I was called in for the second interview with a private university run by Malays today. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
The interview was set at 9:30 AM. I got there at a little past 9 AM and again saw other people in the waiting room. "Here we go again," I thought. "It's going to be another long wait (the first interview was a long wait as well)." There were four others to be exact. The first candidate was called in at 10 AM. I was the last candidate to be called in and had the luxury of hearing from the other candidates of how their interviews went.
The second interview was a chat with the HR Manager alone. The interviews with the other candidates took approximately 30 minutes each. Two of the younger candidates who were interviewing for their first jobs were told to not focus on the money but to think of the "charity work" that they were about to do in educating the students. LOL.
My interview with the HR Manager took only 10 minutes. Strangely enough, I wasn't given the "charity work" talk like the others. I think she didn't really know what to make of me. She talked a lot about "fitting in". Hmmm.... okay, I get it, she probably thought that I'm too westernized and they are an organization where ALL the female Malays wear hijabs.
There was no discussion about money. She kept saying that it was up to some sort of committee to decide on that. Basically, she was pushing the buck and was not being transparent. Surely there is some sort of ball park figure that the university is able to pay? When I said that I was sure that the university had a pay bracket for the role that I was applying for, the HR Manager eluded the issue.
When I asked about the maximum number of teaching hours that lecturers have to do, she told me she didn't know. Then, she said maybe 20. Yes, a HR Manager who has NO idea of what should be a standard university policy. She proceeds to say that lecturers when given low number of teaching hours say nothing but make a lot of noise when asked to teach a lot. Hmmm...... a pretty unprofessional comment made in what should be an "interview".
Personally, I walked away today thinking:
1. I don't fit into the work culture of this organization where they have absolutely NO respect for my time. Making candidates sit around and wait to be called is just a waste of time. They didn't have the common sense to stagger the interview candidates.
2. This is the ONLY private university that I've been to that didn't have ANY sign of buzz and student life going on on campus.... strange....
3. It seems like a seriously Malay kampung where anyone who presents themselves differently (ie female Malay not wearing the hijab) will be harshly judged. You can see this on their faces.
4. People work for money. It is just not right to tell candidates to think of the work that they are about to do as charity. I'm sure that the candidates would be going to charitable organizations if they wanted to do charity work. The only charity that I see here is the organization. I didn't realize that the university was a "charity" case.
5. This place seems to hire a majority of Malay staff (something like 98% from my observation with only two Indians spotted while I was there and NO Chinese staff).
6. The HR Manager was anything BUT transparent. She mentioned about benefits but elaborated on NONE.
7. Today's "interview" was an absolute waste of time as I saw no point of the need for it.
8. It seemed like they were hiring a lot of people. Is this an indication of the high staff turnover? I have never seen other universities hire this many people at one go.
9. When asked if the university was growing in student numbers, the HR Manager gave me the evil eye and mentioned what I consider a small number of new students. I guess the idea of what constitutes a large number of students is relative.
In short, all the signs are against it. I've given myself the opportunity to find out more about them. Now, I KNOW that this is not a place that I can nor want to be a part of. When a university hires lecturers for early childhood education who are fresh out of grad school (as in the case of one particular candidate who was there today) with absolutely ZERO experience in the field, it is a bad sign because that indicates that the university can't be bothered with the relevance of real world experience. A lecturer who can only impart what he has learnt from books (with no real world application at all) is of little value as they have nothing much to impart to the students.
The other candidates who they were there for the second interview were about to fill roles of TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) lecturers and guess what --- they don't feel comfortable talking in English! Hmmm........
I am not one for the segregation of the races. A lot of the same kind is never good. If Malays want to be competitive, they have to interact with the other races as well. Religion, as the majority of Malays interpret it is what is keeping them from progressing. Note that it is not the religion that is at fault but their interpretation of is that is hindering them from looking past their blinkers. It is important to have open minds particularly in a place that claims to be a university.
