Quarters ! InsyaAllah :) 

then, i was given a form to be filled in..the form given stated my group and my turn number. 

Luckily, I was in Group A same as Luqman and my turn was number 4..ouhh..lucky number 4 ! 

This year, the interview's format undergone 360 degree changes from the previous years. The interview will

be conducted in groups..each group consisted of 8 candidates. As for the interview session, it will be divided

to 2 parts..first part was to do the instructed task in groups..the second part was the Q's & A's session in 

which each interviewees will be asked only ONE questions regarding the activitiy done earlier and you will 

only given maximum one minute to answer. HUHU....sounds odd right?

We sat for a while, had some chit-chat with each others before being called to take our turn number sticker. 

Then, we were asked to sit nearby the interview room and waited until our turn to come. Before that, we did 

some 'taaruf' session first to know each other a little bit before going into the battle ground, which was the

interview room.  My group consisted of 7 candidates, less 1 person from other groups because there was a

boy who supposed to join our group suddenly gone somewhere and can't be identified..hisyyyyhh~ 

of the 7 people, 4 of us came from SBP, 2 from MRSM, and a person came from Sekolah Teknik.

then, our group was called and we entered the room one by one and took our seats once instructed by the

panels. The panels consisted of three interviewers, 2 male and a female interviewer, and they were extremely

humble too !! TEEHEE !! after the introductory session, the real interview session began. 

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THE GROUP TASK.

We are required to work as a team, to construct a bridge that will passed a gap of 15 cm and to connect the 

edges of two different tables. The bridge shall be made by a kilogram of spaghetti sticks, a bundle of thread,

and a pair of scissors ONLY. The time given was only 30 minutes and we are required to talk aloud in 

English throughout the 30 minutes and based on that, we will be assessed by the panels. To do this in 30 

minutes was merely impossible at the beginning but as it came to the end of the 30 minutes, I realized that it

was not so difficult at all. I was glad because I had been training to do this at home yesterday and had also 

discussed the strategies with my father. Plus, my idea were supported by the whole team. Throughout the 

30 minutes, we talked, conversed, and gave instructions in English - or to be precise, BROKEN English..

HAHA..we all were like mumbling words to anyone in the group and it was a totally bad acting ! HAHA

I laughed at myself when I remembered that ! However, despite the difficulties and big rush to complete the

bridge construction, we managed to build a STRONG bridge that able to withstand a 500 grams sardine can

that was put onto it. PFFFFTTTTTT~ What a relieve !!  

THE Q&A's SESSION.

After successfully building a strong and unique spaghetti bridge, ( a round of applause to us !! ) , we were

asked to be seated according to our turn number and were asked one question each, respectively. 

As the 4th candidates, my one and only question I got was : 

"If we halve the quantity of the spaghetti sticks and we add two times the load, what will your group do to

construct a spaghetti bridge?" 

And my answer was : 

"Well, if we were to be given such materials with the stated quantities, I bet that my group shall maximise the

usage of those materials plus design a more stable and strong bridge. If you look at our earlier product, we

seem to use minimal materials but this one will definitely fail if we maintain it that way. Thus, this is where great

creative thinking skills and excellent team co-operations are needed. Thank you." 

Some other questions were like : 

"Are you a leader? Or you just be a follower?"

"What do you think the purpose of the activity?"

"How do you contribute to the team?"

"In just 20 minutes, can your group completed the same task?" 

So, after all of us finished answering our respective questions, the interview session came to its end. It was 

really quick and I did not managed to enjoy the interview much. HURM~  

After greeting the panels thank you and goodbye, we then walked out from the room. 

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OK, by 12.00 noon, i already in the car, on my way back to Simpang Renggam. The interview took less than 

an hour, maybe 50 minutes or earlier. Therefore, to my conclusion, no need to be fear because it was really 

a leisure and simple interview. The interviewers were humble too..they are not really stern as I expected 

before. Oh God, thanks for giving me the confidence and to let the interview session went on smoothly. 

To family members, teachers and friends..i do really appreciate your prayers and supports. If there is my

'rezeki', it will always be there. 

p/s : i met a *maknyah* couple there ! it was hilarious but kinda freaky too :P