I was having my interview tis evening, my interview wasnt going smoothly. I was being ask 1 question "r u tahan mati", "Can u work 24 hours not stop for 2 weeks?" I really dont noe how 2 answer tat question.

Besides tat, d interviewer condemn me for not buttoning my sleeve. And actually i was doing the interview test for d programming before going into the interview room, so its usual for me to unbutton my sleeve for my better hand movement and the programming test is oni 1hour using d language i've not been using be4. fortunately i was being told tat i can find resources on9 to complete my test.

D interview say she actually emphasize on ppl wearing tie in d interview for better impression. Actually i was wearing tie for almost all my interview be4 tis interview, but lot of d interviewee doesnt wear tie either, maybe d tis kind of job doesnt need to dress so formally, so i decided not to wear tis in this interview.

Haihz, i really dunno wat 2 do le, y those employer make it d hard way to the candidates? Is all d employer d same?

Kindly provide ur comment, thx

- edit, got my answer already -

This post has been edited by crappy: Aug 14 2006, 06:22 PM

you can throw him back .. " its depend on how much can your top managements afford to pay me to be your tahan mati programmer"

You should reply this;
even Donald Trump don't work 24x7.

Maybe you should ask yourself, do you want to stand out from the other interviewee? Just because other people doesn't wear it, doesn't means it's the right way.

Most interviewer expect you to dress formally for all the interviews, even though they themselves might not have dressed formally. This would show them that you are really serious about the job and it would give good impression on the interviewer. It better to overdressed than underdressed.

Furthermore, stop giving excuses. It would irritated the interviewer even more and shows that you are not a manageable employee. Just be honest, sincere and apologize for not buttoning your sleeve. If you don't know the answer to some question, just say you don't know and said you would try to find out about it if you get the chance.

One last thing is try to talk in proper english and write in proper english (if the interview is in English). You would want to show them you are businesslike and able to speak clearly and properly.

Good luck in future interviews.

It's a trick question. No one can work 24 hrs non stop for 2 wks...

id reply i wasnt aware this company is a sweatshop factory.

Ahh friend, dressing formally is very critical to leave a good first impression, especially when every1 else dress nicely and you dont, it will show a very strong contrast on you.

"r u tahan mati", "Can u work 24 hours not stop for 2 weeks?"? Is that two questions or one?

Any how they just want to see how you react with the questions, no specific answer for this question but how you answer would show your creativity and your inteligence.

For sure not even a machine can work 24 hours for 2 weeks none stop, you would be dead in one and half week, and you will lose your mind and ability to work after 4-5 days of 24 hours work...

But anyway, they are not asking you about the anatomy. If I were you I will say "I will work as long as necessary to meet the company's goal, I wont garentee 24 hours for 2 weeks, but I can only work until I collapse on the floor."

A side note, in europe some company actually scold the interviewee or pour cold water on them, see how their reaction and from that they know their personality and decide which one to take perhaps the interviewer critisizing your sleeve is the same purpose.

CONCLUSION: prepare for thunder and strom in any interview.

- wrong post -

This post has been edited by **quantum(): Aug 14 2006, 06:29 PM

geez dude, how many interviews have u been to b4?

maybe u should learn from it, and hopefully u will have better luck next time.

dont be upset, there's always 2nd chance

cheers!

Learn from experience I guess...

Anyway, what Rexis said is true... It might be a question to test you, to bring you down. Sometimes, you will know whether they are testing you or not from their facial expression. Not all the interviewers are like this There are indeed some who are really nice

Sometimes on interview they ask you all the damm non related questions

They want your commitment instead. Tell them you will commit the job and of course you yourself should emphasize yourself that work-life balance is also important but don't tell them that, just say you can work well.

Regarding the attire stuff, I would say that its really a standard to button up the sleeve and to put on tie evern though others might not do so. Once, I followed my boss ( he's a foreigner ) and other colleague for a meeting about some deal with an advertising firm. My 'ang mo' boss spotted that the person who was presenting the proposal for us wore black leather shoe but with grey color sock, immediately my boss stood up and said ' sorry, we couldn't proceed anymore, you can't even dress yourself up, you are representing your company and this is the way how you represent your company. '

Then, after consulting the speaker from our company grooming class, then I knew that its really a standard to wear black socks with black shoe. Told my bf about that too because he likes to wear nike socks..white color somemore...now change already.

