Angela quits shock

 
Revealed: why Singaporean writer left her job

Women are from Venus?   By Angela Sias

 

MEXICAN BEAUTY Jimena Navarette was crowned Miss Universe 2010, but it was the fourth runner up, Miss Philippines Venus Raj, who caught the attention and imagination of the international media with her non-conformist answer to a very conformist question.

She was asked what her biggest mistake in life was and how she fixed it.

The beauty queen replied: “You know what, sir, in my 22 years of existence I can say that there is nothing major-major—I mean—problem that I have done in my life. Because I am very confident with my family, with the love that they are giving to me. So, thank you so much that I am here, thank you, thank you so much.”

Watching the delayed telecast in my living room, I was very proud of Miss Philippines.

She was polite and poised, and she gave an answer that she knows to be true not only in her mind, but most importantly, it holds true in her heart.  She is lucky to have a very loving, supportive family, and she knows how to show gratitude. That is important.

But Miss Raj drew flak for her straight-forward answer.

International media labeled her “arrogant” for not admitting that she has ever made a mistake in her life and netizens made fun of what they criticize as her “irrelevant answer”.

ABC News reported that even ‘intelligent people’ like US presidents, and journalists who ask questions for living, struggled with this question. The reporter from New York snootily concluded that for the beauty queen, “admitting one’s flaws might have been the ‘perfect’ answer”.

If Venus Raj had given a predictable answer, citing a big event in her life that she regretted, she may have won the Miss Universe title but she would not be as interesting or as popular as she is today. I admire her candor; her answer is both refreshing and inspiring.

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Miss Philippines has inspired me to come out and share my own tales of job interview questions and how my answers have directed my career path.

In a panel interview for a promotion, I was asked: “What would you consider as your greatest achievement?”

Without batting an eyelash, I replied, “Being a Mother.”

It was a unanimous vote -- I did not get the promotion.

So I quit and went looking for a job.

 

In a new job interview, the hiring manager in London asked me this question through videoconference: “Why did you quit your job when you haven’t found a new job yet?”

I stared hard into the blinking red light of the camera and answered, “Because I do not believe that I have to have a job to find a job.”

She took it as a challenge and proved me wrong.

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Undaunted, I kept searching.

And in the most recent job interview, the CEO asked me, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

My answer: “Depends on WHY you want to know.”

He hired me on the spot.

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I turned down the job when I found out that I have to work eight hours a day or more, and sometimes at his house.

I only wanted to work five hours a day, preferably less, and only from my house.

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[Editor's note: Angela is still unemployed as of the writing of this article.]
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Technorati Tags: Angela Sias,Venus Raj

Comments

[Anon]

If you look at the two pictures at the top, I think Angela is actually prettier than the beauty queen.
angela, it is pretty brave to quit your job during a recession period like this. is it hard to earn a living as a writer?
Perhaps I should ask Nuri too.

[Ram]

@Angela,

So, what ll be your response for that conformist question?

[Ellie]

Great picture.
are you drinking to get over the shock of quitting your job and being unemployed, Angela? Isn't singapore a really expensive place to be without a job?
best of luck

[A little bird]

in case anyone is wandering where our host is, a friend tells me Mr Jam is master of ceremonies a the TED conference in Hong Kong today.

Angela, you should join the Straits times, they definitely need good writers.

[Karuna aka Kaye Moreno]

beauty contests and being non-conformist ! is'nt that an oxymoron ?

[Karuna aka Kaye Moreno]

talking about beauty contests, did u hear about our top "Mister Hong Kong" contest that is being dragged to courts for being discriminatory. It has only women for judges and as members of audiences ? And reports are that some of the lady (??) judges were seen grabbing the participants on prime TV.

[Jason]

and they say men are pigs. People in glass houses, should call the kettle black. or something like that.

[fardel]

i am disappointed
As pretty as this picture is, i dare say that this is not exactly the pictures everyone was expecting.

The basic question remains;
Who was the photographer?
And what was he doing there?
Was it you , uncle?

[Nury]

Hi Fardel, thanks for your comment. Sadly I did not get to take the photo myself. Some other lucky individual had that honor.
As for your comment that you were expecting some other sort of pin-up picture, I guess it is a matter of taste.
I have reached the age where I find traditional "erotic" pictures really boring--I much prefer a picture of a clothed woman with an enchanting face...

Angela: your article above was forwarded around the Filipino community here: very positive reaction.

[Anon]

People complaining that there are different standards for male beauty contests and female beauty contests should get real.

The two sexes are different. Of course the events have to be different.

[sheilajade]

by the way, the above picture is not of Ms. Philippines Venus Raj.

Nice article Angela, most people has a different understanding of her answer.

[Ian]

Angela, having been a senior manager in S.E.Asia for many many years I have conducted literally thousands of interviews. I like to meet the candidates myself rather than suggestions through HR departments.

I have learned to ask the unorthodox questions or to listen to unorthodox answers to the trite usual questions. I want to know who I am hiring not what I am supposed to hear.

I would have hired you on the spot after your first answer, promoted you after the second and would have known better than to ask the third.

It's all attitude. ASK = Attitude Skill and Knowledge in that order and you have a great attitude. I assume you have great skill and great knowledge too from your answers.

