Malaysian Law Degree Interviews With A Modern Twist

( School of Law | Credit : Steve Shepard / ISTOCKPHOTO )

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Amidst every country is struggling to combat with the Covid-19 pandemic, various online mediums have been emerging to cater to the difficulties of working-from-home. We can expect that the 'Interview Season' for the year of 2020 will not be the same due to the recent Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) that have been announced by our Prime Minister. Thus, in this article, I will share my experience in partaking several law degree interviews online.

DEGREE APPLICATION

In Malaysia, any student who would like to further their undergraduate studies in local universities must apply through the UPUOnline website. For the intake session of 2020/2021, the last day of registration was on 17 April 2020. I have managed to submit my law degree application by applying to Universiti Malaya Law School (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Law School (UKM) and Universiti Teknologi Mara Law School (UiTM).

PREPS FOR INTERVIEWS

After two months of waiting for the interview letter to be channelled to me, I managed to secure a spot on all law schools that I applied. So, what did I do to prep myself for my interviews? Note that I am a graduate from Foundation in Law KPTM from Pusat Asasi UiTM Dengkil and the prep and interview questions imposed might differ for other candidates especially if they are graduates of Diploma, Matrikulasi, International Baccalaureate (IB), A-Level or STPM-leavers.

My preps consist of few matters such as speaking sessions, current issues and law knowledge. This can be further explained as such:

1. Speaking Sessions It is completely normal for us to feel nervous and worried that our tongue got tied up. Hence, I take 10-15 minutes per day to converse with myself in front of a mirror as if I am in an interview room. This helps to make me feel comfortable with the thought of interviews and train me to use formal language rather than rambling with informal ones.
   

2. Current Issues As we all are aware of, when pursuing a law degree, it means we are able to not only think critically but able to give out our opinion. Testing on knowledge of current issues is one of the ways to know if a candidate can do as aforementioned. Hence, I have keep-in-touch with local and international news and whereabouts to know the development of our society. For instance, as of now, the prominent current issues are on the Majlis Keselamatan Negara (MKN)'s regulations, 1-day Parliament sitting, the death of George Floyd, South China Sea dispute, the Sultan of Johor's threat on dismissing the State Legislative Assembly (SLA) and domestic violence rate during CMCO. Try understanding the facts of the issue, source of why such issue arise and give your own thoughts towards the issue from a legal perspective.
   

3. Law Knowledge As expected, having an interest in law is something the interviewees would like to see especially if you are applying to be a law student. Thus, revising on the previous syllabus does help. I focused on elements of a contract and criminal case, types of tort, school of thoughts and sources of law. Not to forget, be awarded of infamous cases such as Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co., Donoughue v. Stevenson etc. I did read on medical negligence and barely the surface of family and environmental law.
   

INTERVIEW SESSIONS

Although as terrifying it may sound, I would view these interview sessions as some form of learning experience as I have not undergone many interviews throughout my life. I'm glad that it is all over. My take on the sessions for each law school is as such:

1. Universiti Malaya Law School (UM) This was my first interview session and it does give me literally chills. The session was only 10 minutes but I had to wait for three and a half hours for my turn. The lecturers-on-one candidate interview structured out that there will be 2 parts which are 3-minute lawyers and questionnaire session. For the 3-minute lawyers part, I was assigned this question below. "You are a lawyer representing your client in the court. You are required to sue the other party on behalf of your client based on the scenario given. You should start briefly explaining the case, followed by submitting your claim. The panellists are the judges. Scenario: Your client is a husband who recently divorced. He was allowed to take his daughter for one weekend - only two days - to go shopping in Penang, but kept her for three days. His wife is now suing for full custody." I was given roughly 10-15 minutes to prep my answer and present it. I argued on the defense of mistake and questioning the breach of negligent. I concede that my client was wrong and state the prayer was to still allow joint custody but instead of 50-50, make it 40% for my client and 60% for the plaintiff. The lecturers who interviewed me were an International Law lecturer and Family Law lecturer (names that I shall not mention for the purpose of avoiding defamation). The session went well although it was pouring heavily and thunderstorms could be heard.
   

