Re: internships 07
It didn't sound like sucking up though, in the way that I said it. As some people on here know, I have a lot of acting experience, which definitely helps me during interviews. I know to pause in all the right places, and sound a bit shy when asking questions which are obvious set-ups, so that it sounds genuine.
For example, I elaborated and said "you know, just the basic stuff...like say Greenpeace need to raise money for an event to clean up the water in a lake...like, could I do something for them on the weekend?" That way it sounds very sincere.
I actually go in there without prepared answers, as I believe that improvising does give you a better connection with the interviewer. However, there are certainly prepared ways to suck up, especially if you do your research. An example is that I spoke to past candidates who were told that P&G will not want you to do an MBA, as they believe that they educate you well enough, themselves. This isn't something you can simply find on a website.
So, for my first round interview, I said: "something that I had a problem with (in terms of Unilever and CommBank) is that they implied that they encourage people to do postgrad studies. I think I'm getting a bit over university, and personally, if they can't train me to a necessary level and need another uni to do it, then I think there are problems with HR. Now...would I be able to opt not to study an MBA when I go for senior management roles for P&G?"
of course the interviewer also loved that, and even said "that's actually exactly what we think: we give you the P&G education: it is not necessary for you to do any further study. We have loads of training videos, and online resources, even sessions that we run, to train you in all possible skills. So, basically, what you said is exactly what we are looking for"