Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Date: 22nd March 2011
Location: ExCel Centre
The interview process was actually really short. The whole day was over in about an hour. I drank my tea and kept calm.
First, there was an introductory video. Eddie Izzard explained what London 2012 was looking for in a volunteer. The message was “Be yourself” and eat Cadbury’s chocolate. The interview soon followed.
The one to one interview started where my application left off, not very well (see blog entry 60). As I explained that I enjoyed a wide range of sports but probably am below average in most of them. Luckily, my preparation was actually quite thorough. When she asked “Have you participated in any team sport?”, I was about to answer “Yes, Honda Formula 1 Racing Team.” Apparently F1 is as a sport. I explained how the winning margins in track cycling are similar to F1. I was actually well prepared in this part of the interview, phew. Then the interview moved on to volunteering.
“In volunteering, I go really far.” Fittingly, I travelled quite far to the Himalayas and I spent 3 months volunteering in Nepal. I learnt a lot about myself and another culture. Trekking became one of my passions in life. One would argue that a person who ascended 1900m in less than 2 days from 3500m to 5416m might lack the “common sense” that they were looking for. I reminded her that for every spontaneous, probably irrational decision, it was always followed by a logical one which took me home safely. Luckily, I created a website which recorded my time in Nepal. There was a plan.
In Nepal, I learnt that to achieve anything that is worthwhile, an unbelievable amount of effort is always required. I designed a few science experiments. Everything had to work. I made sure all the apparatus were robust. The experiments and theory supplemented the curriculum. I tried to teach the teachers how take a backseat and let the kids learn by themselves. I typed experiment reports for each one using a businessman’s office with it’s own power generator. I reiterated to the Headmaster the importance of maintaining each improvement initiatives to secure further future improvements. Once all the efforts were made, only then luck would step in.
The game plan for this interview was to convey the message about my reliability; “I am very reliable.” Luckily everything came together at the right time. Perhaps, the combination of F1 “Team sport”, the volunteering and the website meant that I passed the interview.
Adventures of Delboy 