Surprise Despite Blunder!

I went for a job interview at Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) this afternoon. This was a surprise job opportunity that was presented to me one day through e-mail… perhaps I may have sent in a job application to before, but I can’t really recall coz I have sent out hundreds of resumes to many companies over the past months.

Thinking back, I’m still not sure how it all happened. Coz it’s rare that someone would just e-mail me ‘out of the blue’ with a one-line sentence, asking if I would be interested in a job & without giving any jobs details at all, until the interview. Indeed, it’s a strange way to get a job… & many blunders did happen along the way…

Firstly, I arrived at the SNEF office at Keppel Towers (Tanjong Pager), only to be told when I asked one of the staff that this isn’t the office which this Mr. Koh was at. I tried to call the number stated in his e-mail, but it was directed to a common switch-board telephone number!

Then I walked towards the lift area & tried to call & speak with the telephone operator, only to be suddenly asked, “Are you the one standing at the lift area?” I turned around & realized that I was actually speaking to the lady sitting at the reception inside that office!

I told her my problem & she managed to contact Mr. Koh & confirmed that he was located at the other SNEF office at Tanglin Shopping Centre. She wrote down the name of the shopping centre & floor level, passed the piece of paper to me & I went downstairs to the lift lobby to flag a cab.

Then the next few blunders started to take place…

I asked the security guard if I could call for a cab at this lobby & he said, “Just go outside & wait for a taxi.” So that’s what I did. I stood outside the lobby & waited in the afternoon heat for a taxi to arrive… but none did.

Feeling a bit frustrated coz I was already late, I decided to call for a City Cab. This phone operator asked me where I was & I told her that I’m at Keppel Towers. She asked if it’s the one at Robinson Road & I said that I’m not sure, but its near Tanjong Pagar MRT station & Amara Hotel. So she said that that’s the one… so I stood there waiting for my cab to arrive.

It didn’t arrive… even though I received this automated voice message telling me that my taxi had arrived. I went inside the building & realized that there was actually another lobby area at the other side of the building! I quickly walked there to see if the taxi had arrived, but there was no taxi in sight…

As I turned out to walk back to the other lobby & suddenly I saw the address 10 Hoe Chiang Road… Opps! Bummer! It’s not Robinson Road! Is there actually two Keppel Towers in Singapore? Argh… I didn’t have time to figure out, so I quickly walked back to the other lobby & thank God, I saw a taxi that had just turned into the lobby to alight a passenger. So I went into the taxi & gave the destination as Tanglin Shopping Centre.

This taxi was interesting… it was full of display items, miniature toys, as well as Classics & Oldies CD covers! The taxi driver is a very nice man, who chatted with me, while I was on my journey to Tanglin Shopping Centre. In fact, I actually enjoyed listening to his Classics compilation CD & felt more relaxed from the rush… He’s by far, one of the most cheerful taxi drivers that I have ever met & also told me some stories that he had come across in his 9 years of being a taxi driver & I chatted with him too, till we reached the destination.

I think it’s my first or second time being at this Shopping Centre, so I walked right in & took the first lift up. When I entered the lift, I realized that this lift only went up to the 6th storey & I needed to get to the 10th storey! I thought to myself, never mind, I’ll just run up the next 4 floors via the staircase & get to the 10th floor.

But it didn’t happen that way, as I thought it normally should. The lift door opened at the 6th floor & the huge smell of medicine swarmed around me! I felt like I had just entered into a hospital ward! I took the staircase up, but realized that just one floor above was a lot of construction going on & there was no way that I could pass through the 7th storey. So I had to walk down the stairs back to the 6th floor.

This time I asked a lady to direct me to the lifts which I can take to the 10th floor. She couldn’t speak English very well, but I could roughly make out her words, so I ended up wondering around this floor with pungent medicine smell.

Finally, I got to that lift area & took the lift to the 10th floor. I walked in, gave my name & the reception lady smiled at me, coz she had been expecting me, 40 minutes ago, but I didn’t arrive & even had the reception at the other office call this office & all the hoo-ha that took place, like Mr. Koh being shocked that I had ended up at the other office!

Anyway, I was handed this application form to fill up & my first thought that went through my mind was – “Oh great… I’m 40 minutes late & I still have to fill up this 3-page application form… Argh…”

As I sat down to fill up this application form, I realized that it wasn’t a typical ‘fill-in-the-blanks’ job application form. The second page had questions like “Describe your career objective in less than 50 words” & other questions like “Describe what kind of company would motivate me to excel in my work”.

