Bank Negara Job Interview Experience (First Level Executive)

 whatsup guys,

Last year i was called by BNM to attend job interview under position apa aku dah lupa but got something to do with compliance. I dont know how and what to feel during the call but obviously excited. Yeah its Bank Negara Malaysia, to be selected as one of the candidates might be once in a lifetime experience, i guess. So i frantically search for any blog or post on the experience to be interviewed by BNM but to my surprise,there is none. Most of the post related to BNM's interview are about scholarship for students. So here i am going to write my personal experience attending the interview.

Ok so lets start!

Prior to the interview, like a week before, you will receive an assignment email by BNM representative. Its actually an essay assignment. You will be given time and date to attend the assignment and you have to complete it within the stipulated time. There will be four essays, 2 in english and 2 in bahasa. You need to select one for each. Each part will be given 30 minutes to complete. I was thought the essay might be related to current economic news or any random general knowledge. Well there were two kinds of topics, one is general essay on opinion about certain issue (economic related) and another one is scenario based essay. They will give one scenario and asked you to write anything about it. For the general issue you are allowed to refer to any article on the search engine but you must credit the source. I'm so sorry , i forgot the title. As far as i can remember the Malay essay was about the gap of wealth for B40 and as for the english was about technology. So once you finish writing you have to upload it in the same email and submit before the due time. That's the assignment part. Lets move to the real deal, interview.

INTERVIEW

The interview session was conducted at Lanai Kijang. Its like their training centre. Such a wonderful place but no atm machine! Its the Central Bank so i thought they might have quiet number of ATM machine, but none! what a disappointment. lol. So the interview started at 8.30 and i reached there at 7.00. So damn early. So i just waited patiently and i can see quiet number of candidates came one by one. Now, i can feel the butterfly running. So we were all gathered at the main lobby before we moved to the second floor, the training room. 

So now is the real thing. We were divided into several groups and were put into different classroom. There were six candidates for each group. To my surprise, i'm the only female in the group. Might be an advantage actually. Inside the classroom, there were a round table for discussion, a long table for the panels to sit and one whiteboard. Yes, you guess it right, it is a group assessment , case study presentation. The second level of assessment (first one was the essay) and its the short listing stage. Means, not everyone from here will make it to the next level. Sounds like a competition huh? yes it is. Basically each one of you are rival to each other. Come one dont freak out yet. Still too early. So as usual, ice breaking session before we start the discussion. The panel hands over the the topic that we need to discuss and present. Its about one of the insurance product offered by BNM to B40, and we need to come out with solution on how to promote the product to B40. 

Okay, here's the tips. Do not be selfish. Its a group discussion so you need to carry out the task as a group not individual. They started to evaluate you from the discussion until the presentation. Do not be a single player even you desperately want to be selected. The key point here is teamwork. During discussion we divided the question into 3 parts, so two of us will be in charge for one part. We were given only 20 minutes to discuss, so we used 15 minutes to come out with points and another last five minuted to reconcile every points for every part of the questions. See, its teamwork. That was the first part, now move on to the second part which is presentation.

Similar like the discussion we split the task so that each one of us will have opportunity to speak and voice out opinion. No one will left behind. If you notice any one of the member dont have the opportunity to speak, give him/her chance. Trust me. They will evaluate you positively. The presentation will have QnA session with the panel. Answer confidently, do not afraid to give opinion. Its not about right or wrong. Just justify your point. You will be good.

After the presentation, you will be given about 45 minutes for break while the panels finalize their decision. I cant really remember how many candidates will be short listed. For my group four of us were selected and two cannot make it. I passed. The final assessment commenced at 2 pm. We have plenty of time to get ready for the final stage. Here was the part where i messed up. Earlier i mentioned there wasnt single ATM available here. I forgot to withdraw cash (as i thought here will have ATM machine) and there is no restaurant around here. The only place you can go to grab your lunch is stall on the side of the road which obviously accept cash for the payment. Me, the dumbest, with no cash on hand just sit quietly waiting for the time and praying hard i can endure the hunger at least for few hours as i thought the final session will be short ( and again im wrong) 

Lets cut it short. The final assessment was  one to one interview. Behavioral Event Interview. My turn started at five. Just imagine how long i need to wait with my stomach groaning. I messed up big time. The interview questions were simple and answerable. No technical question. Its all about you. What you are doing, why you want to work here bla bla. I have gastric. Mild one but skip both breakfast and lunch, just imagine how weak i become. I cant come out with the right answer and as expected i didnt passed the assessment.

even though i failed, i didnt feel sad whatsoever. Its a good experience. I havent attended any job interview in years. The last one was 2 years ago, with Maybank and currently still working with the same company. So for those who are going to Bank Negara's interview, wish you all the best. And hope this simple entry will help you to prepare. Good luck

Ciao!

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