I know that doesn't button up d sleeve is a don't in d interview, but i was doing d test for the programming, it is very inconvenient for my hand movement in typing. I admit my fault for not remembering to button it after i finish my test.

I avoid answering the question, then the other interviewer ask me other question, so i didn't answer the question. After that, this guy insist me for answering his question, so i just say yes.

I been to a few of them, but none of the interviewer throw such question to me. Yeah, i'm learning now.

About Rexis question, "Are you TAHAN MATI?" and "Can you work non stop for 2weeks?" is two question. The second question i didn't answer him cause after some time thinking about how to answer, the guy who throw that bomb went out from the interview room already.

About the short hand i use in this thread is to ease my typing and make it faster. I won't do it in my interview either. Anyway thx for piece of advice.

I seek some advice on my friends. May be i should ask them back "Let me ask you one question before answering this question, how much salary are you giving up? I'm wiling to die for you if you salary satisfies me"

And one more thing i wanted to add is the interviewer was busying keying some data in her laptop while asking me to sell my skills and what so ever to win the interview. I was thinking should her at least concentrate on interviewing rather than doing her own job and expecting the interviewee to impressed her. The communication works in both ways.

This post has been edited by x_goldman: Jul 15 2006, 01:54 PM

u tell them .. u finish ur work aledi ... so wat for work for 24/7 for 2 weeks haahha

The Me prior to an interview:

1- Never wear a tie before (dunnow how to wear one)
2- I wear a long sleeve shirt, but i always fold it to elbow level.

The above is standard if you do not have experience/freshie, but plays a reduced role when you have something under your Belt.

The above is just me, don't follow bad examples



They need people, and you are there to better yourself, having the interviewer walk out, the company gives a bad impression, therefore if i were you i will forget about this company.

Evaluate the prospective employer/superior, if they don't listen or even show enthusiasm towards you, most likely they won't care as well once you are in.

Don't bring up the $$$$$ matter, unless they voice it 1st.

This post has been edited by AMDs-PoOp: Jul 15 2006, 02:40 PM

I know bringing up the money matters is a dont in the interview , but let say he bombard with the question i mentioned, i may need to question him back about how good it is. Is just my thoughts.

To avoid any negaive feedback from the interviewer, i would wear tie and button my sleeve for any interview in future.

Sometimes the term work 24hours non stop means you're even working while you are driving or at home. Sometimes I also kena that kind of question, but that's the true meaning, makan kerja, tidur kerja those kind of mentality. These kind of people is an asset to any company.

Fuh! I respect your boss. Asian boss dare not do that.

Maybe that's a trick question.

I suggest you answer NO and give a good reason for that.

No one can work 24 hrs for 2 weeks non stop. If the company expects crappy work quality, it will not be the right place for you to work in. As an employee you should make sure you work efficiently and be able to produce high quality of work. Working 24 hrs a day for 2 weeks don't seem to be efficient enough, employee is the capital of the company, if you fall sick, the company will lose more money in a day than you work non stop for two weeks. So, definitely need to answer no.

Getting a job is like selling yourself to the company. We get a certificate to make us marketable. The interview process is like negotiation between a buyer and the seller. Since you are selling youself, you must be presentable and polite. Would you buy a product that is not seal properly or broken?

Remember, customer always right. So no matter what the interviewer asked or did, he always right. Don't be so negative if you fail the
interview. There always another buyer. Keep looking for a new buyer. I'm sure someone will soon pick you up.

Cheer..

I'm suprise some of you here really think the thread starter really should follow what the interviewer said.

1. Alot HR know nothing and only know how to shoot people with stupid questions such as "r u tahan mati", "Can u work 24 hours not stop for 2 weeks?". Any professional trained HR would know this is not a proper question, if you want to know how to properly asking interview question there are plenty of HR book and websites to refer. So basically there is no excuse don't know how to properly ask questions. I seriously suggest you don't take this company offer, a company that even don't know how to manage and hire HR people sure is not a good sign at all. And next time, you don't have to entertain stupid questions, if anyone ask you stupid questions, just answer back dumb answers, usually this will satisfy them pretty good cause they also don't know what is the actual answer.

2. During interview we should wear properly but should not over-emphasize on it. Wearing a tie does not make you a better employee, choose not to breast-feeding doesn't make you a bad mother, wearing Nike won't make you an excellent athlete, and put Armani on your body doesn't turn you into hunk. So stop materialize people! Wearing properly during work is consider a polite and good habbit but choose not to doesn't mean this person is evil and unprofessional.

