I did a "Sarah Palin" Interview

Today I had one of the most disastrous interviews ever.

I had been shortlisted for an interview in one of the international organisations.

But what is an international organisation (IO)? UN, World Bank, IMF and the Asian Development Bank are some of the IOs.

I had tried contacting people who have applied to IOs and sought their advice on the format, questions and expectations in the interview but couldn't find anyone who has made it to the interview stage. So I guess I must be terribly lucky this time.

I never prepare for interviews because I never bother guessing what questions I may be asked. It's like guessing the questions in the exam. Well, unlike the health and safety test that I took recently where the only way to pass the exam is to memorise the questions and answers, questions of "real interviews" are unpredictable! Furthermore, the most popular tip that people will recommend is to "be yourself".

So, off I went to the interview.

I have overlooked that the interview from a private company is different from an IO! How different?

Private companies are always interested in what you've done and how you could contribute to the bottom line of the company but in an IO, as I found out today, it's about what must be done and how you can contribute to the WORLD! See the difference?

IOs deal with the very complicated matters like reducing poverty and improving the quality of life and the environment. If governments have taken decades and even centuries to find solutions to these problems, asking me about "what I must do" is like picking someone on the street and ask if he knows how to operate the Hadron Collider!

But these are just examples. What I went through was a little more uncomfortable.

It's about infrastructure development. Highway in particular. If I had been asked about the engineering aspect, I would have been so happy.

However, it's related to establishing a case for infrastructure development in the context of poverty eradication, regional development as well as establishing three key elements in the roadmap for assessing its level of success. How would I have done it?

These were not asked together but divided into parts of the interview.

It was certainly beyond the realm of engineering and finance. I would imagine it has a little substance of sustainable development too. It was a little bit of everything actually!

Under pressure, my response was all over the place. Had I been given 2 hours to write about it, I would still struggle. So you can imagine what it would be like if I had to respond immediately after the interviewers!

It was terrible. I learnt that if all systems fail, just act confident! Well, that was the only thing I hung on to actually! Wait a sec, writing this suddenly reminded me of Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric.

The outcome of the interview is a few months from now. The interview was an excellent experience for me but as much as I hate to admit now, I think I have done a "Sarah Palin" interview! This is what I mean: