The Toughest Job Interview Question
After going through a very long process of testing and preliminary interviews, I was finally scheduled to have an interview with the President-Director of a big multinational company. Yes, on top of writing tests, I had to go through interviews with seven people, before finally getting an Offer Letter.
Rafael, the President Director, was the No. 1 person in the Indonesian subsidiary of the company. He was a charismatic, gentleman and - and most women in the office said that he was handsome, with tan skin and a typical Filipino English accent. The women admired him, while we, the young men who just graduated like me, aspired to be like him.
That morning I finally arrived at the lobby of the company's office, after struggling with the morning Jakarta traffic jams from my home to Lingkar Mega Kuningan. I borrowed my dad’s car, in which the radiator was faulty. So the car’s air conditioning must be turned off, to avoid engine overheating. Imagine, melting sweat in a car without air conditioning, in the middle of a traffic jam, in a humid Jakarta morning.
Even so, I still arrived 15 minutes early. Seeing that I was nervous and sweaty, the kind HR Manager who arranged the interview allowed me to go to the toilet first to refresh. Then I was told to wait in the interview room until Rafael entered the room.
Interviews at the President Director level were no longer measuring skills, which had been screened at the beginning but measuring potential. It was no longer "can he work?", but "what can he be?". As such, the questions were deep, character-testing, and required thinking on my feet. Luckily, I used to daydream and contemplate often. As it turns out, there was a benefit in contemplating often, daydreaming in a classroom, hehe.
Of all the questions, there was one of the most difficult that I could still remember. I was caught off-guard. Rafael simply asked, “What was the biggest mistake in your life?”.
I was silent for a second or two, then simply answered naively from my top-of-mind, “Breaking up with my girlfriend just before the final exam.” Rafael looked surprised to hear my answer, with a small smile. "Come on, this is the President Director, what kind of answer is this!", I cursed myself in my mind.
Reading his face as if he was waiting for the next explanation, I hastily added; “I was letting my emotion influence how I did my final exam. I let my breakup distract me from doing my very best. As a result, my GPA was just slightly below the threshold to earn Cum Laude status. I almost achieved my goal. So close. That was the biggest mistake.”
Rafael seemed quite satisfied with my answer. Perhaps he thought that this kid was so naive, but at the same time, honest with his answers. I was so lucky to pass the interview.
Until now, Rafael is one of my Leader role models. During my time working for him, I learned a lot from the way he made decisions, how he energized the entire organization at the annual conference, and most memorable for me, how he coached me to grow to be a better person.
Well, what we remember most about a leader is not always what he did, but how he made us feel. Being valued, being taken care of. That was how I felt.