Furthermore, what you wear also should ease for your work, I'm a programmer I can tell you I can't do my work if I'm wearing long sleeve, well if the company don't mind hiring me sit there to show off long sleeve and pay me salary, I really wouldn't mind. Do they know Microsoft and Google head office's staffs are wearing quite casual only (T-shirt and jean), but that doesn't make them a lousy company is it? Further more, do they know this is Malaysia, not US or Europe, why they force our nation wear something that is not belong to our climate? No wonder people always look down at us, to them we are nothing much of blind slaves who even willing to wear something not suit our climate at all in order to please those foreigners. When will people start realize the most important thing we go to work is to finish our job professionally instead become an eye candy to those dog of western culture?



3. Since young I already know wearing black leather shoe with black sock eventhough most of my classmates and friend never realize that and wear all sort of color especially white sock ... But I never go around them and say: "Wah ... you wear wrong sock, haiz ... what a poor creature, I think I can't continue be friend with you since you can't even properly presenting yourself!". jinyee80, I think your boss seriously need to take some EQ course and improve his IQ as well. If wearing a wrong sock won't make a person to be bad then wearing wrong salso won't make a presentation become bad either. Does he educated enough to know a proper and polite way is to approach that guy after the presentation and suggest him the proper dress code. Dress code is a personal habbit so why is someone dumb enough to relate it to prefessional work performance? I hope your boss next time won't pointing at the drinking machine and scolding this drink water doesn't meet the ISO:9000 standard and this will lower your company public image, or refuse to take a cab because the driver is a smoker, which your boss firmly believe a person who can't manage of his health will also not be able to manage driving a cab either.

Seriously, most of the important and busy persons wear very casual only, cause they have alot more important things to do. An example would be Bill Gates who only wearing plastic watch, I hope your boss won't scolding Mr Gates for having such a low standard and unprofossional dress code and refuse to cooperate with him because obviously Mr Gates can't even present himself properly for Micrososft.

EDIT: Typo

This post has been edited by ReWeR: Jul 15 2006, 07:00 PM

Did u hear right? Or he means 12 hrs per day for 2 weeks straight.

If 12 hrs per day is ok.

he said 24 hrs ..did he mean on standby 24 hrs...have to ask him properly.

He means tat if a project was on rush, one may probably need to stay until the project was finish, even if it takes 2 weeks time non stop.

Anyway d person who interview me is a manager , not sure she is HR onot but i thionk very high position. D person who bombarded me with the question is different person. He is the CEO of the company

Any proper trained HR also won't ask people 'r u tahan mati?'. Obviously he/she is seriously asking people work 24/7 non-stop. Because this can show their superiority. Long time ago I heard in LYN someone go interview and the interviewer keep asking, if company give you very low salary will you quit? Why would a HR interesting in this kind of stupid question? They seem forgot HR responsibility is to hire the best candidate for the post instead go around asking "r u wearing red underwear? coz our boss dun like red undies!"

These people are absolute empty in their head, they got nothing better to do so they ask all sort of weird questions that they think is 'tough' and 'challenged', they feel happy if people unable to answer their stupid questions, this can prove to their boss they are screening people with a lot challenge. Guys (or gals) when you go working you'll understand that these kind of people are everywhere.

actually there are jobs that need to non-stop no sleep to work 2 weeks or few months, but those job's paid is around rm10k per day. If he able to give that price I'm sure many people are willing to work for him.

my lecturer always tell me someone who fail to plan is to plan to fail. A student or manager that fail to plan their schedule should not put all the blame on others! All my good result classmates never burn midnight oil during exam or rushing projects. Cause they all prepare long ago and never let themselves into those shitty situation where need to non-sleep 2 weeks. Only lousy students/managers will rush projects for whole month non-sleep one. Please learn that you have no obligation to bear other ppl mistake unless you are volunteer or the pay is ok for you.

