JPA-MARA Scholarship Interview Experience

Assalamualaikum and Hello everyone who might reading this post.

On 12th of April 2016,I got a message from five-digits-number which said "TAHNIAH! ANDA BERJAYA DIPANGGIL TEMUDUGA PROGRAM JPA MARA 2016" I was so excitedwhen I read that message (screamed a little) and I told my mom straightaway because I was with my mom at my grandparents' house. Then, I went home and print the surat tawaran and told my dad about it. Ok let's stop here.

I went for the interview on 18.04.2016 (which was on Monday) and the place for the interview was at Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Perak. I arrived at UTP's Chancellor Hall earlier than the time stated in the letter but the lines to register were already panjang panjang. All the students that went for the interview had to line up by what alphabet they got. Mine was 1L so I had to line up at the table with letter L labelled on it. When I already at the front of the line, the person in charge for the registration at my table asked me to sign at a paper and give him my original identity card and documents that they want (stated in the offer letter). Then he gave me a tag with number on it. Mine was 2 and the tag was blue coloured. Then he asked me to take 'Tangga 3' in the Chancellor Hall.

So, I went to Stairs 3 and went up and sat on a seat and listened to the briefing by JPA's officer about what we will go through that day. So, since everyone got their own interview room number (stated on the offer letter) like 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B, 2C, etc.... those who got number 1 will be interviewed first and do the Cambridge Online Test in the evening while those who got number 2 will do vice versa. Since I got 1L, I went for the interview session first which was held at Block B (next to UTP Swimming Pool and in front of the mosque) It took about 5 Minutes to walk there but don't worry, they provided a bus to take us there. 

As we arrived there, we sat in a room and were called by the letter that we got. Only candidates with number 1 - 5 were there. In my group, there was no number 1 candidate which means that person didnt come for the interview and test that day. So, there were only 4 candidates in my group. I wish I was alone (-_-) there was a group that only a person came for the interview. Lucky him. The Interview was held for 50 minutes per group. 50 minutes for just Q&A between the candidates and the two panels. 

When I entered the interview room, I sit at my place according to the number arrangement (which means I was the first as I got number 2). Coldness started to attack my body but I was so glad and grateful that my heart wasn't beating fast (Might be because I already felt comfortable to speak english confidently). Thennn, the panels looked at each other maybe to give signal it's time to ask. Then they started to give us the questions. 

So here's the list of questions that my panels gave to my group

1.   "What is the programme did you choose for the scholarship, What field do you want to study, Where do you want to study and Why do you choose that ?"
2.  Family background
3. About engineers in Malaysia and foreign countries ( Are they on the same level or something relate to that)
4. Proton and Honda issue. (Since one of my groupmate talked about this issue when he answered the previous question, the panels asked something bout this)
5. Random questions. Mine was what the goverment or Malaysian do to help people in poverty

50 minutes passed, we went out of then room and went back to the Chancellor Hall. I went back tomy homestay after that since the time that I would take the COT was at 2 p.m.

For the test, all the candidates sat for CPSQ and TSA. CPSQ is a personality test which only takes about 10-15 minutes to answer. Just be honest on this test lol. For the TSA, I think this test was made to test your language skills and IQ. If you attended UTP's Educamp, it was the same test you took except the questions are different lah takkanlah sama pula. (It has calculations too)

Then I went homed after I did my tests. Yay! 

Some tips ; 

• Be well-prepared. Care about the current situations in our country
• Be honest if you don't know anything about your questions especially the random questions. Be honest and apologized to them in a polite way. (As polite as you can!) Some of my friends that I met that day said that their panels asked them about a drug they never heard of and even some policies that we learned in Sejarah 
• Be friendly and make friends. By doing this, you could reduce your nervousness or fear.
• Try to speak in English before the interview. Especially when you are not a good english speaker (like me). Be comfortable speaking and talking in that language. When you are comfortable speaking in English, answering your panels' questions won't be a big problem. Trust me. 
• Don't ever judge someone by their looks or feels small when you see someone who dressed well that. Have Confidence! Confidence is the key ;)

So, that's my experience. I wish and pray that I will be chosen to be one of JPA-MARA's scholars. InsyaAllah, Amin.

Till then. Bye, Assalamualaikum