My first-ever interview

 

Hey Explorers! This is CH again, back with a new experience—my first-ever interview!

In today’s blog, I'll be sharing this memorable experience, and I especially want to frame every moment of that day as a beautiful memory so that in the future, I can look back on it with fondness.

So let’s dive into it.

15th August 2024

I received a call that I had been shortlisted for a face-to-face interview for our college’s alumni association, SPECANCIENS. I was so excited! I was instructed to prepare a resume, so I put in all my efforts to build the best one possible. Joining SPECANCIENS was my objective, so my resume needed to reflect my interest and showcase the necessary skills.

I explored Canva to find the perfect template, took advice from Dinesh Bhaiya to help me write it, and got some help from ChatGPT to make it concise.

17th August 2024

Bad day. The interview was postponed to 24th August 2024, but I got extra time to review my resume and make changes.

23rd August 2024

Finally, I received a call confirming that my interview—the final round—was scheduled for the next day. I was advised to come prepared with my resume, formal attire, and interview preparation. I wasn’t sure what to prepare, but I believed my confidence, honesty, and skills would be enough.

24th August 2024

I prepared my bag, and for a formal look, I wore my favorite dress. Perfect!  

In the last hour, I went to room G31 and was told to wait in the seminar hall for a few minutes. Many others were there with their preparation papers, so I thought I’d have some introductory conversations with them.

Everyone was going into the interview room, but it was taking a long time—15 to 25 minutes per person. I had a time limit; I had to leave by 4:15. But I decided to wait and see when my turn would come. Fingers crossed. 🤞

At 4:00 PM, it was finally my turn. Akka signaled me to go in. So I opened the door and walked into the room. Both the president, Shireesh Kumar Rammurthy Sir, and the secretary, Thakur Akshay Singh Sir, were seated there. They asked me to sit and scanned my resume.

"Quite an impressive and heavy-weight resume," they said.

They then asked, "Our first question to you is, how have you achieved so much? I've seen people with high skill sets lose interest in the association or struggle to work with people with fewer skills. Would you still be willing to be a part of it? Or would you leave if sometimes we ask you to do tasks like interacting with guests or offering them tea? Would you feel bad about that kind of work?"

Me: "No, Sir. It’s not like that. I won’t feel bad about anything; I'll do whatever is required."

They: "Okay, so assuming everything on your resume is true, we will give you priority. Answer our questions and one quiz, and then you may leave."

Me: "Okay, Sir."

They: "Who is the father of C?"

Me: (without hesitation) "Dennis Ritchie."

They: "Who is the father of Java?"

Me: "James Gosling."

They: "Now, answer our quiz. No one has solved it yet."

Me: "Okay, Sir."

They: "I have a neck but no head. What am I?"

Me: (thinking) "Headless? Headless Nick from Harry Potter?"

They: "No, we want you to think out of the box, not out of this world."

Me: "Okay, Sir." (thinking for a few minutes) "Is it a bottle?"

They: (with excitement) "You’re selected! Congratulations! Now go, and don’t tell anyone about this."

Me: (with a happy song playing in my mind) I danced with joy inside, went back to the seminar hall, grabbed my bag, and headed for biometric attendance. But I was also thinking that, unlike everyone else, my interview ended in just 10 minutes. Quite surprising, isn’t it?

Later that night, we had a video call meeting for introductions and the distribution of tasks. I was assigned to the reporting team, received my joining letter at midnight, and updated my LinkedIn profile.

I’m a proud associate now—woah! The whole night was sleepless with excitement.

And in the morning, our respected president and vice-president congratulated us. I also received congratulatory messages on LinkedIn.

The best part of SPECANCIENS is the energy level of everyone in the association. As they say, we are all like a family...

Now I believe that I was rejected from ARSARENA because I was meant to be a part of SPECANCIENS!!! This strengthens my belief in the saying, "Everything happens for a reason." Another interesting chapter of my life has started, filled with new things to learn and explore.

So this was me, Celestial V, aka CH, signing off for today. I promise to return with a new experience to share.

Thank you so much for reading!