The Shell Recruitment Day. It has come and it has gone. I sure had fun. First Tip: Have faith and trust in God. Next I’ll go thru the different stages of the day. THE CASE STUDY *Read FAST. Sorry, I meant read VERY FAST!!! *You might not have enough time to read everything, but just digest the key issues *Jot down all the key issues and think about their possible solutions as you do that. *If you’re lucky, you wont be the first to be called for the case study interview. Use that time properly by outlining your key issues and strategies to solve them. Anticipate their questions. THE TECHNICAL PRESENTATION *Know your Project inside out!! Again, anticipate the questions. *Think of a way to simplify your project while defending; think of what you would have done differently if you could do it again; very importantly, the WIDER APPLICATIONS of your project. THE GROUP STUDY *This is no competition!!! Once you get that fact, it will help you. *Be vocal, but not overly domineering. Listen to others’ contribution. Commend them if they make a good point. If you don’t agree with a point, say so POLITELY and explain why you don’t. *watch out for a weak link, and skillfully encourage him/her to contribute. Now, the problem with this is that you could be so involved in the discussion and try to make YOUR own contribution, that the last thing on your mind is someone who’s quiet. Granted, it’s only natural. But make a conscious effort to do it. You will earn points for it. And don’t do it cos you want to earn point. Do it because you sincerely want to hear his/her contribution. Now, some more generic tips. BE CONFIDENT. It’s very important that you’re not only confident, but APPEAR confident and enthusiastic. SMILE. Smile, Jesus loves you. Ok, seriously, this will definitely help you out in the confidence department. No, I don’t mean the plastic ones. The natural ones. Smile because you want to. Because you feel you’re having fun. Smile for the assessor’s sake. Because, believe it or not, they could be a bit nervous too, and would need your smile to reassure them that THEY will be fine. As I entered the room for my technical presentation, the assessor was slightly frowning. When I smiled at her, she seemed so pleased and smiled back. Warmly too. If you have a good disposition towards your co-candidates and your assessors, you’ll definitely earn some points. Be articulate and speak clearly. If you answer a question wrongly, move on. Don’t dwell on it. If you don’t have the answer to a question, say you can’t recall at the moment. They believe you’re human. Don’t try pretend that you know it when you don’t. Say you don’t, honestly and move on. It could help if you read Shell’s latest annual and sustainability reports. Download from shell.com. After the case study and the tech. presentation, you’ll have the opportunity to ask them questions. Under no circumstance should you say NO QUESTIONS. If you don’t have intelligent questions for them now, start thinking of some. Think of questions that will show your eagerness to begin work and start adding value to Shell, that will show you’re concerned about your career development etc. Last Tip: Have faith and trust in God.