Interview for Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia was held in UKM Jalan Raja Muda Aziz, nearby monorel Chow Kit.So you can travel there by public transport, very near and walkable from the Chow Kit station.

1. Introduction

Introduce about you.Highlight your important skills.When you handed in the resume the three interviewers will ask you questions based on your experience/skills.

I remembered being asked about my participation in the art programme,and was asked why was my career path not aligned with what I aspired to be - so I explained that it was a great opportunity as I was interested in arts/ teaching experience did improve my skills.

Make your experience (in any field) relevant to the course that you are applying.As an instance you can highlight the soft and hard skills that you've gained during internships and relate it to the applications of psychology.

2. Theoretical questions

To be honest, there are pro and cons for group interview.The pro is, whenever you feel like you have no idea what to answer, the next person could cover it up for you, that is also the cons!

So, of course the one who is able to answer it will appear to be more prepared and capable.

The question revolves around basic concept of Psychology but you couldn’t really guess which part that would came out.

- Classical conditioning

- How does it works?

- Can you give a scenario about it.

Basically if you have the same answer to the next person, it wouldn’t be that good, so you need to make yours look more convincing.Emphasize any significant information that is related to that theory/concept.

3. Previous Research

Explain about your final year paper or any research that you have been involved in.If the research was published, mention it.If you used to work as a research assistant, do explain about the area of research.

I talked about my fyp research, and the panelist asked me, “Is there any psychological theory that is related/best explained my research?” I was blur for a moment, and I answered that it is related to egoism.

… and I was asked to explain about Freud’s Id,Ego and Superego. 😭

In short, the questions could be totally random.Therefore, be specific about the things that you want to talk about to prevent interviewers from asking you about theory that you may not be familiar.My tips would be, have a quick look at your research again,try to understand it,underline important points and make notes about any psychological theory that you could link to your research.Convince them that you are well versed about your research.

4. Final Chance

Tell us why should we choose you, in a minute.

Give genuine reasons.As far as I could recall, I mentioned that I would like to take up this course because I want to practise in this field and I know that just because I love to help people,it could not be the only reason and I believe that I need the skills as scientist and practitioner to ensure that my future service is based on evidence based research.Again, there is no one size fit all answer.Be genuine, tell them why you deserve a place.UKM is very strict in selecting the best candidates and in my batch, only 14 people were selected.

It was a dream come true to be selected in UKM, alhamdulillah.

I wish you all the best, fly high, chase your dreams!

Impian itu menghidupkan jiwa.

Alhamdulillah, I had the chance to be invited for the first phase interview for Masters in Clinical Psychology for October intake 2022 in IIUM.It was an online interview.In the invitation e-mail, they will provide you ways on how to prepare for an online interview.

I will share the tips in series,so this would be the first one.

Let's go directly to the gist of the interview session.The interview session lasted for an hour, in which they will give you a specific timeframe for the interview.Therefore, you have to be prepared on screen.The interview was a one-to one session, and you will be interviewed by three panels.

There was three different parts.

Part 1 

Ask about your previous research

- I shared about my final year paper and highlight

on the findings.The panel may ask you questions such as 

- why do you prefer quantitative over qualitative

- how is you research impactful

In my opinion to avoid being asked many questions, you can early on shared about your fyp just by sharing the important part - your abstract.

Future research

Honestly I did not prepare much on this one as I was confused whether there will be a research in master as it is a coursework (classes + clinical placement) .However, later on I learnt that I will still need to do a research.

You may prepare on topics that you are interested and convince the panel why you want to carry out the research.

Working experience

If your working experience is non-psychological related, you can emphasize on the skills that you have such as interpersonal skills and leadership skills.As I was involved in a number of art related programs, I highlight on the use of art therapy that can be applied later on in clinical psychology.

In addition, I believe most of us had our internship in any mental health related field.Do highlights on the experience that you gained there and how it may sparks your motivation to further your masters.

Most of the time, we have already participated in a lot of programs but we did not realize how beneficial it could be in our resume.Now, list down all of your participations and picked out the ones that is related to psychology.Say that you join a community impact program,although it seems to be not related at all but actually you can link it to the importance of being in touch with community and spreading mental health awareness.That’s the idea! Be creative in linking your experience and the positive impact in psychology perspective.

Part 2

Scenario-based question

In this second session, I was presented with a photo and given a few minutes.The photo was about a woman who did a stand-up comedy but in a way was being insensitive of religious sentiments which caused a heated discussion among the netizen.

Read news and currents issues,as you will be asked to relate the issues with psychology.You will need to answer as a person witnessing the situation and also from the lens of a clinical psychologist.

Questions being asked based on that 1 photo :

What is your feelings if you see the situation

How would you encounter it?

How can you relate to the  inner experience of the woman?

If you were the clinical psychologist how would you approach the woman?

Please note that the panels will ask you to describe each situations.

As for me I relate these questions with Islamic perspective in the way to correct someone’s wrongdoings in a decent way. Berdakwah dengan berhikmah.Pembacaan tentang perspektif sebagai seorang Muslim Psikologis juga akan sangat membantu.

Part 3

Essay writing 

I was given 15 minutes and redirected to a link to answer a question about sympathy and empathy in 500 words.

All in all, I believe that our knowledge and competency is not determined on our capabilities to answer the question.Sometimes you already have all the ideas but you just have to present it in more critical way.The questions may seem to be easy, but do construct an answer that is comprehensive.Take into account that the answer that is expected is from a future clinical psychologist.

I was nervous for the interview too.But this one line that I will always remember is that “You do not have to present yourself as a finished research paper,you are there because you want to further your studies.”

Do all that you can within your capacity ❤️

Alhamdulillah, I was offered to further my studies in Masters in Psychology (Clinical and Counselling).Hoping all the best for you too.May our dreams come true.

I will share more in future for preparation tips and how to write a personal statement.There will be more series,incoming sharing would be about UKM interview tips.