Monday, December 31, 2012

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR INTERSHIP STUDENTS-was written 2 years ago





1)      BIOGRAPHY
-    Name : Munira binti Iskandar
-    Age : 22 years old
-    D.O.B : 25 October 1988
-    Gender : Female
-    Employment History :
2008: worked with SLEU as SLEU coordinator- part time job
2010: worked as reporter with NST-Internship

Highest Education Level :
-    Field of Study : English Language and Literature (Honours)
-    Major : English Language and Literature (Honours)
-    Minor : Islamic Revealed Knowledge
-    Institute/University : International Islamic University Malaysia
-    Graduation Date : April 2011

Second Highest Education
-    Level : Matriculation/Pre-University
-    Grade : A
-    Major : English Language and Literature
-    Institute/University : Matriculation Centre of International Islamic University    
                                        Malaysia
-    Graduation Date : 2007

Skills

1) writing
2) speaking
3) translating
4) computer skill
5) facilitating



Interests

Name of Club/Institute/Association
Post
Persatuan Mahasiswa Terengganu
secretary
COMRADE
Sub-committee
Maaruf Club
Sub-committee
Cycling club
member






2)      WHICH ORGANIZATION DID YOU WORK FOR? (PROVIDE COMPANY BACKGROUND IN DETAILS)

News Straits Times
The company consists of three department; editorial, circulation and advertisement. And I did work in editorial department. There are also Berita Harian bureau and Harian Metro bureau under that department.


3)      EMPLOYER’S EXPECTATIONS THROUGH OUT YOUR INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME.

My daily assignment was based on what was assigned by the editor or my request to go to any function that was listed in the daily schedule. Then I had to go to the assigned place and collect the data otherwise I can take it from other reporters. But it is more reliable to get first hand story. Then after went back to the office, I had to brief the editor about the story. After that the he will decide how many paragraphs I had to write. After composing the story in NST software I had to tell him the name of my ‘slug’. Then he will check it via intranet and edit in front of me as well as making the story clear coincided with teaching me.


4)      FROM WHERE DID YOU GET THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPANY?

NST is an established company and everyone knows about it. Just called the office and asked whether it is possible to do internship there and they asked me to send them a resume.






5)      EXPERIENCES

-          CHALLENGES
I would comment more on the challenges for being a reporter rather than  being an intern. Because there is not much challenges faced by interns, we would not get scolded if we do not complete the task properly. Basically what you need to have while working for the media company is a recorder and your own transport. However I don’t have my own transport and what I could do is just followed another reporter. In other words, I cannot just request to go somewhere without ‘surveying’ first who is other reporter that will go there and whether he/she could bring me there.

a) Crime check:
Sometimes have to wait for the CID chief for a long time (i.e. 1-2hour) but then after all the reporters (including from other news media) got to meet him, finally after checking the database he said ‘no story’. However as an intern it is ‘lucky’ for me since I will end up with just ‘goyang kaki’ at the office while my mentor have to call all the district police stations and ‘beg’ for a story.

b) General Function:
In a big function that involves important person like Tun Mahathir, I had to be quick and rush forward immediately after the function finished. If I was late then I could not hear what he said in the PC because so many people surrounded him including people who just only ‘mengada2’ and just want to take his picture and waiting to shake his hand.
Then after went back to the office, I had to transcribe Mahathir’s speech. It really needs a superb recorder and sharp ears plus quick typing skill to complete the task.

c) Court:
Need to arrive early at the court. Once I went there with my boss at 930am and the court case was finished (not my fault!). Then, I need to take the story from other reporters.
Another thing that I have heard is reporters cannot write anything in the court. So they have to just remember all the points mentioned. (I’m not sure whether recorder is allowed in the court or not.)

d) Emergency crisis
Reporters need to go immediately to the scene to interview the witness and to the hospital to interview the patient. I had covered the light aircraft emergency landing case. We had to interview the trainee pilot and his instructor at the hospital. Both of them were not injured and the challenge is reporters had to follow them to and fro since they were busy with the medical check-up process. Another thing is the instructor is Burmese and he did not speak English well, his pronunciation is also not clear.