In any etiquette classes or training, in work, you are required to wear tie. Also depending on company policy as well. Like In Shell Malaysia, certain departments are allowed to wear casually. Same goes with Microsoft. Most of the wear is shirt and jeans.
Other company would require you to wear formally especially in an interview. Not to the extend of wearing coats, just ties and well ironed shirt will do. It's always the first impression always counts regardless whether you can perform as an employee or not.
So based on your remarks here, I can visualize you as someone with the "tidak apa" attitude in dressing and do not care in what people think of you as long you are right.
Like it or not... it far better than wearing a baju melayu and kain songket right? It's to you to choose the materials of your clothing. Be it Polyester or Cotton. If you are mainly on the go, choose 100%cotton to absorb the sweat. In this I don't see any qualms for dressing smartly with ties to work.

By the way, if you are complaining so much about your company dressing code, then apply to Microsoft.
I think you are the one who needs an EQ test. As mentioned by Jin Yee, they are expecting a presentation done by an advertising company which by common sense needs high quality in taste in fashion and colours. So what her boss did is right.

And refuse to take a cab because he is a smoker? You are giving the wrong examples. What does transportation has to do with health?

If you have lots of money no one is stopping you. But since you are the lowest hierarchy in the coperate world, dress well
I've even seen a nose picking, phleghm spitting chinaman with short pants being chauffeur by a Ah Mat. As long as u have the money why not?

Thx for a lot of advice, i just hope that i can do better i the next interview.

You are right and from your words, I know that you are really a survivor in the corporate world.

This is defiantely one of the weirdest and most absurb questions I have heard. In all honesty I think the guiness record holder is 11 days and I am sure anyone who stays up awake so long would have SUPER PMS eventhough it is a guy. If anyone in their company has done that, they should contact guiness record and its not kidding.

For me I will probably reply that the longest I can stay awake is 24 hours. If I say I no need sleep for 24 hours 2 week, I would be lying to you.

Anyway I do believe that this scenario is very typical of Malaysian managers where they have bad experience in managing and put last minute datelines on their employees. In MNCs if you are really required to work so much hours you would be compensated as this are rare occurances and it is only fair that the employees be paid for something missed out by management.

About the dress code I alwasy make it a point to wear a tie and be formal. The company interviews 100's of candidates so wearing something less would probably be a little disadvantageous.

I'm sorry jinyee80 and hamster9, but I have to say I agree more with Mr. ReWer on his opinions. That's not to say yours are wrong, everyone is entitled to theirs.

Sometimes people have to look beyond appearances and superficial matters, and focus on what's more important: substance. Jinyee's boss acting the way he did, I think, is too extreme. The fact that he's an 'ang mo' doesn't make him right. The advertising company's material or methods may have been what jinyee's company would have wanted, but her boss was too narrow-minded to wait and find out. Wearing grey socks with black shoes is hardly a serious crime, and really smart people would have waited to see what the company had to offer before making up their minds. You never know what opportunities you might have missed if you don't even give yourself the chance to find out.

Sometimes people make oversights, and jinyee's ang mo boss is surely guilty of that as well unless he's from another planet...and as I had mentioned earlier, grey socks with black shoes is a nothing more than a slight oversight. At least he didn't wear bermuda shorts and a bandana. I'm pretty sure great people like Mr. Gates and Warren Buffet always took the time to listen to offers and entertain opportunities that were present to them; they didn't get to where they are by brushing people off arrogantly and displaying their lack in all these areas: patience, subtlety, people skills, business acumen, and last but not least, courtesy.

Next time you got this question, ask him what he means by tahan mati.

Rush the project is fine. Everybody is doing it. Can stay up to midnite at office is ok. Some people also doing it. But also need to go back to sleep to re-energize your mind.

Tell him you don't have gf ..so no problem to stay back.

So meaning to say you would take the doctor's advice to quit smoking when you can smell he is a smoker?
So meaning to say you would sign up for a slimming program when some of their staff are overweight?

A man like Gates and Buffet do not need to listen to petty offers as they already have personal assistant to do so. Contracts amounting millions, definitely in every single detail is taken into consideration, regardless the tie colour to socks colour before meeting Mr Gates. Not some low lying hobo presenting on the OHP. By the way, if you guys haven't work in Microsoft before, here's some info, the interview always requires you to dress well including a tie. And once you are working there, it depends which department you are working. Customer service will definitely need you to wear formal even though you have a qualifications as a programmer.

Tell him/her "I would love for you to assign me 24 hour work non-stop for 2 weeks, because then I get to see if the labor law actually works".

Hi everyone,

I know there are heated discussions when it comes to gray areas like this and how many would think that the dress code is such an important matter.

