PIDM Scholarship Announcement!

That is also if you are waiting...

I was dreaming of an orange snake before I got a surprise call from PIDM on 27 July 2012  (Friday) in the afternoon. The conversation was like this:

PIDM: May I speak to ...? 

Me: Zz..Yes, speaking...zzz

PIDM: I'm from PIDM. 

Me: Ahh ha...

PIDM: You know why I'm calling you?

Me: (LOL)...erm...I think so...

PIDM: Hahaha... You already expected?

Me: Haha...ermm...

PIDM: ..Congratulations! You got the scholarship from PIDM!

Me: Thank you.. Thank you!

PIDM: I'm just telling you first so that you can sleep peacefully. 

Me: LOL

PIDM: I'm still drafting the letter now. You should able to receive the letter by next week. I'll send to your house by Pos Laju Courier. I'll give you a call before I send it.. if I remember...Then you'll have to sign and send it back to us within a certain time period. On the 21 and 22 Sept (Fri & Sat) you'll have to attend the Mentoring program and the scholarship award ceremony. 

Me: Okok! But..September already start schooling...

PIDM: Well...you'll have to skip class or else you don't get the scholarship..haha...You'll have to choose one!

Me: Okok..I'll just take one day off. Thank you.

......

As she said, I'm sort of expected? I think so... the fact that I was terribly happy after the interview somehow showed a positive sign. PIDM's interview was the most spontaneous and straightforward interview I'd ever undergone. Why spontaneous? I thought that they would ask questions that focused on their company, so I revised a lot about the company...even memorized the board of directors' names which remains idle in my brain. Besides, PIDM asked a lot of detailed personal life questions which weren't asked from other interviews. I'm happy when I know that I'm selected to receive the scholarship, but I was way more elated after the interview was over that day. 

The scholarship will be offered on a yearly basis to a maximum of ten successful applicants, to undertake up to 4 years of undergraduate studies locally.

The statement just makes me feel honoured. Just like the drama's dialogue by a villain, "Sometimes, I'm just too proud of myself!"

But...Was I too lucky recently or were there very scarce number of applicants since they required applicants to write 1 000-words essay or was it because I was really a deserving student? 

PIDM Scholarship Interview 2012

Somehow, I was very happy when the interview was over...I kept on whistling and smiled to myself as I walked out from the PIDM office in Quill 7! I don't know if it was because it's finally over or because I thought that I did it perfectly?!  :P

The journey to Quill 7 was fast as the KTM has revamped their system to be more efficient. Thus, I reached KL Sentral earlier by an hour. 

Then, I went to the PIDM office in Level 12. There were refreshments being served on the table for interviewees! The curry puff was crunchy and delicious. Then, a woman came in and check my result slips and then gave me RM 40 for transport allowance! That was so cool! I got food and money just for going there! If you are staying further than KL, you'll get more for transport allowance. How thoughtful PIDM was! Lovely :)

Then, I was called into the interview room. There were 4 people altogether. First one was a Chinese lady, second was a Malay guy (chief financial officer - CFO of PIDM), thirdly was a foreign lady probably hails from UK and lastly was a Chinese lady (public relations something...).

All of them introduced their names and post in PIDM. All of them had a copy of my application form including the 1000 words essay.

Some of the questions being asked were:

- Have you had your breakfast? (the only question asked by the first lady)

- Introduce yourself

- What course and uni you get?

- How will getting into uni change your life?

- What's UPU? That's because I mentioned that...

- What is your weakness ? (asked by the CFO --I love this question :)

- Did your siblings have scholarships as well and what were they doing?

- How will the course change your life?

- What do you mean by policy development as written in your essay ? (asked by the last lady)

- Why don't you become a teacher instead since language is your strength? 

- Why do you think that language is your strength? (you see...they would continue to ask questions based on your reply from the previous question)

- Who is your role model? (damn...I didn't prepare for this)

- You mentioned you were a promoter...what products did you promote? (wahh...they really wanted to know until so detailed meh..)