e) Interview
The challenge is I had to deal with people with different kinds of behavior. Once I was assigned to interview sundry shop owners and consumers regarding boycotting of the selling of sugar and cooking oil. Some of them refused to be interviewed and some of them did not want their photos to be snapped. Nonetheless there were also consumers who volunteered to be interviewed.
I also used to do assignment about sex and drug involving school students.  I did the interview via instant messaging only and I found many respondents that appear to ask me with nonsense questions (e.g. Do you want to write ‘dirty’ story?)

f) I also used to walk into an office which is LPPKN with many questions in mind but the officer refused to be interviewed because of the government policy. Then she asked me to email her the questionnaires.

-          TASKS
I only wrote a single story a day or none.

a) Crime check is daily check at IPK (Ibu Pejabat Polis Kontigen), usually at 12 pm or around 1-2pm. It is like informal meeting of reporters and the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) chief.

b) General Function such as Melayu Bangkit, and there are several person gave their speech including Tun Mahathir. The story that was written is based on the speech and the PC held after the function.

c) Press Conference is usually held by NGO or police officer; usually the press released sheet will be given but is written in Malay.

d) Court story usually will be covered and written by staff (not a stringer or intern). So my name was not included when the editor submitted the slug to the HQ. The editor only assigned this kind of assignment to me once.

e) Exco meeting is held every Wednesday. There is usually a PC with Menteri Besar after the meeting finished.

f) Emergency crisis such as accident would need the reporter immediately to be at the scene and this is the only kind of report that is not in the NST daily schedule.
                       
                        g) Interview people to ask their opinion and experience.


-          WORKING ENVIRONMENT
As an intern, I worked on weekdays only and need to arrive at 9 am and was allowed to go back at 5pm (the office hour is until 6pm actually and reporters do work on weekend and public holiday too). But there is no punch card, so I can be late since the boss also arrives late. There is no fix time for a reporter to come to the office. They can come even at the afternoon. They just have to make sure their assignment finish.

NSTP in state like Kuala Terengganu is only a small office. There are only approximately 20 employees in editorial department including 3 editors, 3 assistant editors, staffs, stringers, 3 photographers and 2 clerks.

Usually at 9am there are only a few employees in the office. Stringers always go to find the story first before coming to the office to write it. In the afternoon, everyone is busy composing the story.

-          SALARY (IF AVAILABLE):
Intern: RM 15 per day, even if you do nothing

Stringer: depends on the article which gets published. RM2 for every 1cm length, RM30 for each photo published with colour and RM15 for each black and white photo.

Staff: basic salary for fresh graduated staff is RM2500. If including overtime, mileage and others it would reach to RM4500. If the staff has M.A., the salary would be much higher. 


6)      HOW CAN YOU RELATE YOUR WORKING EXPERIENCES TO YOUR FIELD OF STUDIES?

NST uses English language in writing, obviously. And I got to learn on the vocabularies and discourse that are usually used in the different type of story like about crime, emergency crisis, court story, and press released. I could also learn about the format and what need to be included when writing each type of story. I was also taught about sentence structure like what need to be highlighted should be in the front of the sentence (for sure already learned it in Discourse Analysis but did not really apply it previously).


7)      ANY SPECIFIC SKILLS THAT YOU HAVE GAINED FROM THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME?
Writing skill-including taking notes skill
Speaking skill- the editor speak English
Listening skill- transcribing the speech
Translating skill-all PCs and interview data are in Malay

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Bila Munira tulis poem....

You're just like my diary,
No need to scrutinize my diary to know about me,
You know how lazy I am,
Lazy to write,
Lazy to blog,
But not in relating my daily life to you,
Love to talk to you,
Nothing to hide either,
You're just like my diary....

Thursday, September 13, 2012

About My Photography

My name is Munira binti Iskandar. You can call me nira. I have been in relationship with 500d starting from 14-8-2010. It has been 2 years and now I'm waiting for 70d to be announced. 60d and 7d are already old models, I would choose the updated one to invest my money.

