FIRDAY 13th: A LUCKY DAY!!!

Somebody said that this day is a bad luck day; but to me, it’s not, at least in this year. At the early morning of the day, one of my friends sent me an SMS: “Hey, I heard that other people who participated in UNILEVER MTP final round are informed via phone already; who are not informed = failedL”. Oh, my god, is it true? If yes, I must start form the zero again: apply for PEPSI MTP or BAT or whatever, but it’s not my priority since I love to work fot U the most (hehe, dunno whyJ, just love it). Wait…wait and wait, time went by. 5p.m., when my hope nearly came to an end (since 5p.m, most of offices are closed so who can hope for an office call at this time, huh?), I went to the toilet to change clothes…time to go to class (wondering I may become an English teacher foreverL), but then, my cell phone rang, I ran out but it’s late, the call was off…I called back and my holy god, it’s Unilever’s phone number, unfortunately, the linewas busy, when it’s free, I can’t contact with the right guy who’s in charge of this MTP program; so just wait…5minutes later, my cell phone rang again

-“ALÔ”

-Việt phải không em. Chị là Hạnh, bên Unilever.Em có đóan đuợc chị gọi vì lý do gì ko?”

- Dạ, 1 là chúc mừng, 2 là chia buồn ạ

- Vậy em muốn nghe lời nào

- Hy vọng là lời đầu tiên

- Vậy là em đóan đúng rồi

I could’t believe in what I just heard.UNILEVER, MT in Marketing, 450USD, oh, my god, goddess and hell…I ran downstairs to inform this big news to my parents, but then, they just asked some non-interesting questions and stop there (hehe, don’t worry, that’s my family’s style, nobody gets used to exrepssing their emotions, we just care for each other in hearts); just my grandmom shows the greatest happniess of all, I couldn’t believe that just from the very time I informed my mom that I was applying for Unilever, than, my mon informed my grandmom, then my grandmom informed everyone that she knows even though I am not recruited yet:”thằng việt bây giờ đi làm 7tr 1 tháng, tối đi dạy 3 tr nữaà botay.com

I will start the training period this August, so, I still have time to…enjoy myself, maybe I must say goodbye to some classes of mine, I must miss them much but office working is still my preferring choice than teaching. Anyway, first thing I do now is being hurry up to finish “o3E LUB BUT”, if not, my friends will kill me (won’t you guysJ?).

Here is a brief overview of what I’ve just done during the MTP program selection: 3 months – 6 rounds

1^st round: SCREENING: I dunno how many applicants in total but my code is 5500… so, it must be nearly 6000 students form all over VIETNAM….it means 1 vs 300 (ac ac)

2^nd round: APPTITUDE TEST: whether or not you suits for working in FMCG-related company

3^rd round: ENGLISH TEST: hoho, it’s such a big surprise when I saw the listening test, it was taken from AMERICAN HEADWAY COURSEBOOK which I am using for my teaching in NEW ORIENTAL SCHOOL, I use to take this listening part as an exercise for my students, now, it’s my turn to do itJ. The first part is quite easy; I think the challenging part laid on the APPLICATION LETTER writing: “HOW DO YOU FIND YOURSELF SUITABLE FOR THIS POSITION?”.

4^th round: INITIAL INTERVIEW: I love INTERVIEW ROUND, as I said to some friends of mine ( I enjoyed being interviewed than actually starting a permanent job, hehe, of course not this time, I hope to spend time as long as possible with UJ). this round had 3 interviewers: 2 BRAND MANAGERS and 1 HR ASSISANT MANAGER, I especially like the question: “How can you sell the LAVIE bottle with the price 100.000VND”. I found myself answering this question the best of all (i.e. all questions I was askedJ) since all interviewers showed their agreement and satisfaction ; who wants to know the answer, feel free to personally contact meJ.

5^th round: GROUP PRESENTATION: We are divided into groups of 4-5 people in charge of finding solutions to one case study of UNILEVER. This is such a memorable experience since we learnt to work in team, i.e cooperation spirit but fighting spirit as well since the Board of Judges may only choose one of us or in the most ideal case, all are chosen. I was in group with 3 other girls form FTU (hehe, now, once again, I am the only man chosen to be MT in MARKETING DEPT., “sword in the field of flowers”, someone said soJ). I love the way we present our work, many innovations, many interests and many crazinessesJ. We are all selected while other groups, just some are chosen or e
ven none.

6^th round: FINAL INTERVIEW: This time, 3 interviewers are big bosses J (directors or vice), they really made me impressed by ther charm, friendliness and also sense of humor, it’s a little big surprise since their Qs are nothing related to marketing knowledge or skills, later I knew that this round is to find out whether the candidate is suitable to the working environment in U and really wants to work for U???.

à HOORAY, that’s that. Now, new environment, new challenge, new joyness, new career path are waiting for me, just a bit pity that I must say no to the work in FOREIGN SERVICE CENTER – MINISTRY OF FOREIN AFFAIRS which relates to events operations (also my favorite), but anyway, more than one year of training and “tasting” the operation of such a big global corporation like U is something not easy to come back again. So , once again, thanks all my dear friends for your supporting. Nice dayJ