The interview was set at 9:30 AM. I got there at a little past 9 AM and again saw other people in the waiting room. "Here we go again," I thought. "It's going to be another long wait (the first interview was a long wait as well)." There were four others to be exact. The first candidate was called in at 10 AM. I was the last candidate to be called in and had the luxury of hearing from the other candidates of how their interviews went.
The second interview was a chat with the HR Manager alone. The interviews with the other candidates took approximately 30 minutes each. Two of the younger candidates who were interviewing for their first jobs were told to not focus on the money but to think of the "charity work" that they were about to do in educating the students. LOL.
My interview with the HR Manager took only 10 minutes. Strangely enough, I wasn't given the "charity work" talk like the others. I think she didn't really know what to make of me. She talked a lot about "fitting in". Hmmm.... okay, I get it, she probably thought that I'm too westernized and they are an organization where ALL the female Malays wear hijabs.
There was no discussion about money. She kept saying that it was up to some sort of committee to decide on that. Basically, she was pushing the buck and was not being transparent. Surely there is some sort of ball park figure that the university is able to pay? When I said that I was sure that the university had a pay bracket for the role that I was applying for, the HR Manager eluded the issue.
When I asked about the maximum number of teaching hours that lecturers have to do, she told me she didn't know. Then, she said maybe 20. Yes, a HR Manager who has NO idea of what should be a standard university policy. She proceeds to say that lecturers when given low number of teaching hours say nothing but make a lot of noise when asked to teach a lot. Hmmm...... a pretty unprofessional comment made in what should be an "interview".
Personally, I walked away today thinking:
1. I don't fit into the work culture of this organization where they have absolutely NO respect for my time. Making candidates sit around and wait to be called is just a waste of time. They didn't have the common sense to stagger the interview candidates.
2. This is the ONLY private university that I've been to that didn't have ANY sign of buzz and student life going on on campus.... strange....
3. It seems like a seriously Malay kampung where anyone who presents themselves differently (ie female Malay not wearing the hijab) will be harshly judged. You can see this on their faces.
4. People work for money. It is just not right to tell candidates to think of the work that they are about to do as charity. I'm sure that the candidates would be going to charitable organizations if they wanted to do charity work. The only charity that I see here is the organization. I didn't realize that the university was a "charity" case.
5. This place seems to hire a majority of Malay staff (something like 98% from my observation with only two Indians spotted while I was there and NO Chinese staff).
6. The HR Manager was anything BUT transparent. She mentioned about benefits but elaborated on NONE.
7. Today's "interview" was an absolute waste of time as I saw no point of the need for it.
8. It seemed like they were hiring a lot of people. Is this an indication of the high staff turnover? I have never seen other universities hire this many people at one go.
9. When asked if the university was growing in student numbers, the HR Manager gave me the evil eye and mentioned what I consider a small number of new students. I guess the idea of what constitutes a large number of students is relative.
In short, all the signs are against it. I've given myself the opportunity to find out more about them. Now, I KNOW that this is not a place that I can nor want to be a part of. When a university hires lecturers for early childhood education who are fresh out of grad school (as in the case of one particular candidate who was there today) with absolutely ZERO experience in the field, it is a bad sign because that indicates that the university can't be bothered with the relevance of real world experience. A lecturer who can only impart what he has learnt from books (with no real world application at all) is of little value as they have nothing much to impart to the students.
The other candidates who they were there for the second interview were about to fill roles of TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) lecturers and guess what --- they don't feel comfortable talking in English! Hmmm........
I am not one for the segregation of the races. A lot of the same kind is never good. If Malays want to be competitive, they have to interact with the other races as well. Religion, as the majority of Malays interpret it is what is keeping them from progressing. Note that it is not the religion that is at fault but their interpretation of is that is hindering them from looking past their blinkers. It is important to have open minds particularly in a place that claims to be a university.
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