The Kakehashi Japan scholarship is a 6 month long exchange program which would be held in Japan. I was also a participant in it last year but this time it was my last try as I would not be in the age limit for next year so I wanted to give it my all. I fell in love with the idea of making my parents smile, and studying in my favorite country Japan.
I was proud to be in the top 10 students again this year. I had prepared for the final interview with everything I got. At that time when 4 people were looking at me and the atmosphere of tension was around me, in the first half I was nervous then I calmed myself and answered naturally. I knew all the answers but did not get the time to shine; I left some stones unturned in this interview. So I am writing to help you guys in your future interviews and to also help me release my pent up frustration.
First of all always be prepared for an interview never ever be self confident and go in without preparing. How can you prepare? Well look for relevant questions for your interview on the internet. The most basic questions are Introduce yourself, why should we chose you, and what would you get out of this opportunity. The best way to answer these is to focus on your achievements and use them in a way that would highlight, why you should be chosen for example in my case they wanted a person who is good at making friends, eager to learn, can become a bridge between nations, has a good academic career, and take in Japanese culture and show them Pakistan’s culture simultaneously. Also it is a pre-requisite for any interview to know about your achievements, strengths, and weaknesses. At least pick 3 strengths and weaknesses beforehand which will help you in your job or will not be a hindrance to it. Also learn 3 words/lines that describe your personality. The interviewer will definitely ask you some of these questions and you should have them prepared beforehand. End it with a thank you for taking out the time for this interview and remember a question relevant to the program your applying for because they might ask you if you have any question for them, this is a chance for you to show them how excited/dedicated you are for the program.
Some overall tips for interviews are to always keep smiling; this will reflect your pleasant nature. Also be natural and show your expressions, move your hands and shoulders a bit, do not become tensed up or nervous that gives a bad impression, remember you want to show them that you’re an extrovert type of person and you like challenges. Even if you think you did not do well on the interview just believe in yourself and pray for it because there is nothing more you can do. Learn from your failures and use them as a stepping stone. I learned a lot in this Kakehashi program and I am writing this to help my future self as well.
Foresight 