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[聊] Some interview questions


Today I did an interview online. I just wanted a space to store my answers to these questions. It'd be interesting to come back and look at this maybe in 5 years' time? haha

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Q: What do you care deeply or passionately about and why? What have you done to demonstrate this? This could be in your personal life, professional/school life or both.

A: Climate change is a topic nobody can shy away from. Mother nature has more than once shown us her power of destruction in 2019. The raging fire from Amazons to Australia is one we can never forget. Compare to Greta Thunberg, I cannot say I devote 100% to climate change, but I have tried to lead an example whenever I can.

In my personal life, I try to limit my use of single-time plastic by always carrying my own water bottle and reusable bags. Whenever I use them in supermarkets, I felt a sense of accomplishment of contributing my little power in this green revolution.

When I was in student council, I utilized my influence to make the council greener. I was the Vice President Finance, who had to print out a lot of paper for bookkeeping purposes. In my term, I successfully moved the reimbursement process online. Council members can now submit their reimbursement requests electronically, saving at least 2 binders worth of paper at the end of my term.

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Q: Describe a situation when you had to encourage a diverse group of people to work together. What kind of challenges did you face? What was the final result?

A: During university, I participated in my college's student council. Most international student who came abroad are not interested in student politics, especially in college's council. There were only two Asians in my council, both Chinese descendent, one was raised here, and I was not. Born and raised in Asia, I was definitely the odd one. However, I quickly showed everyone my advantage.

Unlike the other Asian who couldn't read or write in Mandarin, I fully explored, or exploited, my language ability. Toronto is a place with long history of Chinese immigrants, thus Toronto has no shortage of bubble tea stores that are eager to collaborate with clubs and councils. I reached out to store owners and we hosted so many successful events with the support of bubble tea sponsorships. The most memorable one being a mini night market on campus with 10 vendors crammed into the basement of our building. It was definitely the highlight of the year for all council members.

I used my difference and quickly demonstrated my ability to the council. When they see what I can bring to the team, we are united by the one thing we share in common, regardless of ethnicity, sexuality, and everything else, is how we can better serve the students.

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Q: You are required to spend the next year of your life in the future. What year would you travel to and why?

A: If I am required to spend the next year of my life in the future, I would want to go to 2025. It would be 5 years from now, I would have just turned 28.

Between now and then, a lot of things must have happened. I want to see if I have reached my goals. Ideally, I would have already accomplished some milestones in my career, maybe a department's head, maybe a regional manager. Then this year would be when I can further advance my career. With the passion of a recent university graduate, I would be very motivated at my job. However, If I have not reached those milestones, at least I still have two years before 30 to do so. Meg Jay said in her TED talk that before 30 is when life's defining moments happen, I want to and need to be the firsthand witness!

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