2. Universiti Teknologi Mara Law School (UiTM) This was my second online interview session and it went terrific. Instead of having a two-on-one version, the interview requires the submission of an online resume beforehand and the session was conducted in a panel/forum manner. The one-hour session consists of each candidate in the panel to take turn answering to the questions being imposed by three lecturers. For my session, the lecturers asked me these questions: "Can you introduce yourself, your origin, your CGPA result and why are you interested in law?" "What is your subject of interest? Since you enjoy Jurisprudence, what do you think of Hart? Are you stating the law is made from society?" "What would you contribute to the Faculty if you are admitted into UiTM Law Degree?" As you can see, there were 3 rounds of questions and question 2, in particular, depends on your answer as the question is a follow-up to your previous answer. Some questions that the lecturers asked for the other candidates were as such: "Negligence, I see. So can you explain to me the Bolam Test?" "If you were misdiagnosed, can you see the doctor? Do you happen to know George Floyd?" "What do you think of MKN restricting the movement of people?" "Can you name me three written sources of law? Can a Sultan disband the SLA?" "What happens to Sungai Kim Kim, [name of Candidate 3]? Do you think the government handle the issue well?" All in all, the session was very interactive and I can deduce that you need to be yourself and have fun throughout the session. No one wants to have a dull Jack after interviewing so many candidates.
   

3. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Law School (UKM) This was my third interview call. Unlike other law schools, UKM do not have a face-to-face interview session but submissions of videos and essays. As the national university, apparently, I have to submit one video and essay each in Bahasa Melayu and English Language. The following topics of the stated videos and essays are as follows. "Rakaman Video Bahasa Melayu Topik: Ibubapa harus dipertanggungjawabkan terhadap kesalahan jenayah anak-anak mereka yang dibawah umur. Bahaskan dalam 3 minit maksimum." "Rakaman Video Bahasa Inggeris Topik: Name one (1) weakness in your personality which you would like to improve and why. Rakaman video dalam 3 minit maksimum." "Esei Bahasa Melayu Topik: Pemansuhan hukuman rotan di sekolah telah menyebabkan kemerosotan akhlak pelajar. Bincangkan bawah 200 patah perkataan." "Esei Bahasa Inggeris Topik: Anti-fake news laws curb the freedom of speech of the citizens. Discuss below 200 words." The deadline for the submission is roughly 20 days. I spent an ample of time structuring the course of each task and due to this interview, I am able to polish my Bahasa Melayu proficiency and video editing skills. Although it seems handful, I am grateful that the interview is done in this manner so I would not have the nervous feeling all over again.
   

CHALLENGES AND TIPS

It is fascinating to see how technology is incorporated more and more towards our education system. However, as foreign as it felt, we have to move forward and ensure we are well adapted with it. Some challenges that are prevalent during online interview session are as such:

1. Interference such as noises etc that may disrupt the overall performance of session. My recommendation on this is to have a private place where you can conduct the session from your home in a peaceful manner. Besides, let your family members know so they won't interrupt you when you are in the middle of the interview.
   

2. Low internet connection. The best way to address this is to either use your mobile data (purchasing a good number of gigabytes (GB) beforehand) or have your gadgets near the WiFi router for a better connection.
   

3. Time management. Yes, even tho it is not face-to-face but virtually, ensure you are able to enter into the room 10/15 minutes earlier so you would not be in a hassle. Make sure you prepare and set up your 'working place' as ideally as possible a day before. With this, problems like microphones are not working can be settled.
   

4. Ethics during the interview session. Remember that as long as your microphone and webcam is still on, the interviewer still can hear and see you. So, do not embarrass yourself by making apparent hand gestures or speaking something unrelated when the interviewer is asking other candidates. This shows whether you are professional and respectful or not.
   

CONCLUSION

Generally, online degree interviews are a good shift in admitting students into a certain school as it is cost-effective, time-flexible and equips you to have a better grasp on computer literacy. I believe that future sessions of interviews could be done through such mediums regardless of the existence of pandemics. I hope this article has been insightful if you are wondering how an online law degree interview would look like and for future candidates, I wish you the best of luck in pursuing your dreams. Elisa Shafiqah is a Foundation in Law KPTM of UiTM Centre of Foundation Studies, Dengkil graduate and author of From Elisa's Desk. The views expressed here are entirely the author’s own opinions and it does not purport to reflect the views of any institution.