Don’t be so Malaysian la during interviews. It’s in our culture to be humble and not be showing off. So sometimes it is really hard for me to get the candidates to talk about their achievements and the key highlights of their careers. If I feel like it, I would ask more questions to help drag it out of them but if I don’t feel like it then I would never find out what amazing things they have done in their career.
Some Malaysians also don’t like to make eye contact with me. Again I think it’s something in our culture. It really is a bit weird talking without making eye contact. Not just that, it also gives me the impression that the candidate has low self confidence and that is not someone that I would want in my team.
Malaysians are also very bad at being punctual. Okla meeting up with your friends and family, it can be normal to be late 15-20 minutes. But for a job interview, please la don’t do that. Don’t give excuses like the traffic is bad, I couldn’t find a parking space blah blah blah. Set off with plenty of buffer time for any unforeseen problems.
Might not be a popular thing to say right now during the Merdeka month, but the takeaway today is be less Malaysian during your interview.