Firstly I would like to point out certain things.

ReWer, you mentioned that you are a programmer right?


To be perfectly honest, you argument stands. Microsoft and Google are huge and great companies. I've seen documentaries on their campuses and offices and it looks like a student hall (their boardroom table is actually a ping pong table ). But if you look at these two companies, what is the nature of their business? Software and internet related products. In order for their business to grow, they require great minds to work on their products thus providing them with an extremely comfortable environment for them to work in.

Now compare that to a fashion/advertising. Looking good and impressing their clients to gain deals and income is their nature of the business. You are not in that industry thus your argument can not stand. Even for consulting companies, image is everything and impressing and making a good impression on your clients is critically important as winning the contract.

If you look at Google, trying looking at them when they meet an investment company with their business plan to move forward. They dress totally different. Why? Because they want to make a good impression and give credibility to themselves when meeting a company who wants to invest in them.

Secondly, threadstarter. I totally understand from your point of view, you sat for the exams, pull up your sleeve and gave your best in it. But it is better for you to actually excuse youself first before heading into the interview, at least to get yourself ready. First impression is always critical and you shouldn't assume anything at all.

Many times I always excuse myself to comb my hair and make sure that I look presentable before going for an interview. Well that is because most of the time I had to take the LRT to KL to attend interviews thus causing me to be a little more messy thanks to the wind and hot weather.

Guys, nowadays people are looking at candidates ATTITUDE. Skills can be trained and taught but if workers have a bad ATTITUDE then they are not worth hiring. You can be the best programmer in the world but if your attitude sucks, believe you me, you won't get hired.

This post has been edited by Mavik: Jul 17 2006, 11:58 AM

I think any human who goes for 14 days without sleep would eventually die. Correct me if I am wrong

I do agree with you that the majority of the HR departments in this country lack the proper interviewing skills. Why do you think some companies the turnover rate is extremely high? Asking that question is just plain stupid which in my opinion reflects the interviewer.

But to be perfectly honest, most companies have HR departments that have great interviewing skills while others outsource it (good for them). Most of the time, they would actually ask managers to interview candidates and these times, the managers are not qualified at all to handle interviews thus coming up with nonsense most of the time.

Yeah, there are a few fanatic gamers who died from exhaustion after like 5 days. But my point is that he should let the employer know that he is not the average ignorant employee.

Of course

Anyway candidates can always mention that with proper rest their productivity is way higher and they can think straight. There is a medical journal out there which states that if you do work for more than 15hours, your state of mind would be close to that of a drunk

http://www.cfah.org/hbns/newsrelease/long9-19-00.cfm

no need that long...72hours play pc nonstop oso die....korean proof that

tahan mati means if u wan mati pls resign 1st then go mati....no need claim insurance or socso work also no need that pok...wan pok better go genting pok...

If my interviewer ask me the same question, i think ill answer:

Your company is looking for a cow. That interviewer must be a bull, and the entire company must be a zoo.

Then walk to the door, open up then say, "let your horse come.". Then go home, tell your parent, u just went to jurasic park.

firstly, if you wanna get hired for the job, answer all the stupid question for the company's best resort, means like gosok kasut the company. sell yourself or wat so ever, in my point of view, not all the quietions thats bombard to you really required for you to perform , for example, if they ask you that wheter you can tahan mati, say yes, if that what it takes to get you hired for the job, coz in the end of the day, they wont really required you to work 24 hours for 2 weeks, because thats simply IMPOSSIBLE!!!

those question are not stupid, but more of a psycohlogical quietion in which the interviewer look at how well you can answer their quetions.

than after you get hired, then only you decide what to do next, if they really want you to work 24 hour for 2 weeks, report to the labour union coz they are abusing you.

and about the dressing, make the best for your 1st impression, cos you dont get 2nd chance to impress them.

Answer back : you think i robot no need sleep one ar ?

go for more interview.and buy some book about how to ace the interview.Yes,u r a product wanting the buyer to buy u..u must know ur personal asset well,and sell urself,and let the interviewer know y u r the one
About the r u tahan mati or not..i agree it is indeed a stupid question,i wont take that company offer too if i got it.They can ask"are u able to work under pressure or slightly longer working hour?" wat tahan mati la..is abit no standard for the interviewer which shows he/she also is not really that on par..
go for more interview..u get experience