Photography is my hobby, and wedding photography is my genre. Why I choose wedding photography? Hmm...coz opportunities always comes and somehow it is good to have ladyphotographer to shoot wedding rather than man coz it is more appropriate and halal to shoot the bride when she's being put make-up. Wedding photography is just my part time, I'm doing another job as my full time. 

I used to learn from Ashraf Saharuddin, he taught me formally about basic photography. I attended his class when I was studying in IIUM (UIAM) or better to put this way, he allowed me to attend his class. hehe...The photography skill class is actually a cocu subject and it is a credited subject but at that time I already completed other cocu subject which I think useless and cannot be implemented after I graduated. Then I asked permission from bro Ashraf to join his class. Then I learned from him for 2 semesters; basic and studio photography.

At the same time I have my personal sifu whom I always ask stupid questions.haha...He is like my walking reference. I am really lucky to have him as my sifu. He has guided me since the time I decided to buy DSLR until future.hehe...His fb name is Zuhri Iskandar, sounds like my brother yea? Well, he is my adopted brother la, my sifu, my motivator, my friend. In short, he knows anything about me. Maybe you've never recognised him as a pro but it's enough to say that Kamalia Kamal also learns from him since she was a beginner until now and future.He has very broad knowledge in photography. He used to shoot corporate event etc.

I also used to attend Kamalia Kamal class for half day. Got to learn about photolicious style of outdoor potraiture. 

Now I'm in DSPCreative team. The team was established by Kacang Botol Crtv and me. Now our team consists of 6; 3 photographers, 1 designer, 1 make-up artist and 1 promoter.hehe...We focus on wedding including banner, invitation card, and make-up. DSP stands for Decent Style Photography, we intend to shoot the wedding in decent style as allowed by Islamic rules. I also have a friend who is a tahfiz and photographer whom I seek advice if there is doubt whether the photo is appropriate to be published or not, the friend is Mior Imran. He is writing a book entitled Fiqh Fotografi that will be published by PTS soon, InsyaAllah.

What else to say...I am not a pro, I am still learning. I focus on photography rather than editing. I do edit my photos but not excessively. I would appreciate if you could give comments on my photos (you can pm me as well) coz I would like to know different perspectives by other photographers. So that I will know how to improve my photo next time. In fact I feel uneasy if I do not know how to improve my photos. I am not a kind of person who is 'gile like', a like by a pro and outstanding photographer is more valuable than 100 likes by a layman or a beginner.

Ok la, habis dah membebel...When I start writing it will always be like this, panjang lebar...But do not expect me to be a talkative person. I do talk much to closed friends but not to a stranger or someone who is not closed to me.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Cool Bloging with a friend

On 31st July 2012, I went to iftar with DSPCreative team. I went there with Budak Ganas tapi Jiwang Karat or BGJK (as described by DSPCreative leader) since I offered her to take a ride or drifting with me. Then she was like aaaaaa when I drifted...haha...Yes, my hobby is driving fast and furious...what to do...within 4 months staying in Terengganu, I just got 3 summons for speeding...haha...what to say? bayar je le....

Back to the main focus, the sweet moment was when we went to Mydin semata-mata JUST to buy Cool Blog. She didn't believe me when I said there is Cool Blog stall at Mydin. The car park was full so I just sadai je my car tepi jalan. In Ramadhan malam2 pun sesak jugak Mydin ye...TTC was more crowded since there was Raya festival sale there.

Aigoo...sweet moment x hbs cerita dh merapu mende x sweet...Ok2, focus2...I think it is sweet when she asked:

BGJK: What flavour do you want?
me: Blur...What do you always buy?
BGJK: Bandung
me: Ok, buy me Bandung with pearl.
BGJK: Aiyoo..Don't 'follow' my taste la...
me: It's okay, I have never tasted bandung cool blog. Then what are you going to order for yourself?
BGJK: I feel like want to taste what you like too. What do you always buy?
me: Vanilla!!!
BGJK: Ok


Then....

BGJK: Sedapnye vanilla ni...just tasted like ice-cream...
me (dlm hati): Bandung ni rs cm air aku buat kt umah je...baik beli pearl je n kacau air kt umah...nasib baik la ko blanja...=)

Ape yg sweet? sweet bile I 'follow' what she likes and she follow what I like...hehehhe....

