A few of those who are interested in my pathetic existence have already found out that I got the job with CPDD. :)
I must say that it was indeed with God's blessings and his grace that I managed to get the position.
It all started with my applications and ETD (Education Technology Department lah!) asking me to attend an interview. I went to MOE HQ as one of the best-dressed person around, figuring that I would need to make a good first impression. I even deliberately kept my hair so as not to appear "non-establishmentish".
The interview went as well as it could considering that I had no absolutely no idea what it was that the department did. When the main interviewer asked if I had seen any of their work, I had to admit honestly that I didn't. At that point in time, I thought to myself, That's it! There is no way in hell now that they will offer you a job especially when they expect you to maintain a website and you can't use HTML to save your life!
Miraculously though, they rang me up a few days later and offered me the job. I was over the moon when I received the call. You must understand that apart from that one interview that I went through for my Teaching Award, I have never had to pass an interview to secure a position (lest you count the one I had to attend for my head's position ... but my bosses prepared me for that one and even asked me to seek help from my husband!).
Luckily though, my years of being nagged at by doppy helped to preserve my cool. Instead of accepting the post straightaway, I told them that I would need some time to think it through. Moreover, I have not heard from any of the other departments that I applied to.
It was more out of fear of doppy's scolding than real career consideration that I requested CPPU for an earlier interview. I was also a little apprehensive about the ETD position as I was not sure if the work I would do there would stand me in good stead in my career development. They also came across a little desperate (they contacted me for an interview within two hours of the submission of my application!) and that made me wonder why they were so short of officers. Well, to cut a long story short, CPPU sent me an email to state that they had received my application and would conduct their interview in end June. I replied to request for an earlier date as ETD was pending my reply.
And thus the interview with CPPU was set up for a Friday afternoon. And who should call on Thursday but Staff Training Branch (yep! You can see that I was desperate and basically applied for all the positions I qualified for. I was initially going to get down to applying to the stat. boards no less but my laziness got the better of me.) asking me to go for an interview. Once again the date they offered me was a late one and I told the person that I would need an earlier date. Initially she told me that her boss was only available at the time she offered me but apparently she consulted her again and the DD decided to make time for me.
And so Friday came and I was in school for a Planning Committee meeting. When I looked at the agenda, it totaled 300mins. I figured that since we started at 0830hr, factoring in half an hour for lunch, we should be done by 1500hr. Plenty of time for me to go home, work out, grab a shower and change into professional clothes befitting an interview.
But of course, what can go wrong will go wrong and indeed the meeting took longer that it was stated. By mid-morning, looking at the rate that the agenda was being cleared, I kinda knew that I would not be able to make it for the 5pm meeting. I thought to call ahead to apologise for my possible tardiness and request for a postponement of the meeting to 5.30pm and that was when the clerk informed me that it was a group interview and they could not possibly delay it for me.
You can imagine my disappointment and the wild thoughts that were going through my mind. So they are not serious about offering me the position. I am not even important enough for them to grant me an individual interview. They must have already knew who they wanted for the position and this interview is probably just a farce to show the world that APEX is real. To make my day, I could not get a cab when I got out of school at 4.45pm (I could not walk out any earlier as my P was chairing the meeting!) and not a single cab wanted to respond to my call. The only reason I managed to make it to MOE HQ at all was due to the kindness of my colleague who stopped to ask me where I was going on his way out. To say that I was panicking, frustrated and harrassed was an understatement.
Thus when I stayed behind to apologise to the AD for my tardiness (I was the latest to join the group and when she told me that they were merely introducing themselves, I pulled a, 'Hi! I am so-and-so from xxx school. I have been with the school for 8 years. So what would you like to know about me?') and my disrespectful attire (I was in T-shirt, jeans and boots ... hardly appropriate for an interview!), I was very pleasantly surprised that she thought me a good fit for the job and promised to revert to me by the following Monday.
Nonetheless, I told myself not to harbour any hopes. Afterall, she did say that she needed to consult her team and one of her staff was a former NIE mate of mine. I was not exactly the friendliest of persons in NIE and most of the time, people who do not know me well, think me arrogant and aloof. Moreover, I know that CPDD was a coveted department (apparently it is an open secret that the staff who passes out from CPDD is most highly valued in the service!) and amongst all the candidates who were there the other day, I was the oldest one with one of the lowest positions. Amongst the candidates, there was a lady who has only taught for 2 years and she was already made an acting HoD! Gosh! What have I been doing with my life?