- What do you know about PIDM?

- Why should we give you this scholarship?

- Any questions you would like to ask us?

All the interviewers had a great sense of humour and they are generous with laughter especially the foreign lady...Well, I'm good with English sense of humour :D

The last lady always asked critical and difficult questions while the first lady and CFO was pretty quiet.

The whole interview session took about 20-30 minutes and I did crapped a lot...well..there were 4 interviewers with great posts and they were all wearing black coat like Men in Black! It may looked intense but I actually had a great fun time in the meeting room.

Scholarship Interview Arrangement with PIDM 2012

Here's the notification about the PIDM Undergraduate Scholarship Programme 2012. This is just the interview arrangement for shortlisted candidates. There'll be a phone call followed by this email on the next day. 

In the phone call, they'll ask if you have received any other scholarships and if you can make it for the interview.

You'd be prepared if you are one of them! 

This is how the email looks like:

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................

Dear x,

As per our tele-conversation, please be advised that your interview is scheduled and confirmed as per below:

Date              : 16 July 2012 - Monday

Time             : 3.30pm

Attire          : Formal

Venue         : PIDM Office

Location Map :

http://www.pidm.gov.my/About-PIDM/Contact-Us.aspx

Material to bring             : Original Certificates

Person to meet with      : x

Please reply to my email as an acceptance to this interview and browse through our website to know more about our Corporation.

Thank you.

 ...................................................................................................................................................... 

Heheh..a very simple email...I thought they would list out the certificates needed in their email, but they didn't...:(

During the phone call, I asked, "The certs that I need to bring will be shown in the email, right?"

She said, "Yeah, you already sent your certs through email, but we need to see your original certs as well."

I was like...lol...hmm...ok..

I'll review about the interview after I go for it! :)

Result of Hong Leong Foundation Scholarship 2012 (IPTA)‏ is Out!

Surely this is not a long wait...
The result is out in just 2 weeks!
If you get the scholarship, you'll receive an email notification about it. So, check your email now!

This is how it looks like :

.......................................................................................................................................

Dear Candidate,

Congratulations! You have made it through the interview and have been *provisionally offered the Hong Leong Foundation Scholarship for year 2012!

Next, we will be sending you the offer letter and invitation to the Scholarship Award Ceremony 2012 (scheduled to be held tentatively inearly September 2012), followed by the official agreement which you need to sign and return to us.

But before this, please help us to fulfill the following with utmost priority and importance:

-              Reply to this email stating that you accept or reject the scholarship – very important. Your simple gesture will enable us to give the opportunity to other deserving students IF you choose to reject our offer

-              Please also cc. your email to xx when you reply

Together with the above:

-               Fax or scan-email us your University/College offer letter. The letter must be certified true-copy by the university or school

Make sure your name, the course name, duration (how many years, start/end date or year) and tuition fee / fee structure are printed clearly

If any of the information is missing, please ask the university to provide you (e.g. fee structure)

-               Open a Hong Leong Bank savings account. You can either open a

·         Hong Leong Savings Account with a minimum of RM200 deposit or

·         Hong Leong Basic Savings Account with a minimum of RM20 deposit

-               Fax or scan-email us the first page of your Savings Book. Make sure the account number is clearly printed. Use a pen and write down if it is not clear. We will bank-in your scholarship grant to this account moving forward

Please complete ALL the above latest by Wed, 18 July 2012 to ensure smooth execution on our part. Do not hesitate to give us a call if you need further clarification. Thanks and best regards.

* Subject to completion of the above requirements and other Terms and Conditions. This email is not an agreement that has any legal binding.

...................................................................................................................................

It looks like a spam message, right? :P
The weird thing is, the UPU result will only come out on second week of July! Yet, all the documents required need to be sent latest by 18 July 2012 ?

If you did not get this offer, don't worry first..There might people that would like to reject the scholarship and the chances are, you will be offered next. :)