Thursday, February 23, 2012

What do I think about cooking?

Cooking eh....hmm....cooking to me is neither a hobby nor interest, but a responsibility and sometimes satisfaction. I cook when I’m at home where there’s family to be fed, that’s responsibility. It is a satisfaction when I’m craving to eat something that is more delicious when it is self-cooked rather than buying it somewhere else. huhu... Wondering what kind of food do I mean eh? haha...For example jemput2, caramel pudding, paprik, sweet sour egg, laksa Sarawak, daging bistik and sayur lemak kulit rambai, since there’s no point to ask others to lead the cooking when I myself can cook them well enough. Not to mention other common lauk like masak merah, masak kicap and goreng kunyit.

Usually people ask ladies “pandai masak tak?” What should I answer then? “Define ‘pandai’. huhuhu...” Coz my mum said I cannot be considered as ‘pandai masak’ but ‘boleh masak’ and she also regards herself as ‘tak pandai masak’ though I view her as a good cook. Maybe she views those who is good in cooking is only those who are cooks by profession or those who manage to join Master Chef. huhu... But to me if people ask “pandai masak tak” and you answer “boleh la...” then it sounds to me like you only can cook rice and Maggi ONLY. huhu... So there’s a few views of ‘pandai’, or in other words it’s better to grade the level of proficiency. haha... Then I regard myself as a beginner who has enter this so-called activity for years and going to be in intermediate level... meaning I can cook in order to sustain life. Better to put it this way, if you live with me you won’t die or starving even if there’s no restaurant around. huhu...And so far people have never vomited after eating my cooking, and the food that I cook has never been so salty. It used to be tasteless though because I’m so afraid to put salt into the cooking. But less salt will make you healthy. haha.. Most of the time when I cook something I will ask someone to taste it first so that it can be altered before it is served. Currently my cooking is getting better since already understood its rule of thumb. In fact, I like to cook according to general rule of thumb since I’m not good in tasting. The rule of thumb I mean here is like how much sugar and salt do people put generally, this shows that I can’t cook for feast. huhu...I can only cook for my family with that general rule of thumb.

Hmm.. Frequently people view me as someone who doesn’t know how to cook. Is it true? Well, if I have never cooked at your sight it doesn’t mean that I can’t cook. Like I said earlier cooking to me is not an interest or a hobby. It is just a responsibility and satisfaction. When I stay at a rent house where there are so many restaurants next to my house, I don’t feel the need to cook. In fact, I’m so lazy to cook for myself coz I feel like tasting all the foods available there. If I cook I always refer to my note book, kind of not confident with my skill and afraid I would miss the ingredients. Like I said earlier I don’t have a good tasting skill. Basically if you give me a food and ask me to figure out what are the ingredients, I can’t. Cooking is not an art to me, meaning that I don’t bother to slice the ingredient properly to be put in gravy etc because I think I’m not going to enter a cooking competition.

I like to eat cake but I don’t like to bake. In fact, I don’t like to ‘play’ with powder (but I like make-up.haha..) I know nothing about baking. I don’t like to bake kuih raya, bread, doughnut, pau etc that involve mixing the powder coz it appear to me like playing with clay. huhu... The only desert that I can cook well is caramel pudding, I love it so much. Well, I got a lot of compliments too from my colleagues who have tasted it... ^_^

Another thing is I don’t like onion, I think it is disgusting and smelly. If it is possible I will avoid from slicing onion especially when the cooking requires a large amount of it, eg for feast. Anyway a gravy will not be a gravy without onion, so what to do...have to slice it jugak la if needed... sigh~

Saturday, November 5, 2011

I got 92 marks for this essay entitled How to Fast Track Performance or in other words Camane Nak Cepat Naik Pangkat

Is it important to get promoted in organisation? Of course, it is important since to get higher position means better salary and getting respect from other colleagues. The most important thing is you got acknowledgement from your boss for your contribution in the company. Is it easy to get promoted in an organisation? Some people take a very long time before getting promoted. There are also employees who are able to get promoted even they have just worked for two or three years. There are also some employees who never get promoted and hold the same position since they start working until retirement. How to make yourselves get promoted in a short term? It is not about flattering the boss, it is about showing our quality to the boss. What quality do we need to show?

