After clearing the admission test comes the Interview round. In our view it is the simplest of all the three selection procedures. For many of you, this may be the first time you are having an interview, but the interview is not that hard. The interviewees do keep in mind that the person they are interviewing are students from class 10. The interview is conducted by some of the top Educational personnel in Singapore. Among them could be some Junior College principals or even some MOE (Ministry of Education) Officers. There could be a panel of three to five interviewees taking interview at a single time. Below are a few tips which will make sure that you ace through the interview.

Still being a young student, the interviewees do no expect the candidates to wear formal clothing with a tie. See if you feel comfortable in formal clothing, you may wear it. A well ironed shirt with a neat pant along with clean shoes should be ok.

The basic and the most important way to excel in the interview is to be confident of oneself. What the interviewees are looking for is confidence in the student: confidence whether he/she would be able to live alone, whether he/she would be able to adapt to the new environment and will also be able to succeed in a new place too. All of the candidates who reach here are good. They have already been tested on their academic brilliance and special talents. What they want to test here is the attitude of the child. They want to test whether the child can be independent or not. They do not want to give scholarship to a student who cant even stay alone without his family, no matter how good the student is academically. So, make sure you give the interviewee the confidence that you sure can acclimatize to a new surrounding.

Another important thing is to keep in mind the adage "Honesty is the Best Policy". Try as far as possible not to lie or make up any of your attributes. The interviewees are experienced people and can easily make out whether the person is telling the truth or not. Once they suspect this, they will probe deeper into the topic and your interview is sure to go haywire after that. Trust me, I too replied many of the questions in negative and still got through. The key here is to supplement your negative answer with another statement. For example, if they ask, "Do you play any instrument?", do not fake away that you play a piano or a tabla if you do not. What you can say is that even though I do not play any instrument, I do like to listen to music and then name what type of music you prefer. So make sure not to make up any stuff and handle such questions in a more sensible and intelligent way.

For preparation for the interview, take a while out and recollect all your major achievements and what's so special about them. Think how you are diverse and what attributes make you different from others. Think about your strengths and weaknesses, your aspirations and dreams, your principles in life and all this will really help you in your interview.

The interview will be more of a friendly talk and there will be some informal questions too. The interviewees want to know you more as a potential scholar. There have not been any tricky questions in the past. They usually ask only general questions through which they test the general confidence of the student. Some of the commonly asked questions in the interview and can be used for preparation are

• How far is your place from the place of the interview?
• Did anyone accompany you for the interview?
• Have you ever stayed alone without your family?
• Why do you want to apply for this scholarship?
• Do you have any leadership experience?
• What are your hobbies?
• What is your one most important strength and weakness?
• Do you have interest in sports and have you ever represented your school in any?
• Are you sure you can stay alone in another country?
• How did you find about the Scholarship?

If you are a medial or a commerce student and have got so far as the Interview Round, make sure you state your desire to choose non medical subjects in Singapore and do engineering at university. This is necessary because there are very little or actually no scholarships available for students intending to do Medicine in Singapore. So obviously, the scholarship officers will be a bit hesitant to give such students the SIA Scholarship, regardless of their academic brilliance. Once you reach Singapore, you will have the freedom of choosing whatever course you want (be it Biology or even Arts related).

Make sure you arrive at the destination place at least fifteen minutes before the interview. Especially, if you are coming from a different city, plan your time accordingly. It would be good if you can a prepare a thin Portfolio File about your achievements or other special things.

The conduct during the Interview is also very important. Some important tips on how to behave during the interview can easily be found. There are a number of resources also given on this page itself. Some key things to remember are to be confident. Always put up a good smile, but not such a big one which shows all your teeth. If you do not hear or understand a question, just request politely by saying, "Pardon". Do not answer the question promptly. Take some time to think about the answer and structure in mind before replying. Even though there will be one person asking the question most of the times, try to give equal attention to all the people in the panel.

Just before finishing the interview, the Interviewee will ask if you have any question you want to ask to them or not. Do enquire about something even if you know the answer to that. It shows that you are keen in the scholarship. Finally, say thank you and walk off gently from the place.

For more tips on Interview, go to Additional Resources or try to access one of the resources in the page itself.