Pick your job don't let it pick you. If or When I need a writer I will contact you.

As to the young Philippines Lady..... 10/10 top answer.

[Mike]

My favorite interview question was may I see your car? Then the interviewer walked out to my car to see how organized I was. :( I didn't get the job.

[Lift Lurker]

I once did very long interview.

I asked very deep and tricky question to the person. I challenged him.

I tested his knowledge of the industry.

I was not impressed and I told him I was not impressed.

I tested how he will react to scenarios.

He did not impress me and I told him he did not impress me.

I asked him about references.

He was offended and said he does not need to provide references.

I told him he did not dress properly for interview.

He was offended and said it is not my business what he wear.

So I said too bad we cannot agree.

Finally he reminded me he was the HR manager I was the job applicant.

So I did not get the job.

[Lift Lurker]

In my career I do not see relationship between being good performance in interview and good performance in the job.

Some people do well in interview and do well in job.

Some do well in interview but do bad in job.

Some do bad in interview and do not get job so we do not know what we miss.

Ian make very good point. Attitude is most important. But interview in closed room may not bring out attitude.

From now on when I interview someone I will bring himher to karaoke and we will sing the interview.

"Tell mee about yourself woe woe woe"

"Well letme tell you about myself, yea yea yah. I graduate top of 5 my classsss....oh yeah oh yeah"

"Why dya think you deserve this job, tell me tell me tell me"

"Because because because..."

etc.

[grandpa aka Faye libad aka fardel]

Uncle
I was just saying in a low voice what everybody else was thinking loud.

[Nury]

apologies, no post today, one of my family members is sick in hospital, i will be back tomorrow

[Ian]

To Lift Lurker, I agree closed rooms make people nervous. So do loads of people in an interview room. I have on many occasions had a person come into the room sit down and quake. So out they go get some tea or coffee take a breath and come back in when they understand it is an interview not an interrogation.

I had one young lady who I had to go through this three times and eventually I had to take her to the coffee shop to get her to relax. She turned out to be a monster let loose in the office and I never regretted for a minute hiring her. Efficient, pleasant hard working and never afraid to tell me what needed to be told.

It's never the words in the interview it is all about the way questions are answered or asked. The Lady from the Phils gave a great answer. Angela has it right. Your interviewing the HR guy is a blast I would have hired you in a heart beat.

[Angela]

A guy was interviewed 11 times for a job at a "full-service global investment banking and securities firm"

On the 11th interview:

Interviewer: Your answers sound 'rehearsed'

Candidate: Yes, Sir! This is the eleventh interview.

He was hired.

[Angela]

Thanks everyone for the comments and for sharing your experiences. 

Singapore is an expensive place to live in if you have no job. But there are so many other opportunities to earn income without becoming a salaried employee, so I am not starving yet :-)

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Ram, Mistake is in the eye of the beholder.  All experiences in life could be beneficial, if you pick up the lesson from it. I live by a motto that if you do things with love and sincerity, no matter what the outcome, it cannot be called a mistake.

Having said that, the most recent mistake I made was shaving where I shouldn't have.

[Angela]

I fixed it with calamine lotion and a lot of self restraint.

Thank you! Thank you so much!

[Curious]

can we have a photo of the shaved parts please

[Ram]

@Angela,

I am "Clean Bowled" by your answer...

[TS]

I just knew Angela would have hair on her knuckles ;-)

[TS]

Since moving back to Australia I have pinched my chest hairs out with my sunglasses, one hair and one high pitched yelp at a time.

The neck opening of a shirt is still the most convenient place to hang the sunglasses though. Just gotta learn to live with the pain.

[Contract Analyst]

As a contract analyst I am trained to read between the lines. Angela didn't say the shaved parts are hers.

[Karuna]

nury, hope your family member is back home from hospital

[Mike]

@Nury Hope all is well with family.

[grandpa aka Faye libad aka fardel]

Uncle

Wish all the best to you family.
If he/she needs to cheer up, you can recommend reading these columns

[grandpa aka Faye libad aka fardel]

@ grandma

can you stop teasing people.
a lot of them have a weak heart, you know!

[Dancer Arroyo]

I'm a habitual interviewee so I've had tons of bad experiences with job interviews.

Job 1: Music teaching
Interviewer (incidentally, also a nun):
Are you religious?
Me: No
Interviewer: So how are you going to use your music lessons to promote catholicism?
Me: Huh? Are you serious? Well, if you insist, we can sing carols at Christmas.

Job 2: IT Website designer
Interviewer: You know, many people are out of work nowadays. Some people beg and grovel for this job, you know.
Me: No, I didn't know.
Interviewer: You know, you are very lucky that I decided to interview you.
Me: Well, interview goes both way, and you have shown me clearly that you would make a terrible boss.
(I walked out.)

[Poulla Dulay]

does angela have a facebook fan site? i'd click on "like".

[reet]

@Nury and @Angela, I just love u guys articles.. keep up the good work.. :)
(wish I can be like you guys some day)

[reet]

@Nury and @Angela, I just love u guys articles.. keep up the good work.. :)
(wish I can be like you guys some days)

[sej]

TS, you've lived in Australia before, so not to worry, you will already know that before too long, you'll have a bald spot, right in the middle of your chest, and the pain will be no more.