Congratulations! You’ve passed the first stage of scholarship selection and are now headed to the second and equally crucial stage—the interview.
If your scholarship does not require an aptitude test, this will likely be the last stage in your scholarship application. Yes, the stakes are high but hey, you now have some time to prepare for it. Let’s make the best use of it!
The thing about scholarships is that you do not know the number of people that applied and the number of applicants who will receive the scholarship. Each year is different, making scholarships unpredictable. This means that you’ve got to aim high as the elimination game is high and strict.
A little introduction about myself, I received the MOHH Healthcare Merit Award in 2013. According to the Healthcare Scholarship website, this award is for “promising students with strong academic track records and a passion to pursue careers in public healthcare.” A young 18 turning 19 year old me took this scholarship with a bond for 4 years after graduation.
I remember preparing for the scholarship interview and wishing I had some tips to follow. Well, I hope that this article will do just that! Even though this article is for scholarship interviews, it can be applied to job or internship interviews in the future as well. Here are 4 tips for you.
1. Know your environment
If your interview is at a physical location, make sure you know how to make your way there without being late. I personally went to the location itself from my house and calculated how long I took then gave a 15 minutes buffer on the actual day.
Showing up early (that means not on time or late) gives the right first impression. You should also portray independence—if you have caring, overprotective parents, they can wait elsewhere instead of going with you to the door.
Another benefit of knowing your physical location is that once you have been there, you can mentally prepare yourself for the environment.
If you are preparing for an online interview, well, you know your environment the best! Make sure that your background will not be distracting. Keep it simple! A simple wall will be perfect. Ensure that you have a good internet connection to last through the interview. The last thing that you want is to appear glitched and miss your important 1 minute pitch. It goes without saying then that you should have your electronic preparations done. This means your audio and visual accessories should be working well.
2. Preparing the right clothes
You always hear the phrase “dress to impress” for your dates. Well, I will like to add “dress to impress your future employer”. As much as we will put in the effort for a date, we should also put in effort for this interview! Whatever you wear, make sure that it is:
- Professional. This means not revealing (e.g. not too tight, not too low)
- Comfortable. You will be sitting, standing and walking in these. Make sure it’s something you can breathe and move around in. You don’t want to pop a button as you walk out of your interview room!
It will be great if you have parents or older siblings who can give you feedback about your outfit before your interview. Do not worry if you do not have the right clothes. I had to buy new professional clothes before the interview.
3. Prepare for the potential questions
I will categorise interview questions into general questions and job specific questions.
General questions
Before your interview, your interviewers only know you on paper such as your grades, achievements etc. You are so much more than that and your interviewers would want to know who you are. The fastest way to do that is for you to pitch yourself.
Therefore, these general cliche questions below are worth asking
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- How do you manage conflicts?
- Are you a team leader or a follower?
Job specific questions
Depending on the industry that you are applying for, there will be various job specific questions that will be asked. Some may look like this:
- How will you contribute to our company?
- What do you think is the future of xxx industry in Singapore?
- What are the challenges that you know xxx company / xxx industry has faced and how have we overcome? How do you think you would have changed the situation?
- What is one thing that you would like to change in xxx industry?
Often these questions are asked to determine if you are a good fit for the industry or company. If you know that you have room to grow, be honest and positive about it. The last thing that you would want to do is to say something you are not convinced about because your interviewers will sure be able to tell.
4. Practice
Practice, practice, practice. I know. It’s boring and mundane to practice but this will help you calm your nerves and prepare for what lies ahead of you on the actual day.
You could practice just a week before the interview. Grab a friend/sibling/parent to be the interviewer. Learn to maintain eye contact and notice if you have any habits that you would want to refrain on. This helped me as I noticed that I often purse my lips when I am shy, nervous or awkward and I practised to ensure I didn’t look like a block of wood when not pursing my lips and instead, learn to smile.
If you are doing a zoom interview, then it will help to practice looking and smiling at the camera confidently. Not the creepy kind of smile, for sure!
I hope that these 4 tips have been helpful for you if you are preparing for a scholarship interview. Regardless of how it goes, I am sure the process is a learning experience in itself. So do the best to learn well and I wish you all the best!
Find these tips helpful? Your seniors have more tips to give! Check out our upcoming event, Seniors Say, and hear from your seniors as they give advice on Poly life!
For more details, click here.
Sign up now @ bit.ly/SeniorsSay
