Simulated

Interview Reflection
Kawther Ebrahim Alsaffar - 201201868
Market Yourself GSP 5203 Miss Eman AlSahmlawi

B a h r a i n P o l y t e c h n i c

Component 1

This whole experience has been a very beneficial one for me. I have learnt a lot
during this process, and I gained a lot of knowledge that will definitely help me when
I apply for a job later on.

Even though I already had a CV that I used to apply for internships and programs
before taking this course, which made the process of writing the CV a little easier, I
still learnt a lot of new things that improved my skills in writing CVs. Those things
included mentioning the work experiences first, and describing what my
responsibilities were in each experience. After doing that, I felt that this added more
value to my CV, and made me look more skilled and professional. I already had a lot
of Web Media skills and experiences, but for the assistant management part, I had to
research the requirements and qualifications for the job, and this made me look
deeper into my experiences and achievements, and I discovered some skills that I
had but never mentioned before. I believe this added to my CVs value, as it now has
a new set of skills that I only recently paid attention to due to this experience, which
is very beneficial to the jobs I will apply for in the future.

Another interesting part of this experience was writing the coverletter, as I did not
know of its importance before. It gave me space to express my passion and interest
in both the job and the company. Also, I felt like it gave me a chance to attract the
employer through that, and through the summary of skills and most important work
experiences that I had. Now that I look back on the times I applied for internships at
several companies and did not get any reply from them, I realized that the situation
might have been different if I had included a coverletter in the content of the email
that I sent them instead of just the attachment of the CV. If I had done so, I might
have grabbed their attention and formed a more personal connection that says a lot
about me as a person.

The interview itself was also very beneficial to me. In term of preparations before
the interview, I learnt that it is good to research the company in advance. Through
doing that, I was able to relate BAPCOs vision Striving for excellence to my
personality as I always aim for high quality work and success. I also developed a
passion and more interest in the company after knowing more about it, which I
believed showed in the way I answer the interviewers questions. I think that is why
she didnt ask me about the company, as I showed that I have enough knowledge
about it.

Another vital thing I learnt was always asking questions. I have never done this
before, and thought it was not important. However, I learnt that it shows my interest
in the opportunity and increases my chances of getting it.

However, I did face some challenges which I will talk about in the below
components, and how I learned from them.

Component 2

Before attending the interview, I was very positive and confident about it. This is
because I am a generally positive person, and I got confidence from many things that
happened in my life, which developed my communication skills.

These things include life at the polytechnic and in the web media major which
exposes me to a lot of teamwork and talking to people like actors and asking them if
they can help by acting in the videos we make. This made a huge advancement in my
communication skills, which helped me in the interview. Other things that helped in
my confidence and communication skills were the many interviews I experienced
from the programs I participated in such as The Pioneers, and the internships I
applied for. Also, during my work experiences I communicated with general
managers and fellow employees, which made me more comfortable going in the
interview and talking about myself and explaining my ideas.

Another experience that taught me a lot was a video I did for the polytechnic where I
had to interview students about their achievements. It gave me the chance to see
and avoid the mistakes some of them did, and learn from their good behaviors.


Component 3

Before going into the interview, I used some references online to better help me
prepare for the interview.

One of the references was a video about the nonverbal mistakes in an interview. It
confirmed the answer to a question I was not sure of, which is to do a handshake
with the interviewer or not. It clearly instructed that a handshake is important, and it
can help in creating a good impression if it was done properly. So, I made sure I do
that in the interview.

One more reference was also beneficial as it said that we should arrive 10 15
minutes before the interview. I was intending to do that, but unfortunately, I faced
printing issues, which made me arrive only 3 minutes earlier. This caused me to be
under some stress, which made my thoughts a little over the place in the beginning
of the interview. However, due to my experiences with interviews, I managed to
overcome this challenge and give good answers to the questions.


Conclusion

Overall, I am very satisfied with what I have learnt which benefited me a lot. So, the
next time I have an interview, I will make sure I research the company, write a good
coverletter that shows my interest and passion and attract the employer, and ask
questions at the end to confirm my interest in the position.

One of the things I will improve is making sure I arrive 15 minutes earlier by
preparing everything in advance, so that I can familiarize myself with the place, and
keep my composure during the interview and be relaxed to seem even more
confident, and give an even better impression about myself to the interviewer.