Thus it was with God's grace and blessings that I received an email on Monday morning (I have never checked my phone and edumail so frequently in my life) from the AD offering me a position. I was extremely excited and happy especially when she assured me that she would still hold the position for me even if I could only join them in June 2008. Yet she also knew that at the end of the day, negotiation of an officer's release date boils down to powerplay and she was not a lady to be taken lightly too. Hence she also took care to reiterate that the release date was up to her to negotiate with my boss.
And thus it is. I am going to be a Curriculum Policy and Pedagogy Officer come 2008. The EL department from CPDD rang me today to ask me to go for an interview and I had to reject them as I had already accepted the post at CPPU. In my conversation with the Senior Head, I unwittingly let slip of the fact that I wrote to CPPU to ask for an earlier interview. I think she was a little offended that I did not do likewise for her department. Truth be told, I thought I did not stand a chance with the EL department because they required the applicants to submit a resume and a one-page continuous write-up to tell them about ourselves and why we wanted the job. It doesn't take a lot for you to figure out that I obviously did not get around to doing that. That was the reason I did not even bother asking them for an interview. The Senior Head however, must have thought that I preferred the CPPU department to hers. I just hope that she does not bear a grudge as afterall CPPU is also part of CPDD and I would probably get around to meeting her one of these days.
And it is with this that my job application saga has ended. Now it is riding out the rest of this year, giving the best that I can to support my Head and department and leave the school knowing that I have tried my best but it is time to move on.
And it is also with this post that I want to thank all for your encouragement, faith in me and kind words throughout this period of uncertainty and anxiety. This is especially so for doppy who faithfully vetted every single important email I sent out for the appropriate tone and grammatical accuracy. :) Thanks all!
I must say that it was indeed with God's blessings and his grace that I managed to get the position.
It all started with my applications and ETD (Education Technology Department lah!) asking me to attend an interview. I went to MOE HQ as one of the best-dressed person around, figuring that I would need to make a good first impression. I even deliberately kept my hair so as not to appear "non-establishmentish".
The interview went as well as it could considering that I had no absolutely no idea what it was that the department did. When the main interviewer asked if I had seen any of their work, I had to admit honestly that I didn't. At that point in time, I thought to myself, That's it! There is no way in hell now that they will offer you a job especially when they expect you to maintain a website and you can't use HTML to save your life!
Miraculously though, they rang me up a few days later and offered me the job. I was over the moon when I received the call. You must understand that apart from that one interview that I went through for my Teaching Award, I have never had to pass an interview to secure a position (lest you count the one I had to attend for my head's position ... but my bosses prepared me for that one and even asked me to seek help from my husband!).
Luckily though, my years of being nagged at by doppy helped to preserve my cool. Instead of accepting the post straightaway, I told them that I would need some time to think it through. Moreover, I have not heard from any of the other departments that I applied to.
It was more out of fear of doppy's scolding than real career consideration that I requested CPPU for an earlier interview. I was also a little apprehensive about the ETD position as I was not sure if the work I would do there would stand me in good stead in my career development. They also came across a little desperate (they contacted me for an interview within two hours of the submission of my application!) and that made me wonder why they were so short of officers. Well, to cut a long story short, CPPU sent me an email to state that they had received my application and would conduct their interview in end June. I replied to request for an earlier date as ETD was pending my reply.
And thus the interview with CPPU was set up for a Friday afternoon. And who should call on Thursday but Staff Training Branch (yep! You can see that I was desperate and basically applied for all the positions I qualified for. I was initially going to get down to applying to the stat. boards no less but my laziness got the better of me.) asking me to go for an interview. Once again the date they offered me was a late one and I told the person that I would need an earlier date. Initially she told me that her boss was only available at the time she offered me but apparently she consulted her again and the DD decided to make time for me.
And so Friday came and I was in school for a Planning Committee meeting. When I looked at the agenda, it totaled 300mins. I figured that since we started at 0830hr, factoring in half an hour for lunch, we should be done by 1500hr. Plenty of time for me to go home, work out, grab a shower and change into professional clothes befitting an interview.