First, show that you are self-disciplined, be punctual. Come early to the office everyday, because without realising your boss always takes note those who come late. Late comers will be seen as someone who does not have self-discipline and do not regard working as something to be taken seriously. Besides that, do not play truant during the office hour. If you want to go out for a while during the office hour, do ask permission from your boss. If you want to go out for half day for example going to hospital for medical check-up, do apply for leave a few days before it. Galaxy Supplies Sendirian Berhad encourages the employees to come 10 minutes early to the office. Those who come late will be marked red on their punch card. If anyone got red mark for 3 days consecutively, they will get warning from the boss.

Second is take initiative by contributing your ideas. Do not hesitate to share your ideas especially if there are problems or complications occur while brainstorming or in the meeting. Even it is not a great idea the boss will still look at you as someone who likes to contribute for the betterment of the company. Besides that, you need to alert with current issue inside and outside the company so that your idea will be more rational and acceptable. If you have ideas you can develop a proposal and give it to your boss. In Galaxy Supplies Sendirian Berhad it is encouraged that the employees contribute ideas during meeting for example meeting about how to improve our company’s environment.

Third is dare to take challenge. If you know there is coming task and has not been assigned yet to anyone, take initiative and volunteer yourself to do that task. Furthermore if there is tough work that is avoided by everyone, take the challenge to do the task. Hence the boss will look at you as someone who have enthusiasm in working and dare to take challenge. Other than that, do not ever refuse the task that your boss assigned you to do. Show that you can work under pressure. Do not hesitate to stay back and work overtime while other staffs already go home. Do your best in any field you are in and in everything you do. Do not hesitate to learn from your superior and ask for their advice. In order to get noticed you need to stand out and be different from the rest. In Galaxy Supplies it is encouraged that the staff volunteer themselves to present ideas. This will improve communication skills and show competency in communicating ideas.

Forth is finish the assigned task early. Do not procrastinate and do last minutes work because we cannot predict our future. What if out of the blue we have to encounter an urgent matter or any emergency on the due date? If it happens, the work will be delayed or you need to burden other people by asking them to finish the task on behalf of you. If one or two times maybe your colleague will consider and agree to help you but if it occurs frequently they will detest you. Try to finish your work two or three days earlier, so that your superior would have time to revise your assignment. Then you will have time to make it better. Being able to finish your task quickly shows that you are competent in your job and ready to take new responsibility.

Fifth is take initiative to improve your skills. Always give new element in your work so that it will be better than previously. Take initiative to sit for special examination or courses in order to get credential. When you have credibility you will be more trusted to accomplish a task, besides clients will be more confident to deal with you.

In conclusion, all staffs in Galaxy Supplies Sendirian Berhad should apply these criteria in their work life so that they will be a great asset of the company. If all staffs apply these, the company also will be more productive and can achieve their vision to be the number one office equipment supplier by 2015.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Blogging

I was thinking of creating a blog a few years ago but didn't really have courage to do that. Don't know why..Now I feel there is a need to start blogging since I started applying a job in publishing and editorial field. Off course because I need to improve my writing skills, grammar etc.. (Do not hesitate to correct my grammar ye).. I guess that are the only fields that I can perform well. I can write but I can hardly speak...No more interview for education field after this. huhu...

Yeah, I'm sort of a quiet person...I did talk a lot about half of my life, that is when I was small until I was 12 then I started being quiet after that, maybe I started being tired talking..huhu...When people 'meet' me virtually they will think that I'm a friendly person but when they speak to me they will realise that they're wrong...Somehow I feel it is better to keep quiet rather than talking something nonsense.

A few days ago I went to sit for a test for a sub-editor position. They gave me a lot of sentences and essay to be edited after that I had to write an essay. The test consisted of 3 parts and I had to finish it all in just an hour. The essay that I wrote is about Medina. That is to answer the question given: "Where is the country that you really want to visit and why?" I do hope that the company is not a secular company cause I did write about the place of worship etc. I think I did well in the test and hopefully I will be shortlisted for an interview then. Pray for me...=)