Argh! I was already late & still had to think how to answer these questions? I was getting a bit fed-up, so I just answered them in point form… especially since all the questions stated that the answer should not be more than 50 words.

While I was filling up the form, another lady came up to me & asked me if I’m here for the interview. Embarrassed, I said yes & she smiled, told me to pass the application form to the reception when I had finished & walked back inside the office. Oh dear… I must have made quite an impression already…

After handing the filled up application form back to the reception, I walked around the place, browsing through brochures, in case I was asked about any of these during the interview. The same lady suddenly walked up to me again, so I quickly put down the brochure & got ready to go inside. She laughed & told me to take my time to read, coz Mr. Koh is still on the phone & will ask for me in about 10 minutes time.

My prompt reaction to put down the brochure must have shocked her, that’s why she laughed, I think… but I find her quite cute in her actions & body language… plus she looked quite cheerful too. Oh yes, cute school girl kind of voice too!

As I looked around the place, I noticed this row of awards displayed & walked closer to have a look. Suddenly, I saw this Mr. Koh’s name! He’s the Executive Director of SNEF! Wow! I’m going to have an interview with him? Scary! And all the more since I was already so late… Oh dear, I was so shocked that I just stared at that plague for several seconds…

A few minutes later, this cute sounding girl came out to usher me into Mr. Koh’s office. She told me that he’s the Executive Director & I acknowledged verbally, though in my mind I was thinking, “Yeah… I just found out too… from looking at those plagues on display… Oh dear…”

I went into the room & shook hands with Mr. Koh. He laughed & remarked that he didn’t expect me to turn up at the other building! He even asked, “Don’t you think it’s dangerous to go to the wrong building?” And I apologized repeatedly in embarrassment. Oh dear… what a way to start this interview with this high ranking guy…

Surprisingly, the interview went on quite smoothly. I was asked about my involvement at Meritus Mandarin Singapore & told that this job requires me to handle large scale projects & the current project on how to re-design jobs to help older workers stay employable, even till a later retirement age, one of the industries included the hospitality industry.

He asked if I was interested & I said yes, coz I had some experience working with hotels & I am keen about coordinating events & projects. I found this nature of work challenging coz it isn’t monotonous & there are always new things to learn.

Other questions were asked, such as “Tell me more about yourself, which you have not yet told me” & “Which schools were you from?” In fact, he commented why my resume didn’t state which schools I had attended. Hmm… time to revise your resume, Matthew…

In a sense, I kind of like his style coz he’s straight-forward in conversation. He looks serious, but not stern too... plus he’s a male boss & my immediate supervisor is a male too! I’m quite glad about that, coz I already had a small bit of unhappy issues with female bosses.

Following questions include, “What is your expected salary?” & “If I give you the job, can you start tomorrow?” I said yes & laughed to myself, coz it’s a good time to start since tomorrow is 1st March, the start of a new month!

In fact, when he asked that I almost couldn’t believe it, coz he was actually offering me the job right then & there… at the first interview! And after all the hoo-ha & blunders that had happened in the afternoon!

I was glad to be offered the job & I accepted it, even though my starting salary is slightly lower than what I had back in StarHub. But I knew that there were opportunities to progress in this company & it wasn’t restrictive like at StarHub, where I had to have qualifications & experience like Engineering & IT, in order to apply for another position in the company. Plus, it’s like a union, so the working conditions have to be fair & reasonable.

Before I left his office, he handed me this big file containing two reports that I should read through before coming to work tomorrow. Plus do some research on news articles about this project that I will be handling. It was a daunting task, but I was glad to be offered a job.

Leaving the building, I still couldn’t believe that I had suddenly got a job. I really thank God, because it all seemed so sudden & unreal… plus, this office is located in town & walking out of the building, once again, I found myself near Orchard area! YES! Matthew Sum is back at Orchard Road! Yeehaa! =)

Yeah, it’s going to be a totally new, complex & uphill task to work as a Projects Executive at SNEF. But at least it’s a good start… & I thank God for it. To be honest, I do feel afraid after reading & printing out those research articles… & I even called Rebecca to ask her to pray for me, coz I was panicking. This is my first time at this job & I’m a bit scared. But thank God, Rebecca was assuring & prayed for me… She even sounded very cute, when she said, “Okay… close your eyes!” Awww… so cute & innocent! Melted my heart… Thank God for her… coz if not for her, I would not have anyone else in my family who would be willing to hear me out & listen to my fears… =)