But of course, what can go wrong will go wrong and indeed the meeting took longer that it was stated. By mid-morning, looking at the rate that the agenda was being cleared, I kinda knew that I would not be able to make it for the 5pm meeting. I thought to call ahead to apologise for my possible tardiness and request for a postponement of the meeting to 5.30pm and that was when the clerk informed me that it was a group interview and they could not possibly delay it for me.
You can imagine my disappointment and the wild thoughts that were going through my mind. So they are not serious about offering me the position. I am not even important enough for them to grant me an individual interview. They must have already knew who they wanted for the position and this interview is probably just a farce to show the world that APEX is real. To make my day, I could not get a cab when I got out of school at 4.45pm (I could not walk out any earlier as my P was chairing the meeting!) and not a single cab wanted to respond to my call. The only reason I managed to make it to MOE HQ at all was due to the kindness of my colleague who stopped to ask me where I was going on his way out. To say that I was panicking, frustrated and harrassed was an understatement.
Thus when I stayed behind to apologise to the AD for my tardiness (I was the latest to join the group and when she told me that they were merely introducing themselves, I pulled a, 'Hi! I am so-and-so from xxx school. I have been with the school for 8 years. So what would you like to know about me?') and my disrespectful attire (I was in T-shirt, jeans and boots ... hardly appropriate for an interview!), I was very pleasantly surprised that she thought me a good fit for the job and promised to revert to me by the following Monday.
Nonetheless, I told myself not to harbour any hopes. Afterall, she did say that she needed to consult her team and one of her staff was a former NIE mate of mine. I was not exactly the friendliest of persons in NIE and most of the time, people who do not know me well, think me arrogant and aloof. Moreover, I know that CPDD was a coveted department (apparently it is an open secret that the staff who passes out from CPDD is most highly valued in the service!) and amongst all the candidates who were there the other day, I was the oldest one with one of the lowest positions. Amongst the candidates, there was a lady who has only taught for 2 years and she was already made an acting HoD! Gosh! What have I been doing with my life?
Thus it was with God's grace and blessings that I received an email on Monday morning (I have never checked my phone and edumail so frequently in my life) from the AD offering me a position. I was extremely excited and happy especially when she assured me that she would still hold the position for me even if I could only join them in June 2008. Yet she also knew that at the end of the day, negotiation of an officer's release date boils down to powerplay and she was not a lady to be taken lightly too. Hence she also took care to reiterate that the release date was up to her to negotiate with my boss.
And thus it is. I am going to be a Curriculum Policy and Pedagogy Officer come 2008. The EL department from CPDD rang me today to ask me to go for an interview and I had to reject them as I had already accepted the post at CPPU. In my conversation with the Senior Head, I unwittingly let slip of the fact that I wrote to CPPU to ask for an earlier interview. I think she was a little offended that I did not do likewise for her department. Truth be told, I thought I did not stand a chance with the EL department because they required the applicants to submit a resume and a one-page continuous write-up to tell them about ourselves and why we wanted the job. It doesn't take a lot for you to figure out that I obviously did not get around to doing that. That was the reason I did not even bother asking them for an interview. The Senior Head however, must have thought that I preferred the CPPU department to hers. I just hope that she does not bear a grudge as afterall CPPU is also part of CPDD and I would probably get around to meeting her one of these days.
And it is with this that my job application saga has ended. Now it is riding out the rest of this year, giving the best that I can to support my Head and department and leave the school knowing that I have tried my best but it is time to move on.
And it is also with this post that I want to thank all for your encouragement, faith in me and kind words throughout this period of uncertainty and anxiety. This is especially so for doppy who faithfully vetted every single important email I sent out for the appropriate tone and grammatical accuracy. :) Thanks all!
2 comments:
good for you lovebell! it's so encouraging to read about open doors and opportunities and God's favour. amazing. k, something to realli look fwrd to next year. btw, isit cppu? or cpdd? whats the diff? confused. where's the rest of them, hello kitty r u at cpdd or cppu? what abt pheonix? where's everyone?!
Hehe ...
CPPU (Curriculum Policy and Pedagogy Unit) is a department within CPDD (Curriculum Planning and Development Department??). So technically, I am in CPDD lah.
Hello Kitty is in the English Language and Literature Unit in CPDD.
Phoenix is still floating in the system. She still has 9 more months to go before they need to worry about her. :)
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