The NTU Masters’ Prog Ladies FINALLY Get It? Or… Maybe Not

Interesting how my blogpost about the interview request email I received got me an assortment of comments – mostly offering their own similar experiences.

Anyway… the NTU Masters’ Prog ladies DID send me a reply (I wasn’t quite expecting it so kudos to them)…

Their Email:

Dear Grace

Thank you for your reply.

We appreciate your comments, and would like to apologise for rushing you on an interview request.

On hindsight, we should have explained our project more to our interviewees.

This has certainly been a valuable learning experience for the team.

Thank you once again.

Regards

Priyanka, Elizabeth, Rachael and Truda

~

1. Theirs is indeed a polite email, offering not just an apology but also thanks. (Though they did not reply to my follow-up email)
2. I do think they didn’t quite get my point – it’s not the “rushing” me for an interview bit that I wanted to communicate to them. It’s the lack of sincerity bit (the ‘not caring whether an hour of my time is precious to me or not’ bit).
3. And no, I certainly do not think they should have “explained [their] project more to [their] interviewees”. What’s that saying again? People don’t care how much you know, they want to know how much you care. I don’t want to know every single detail about your project. I want to know whether you care about me as a blogger, whether you care about how precious an hour of MY TIME is. If you care about me and what I do, I’d certainly WANT TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR PROJECT!
4. If I come across as being overly harsh in my response, it is because I am appalled at receiving such an email from MASTERS’ PROGRAMME Candidates at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information! I had expected better-crafted emails. And it is also because I am brutally honest, sometimes.

To the people who posted comments expressing their indignation at my response:

1. KAM: “Grace means doing something and expecting nothing in return”. Er… ok! Why don’t you give these ladies one hour of your time for nothing in return? And how does my name have anything to do with this? LOL! So a lady named “Rose” has to smell floral/good all the time? Please post something sensible, or don’t post anything at all. Thank you. 🙂 
2. Nicky: You say that you are my “1st and never again reader”. Ok, goodbye!
3. Anne: Again, the name argument, like KAM’s. Alright, how about I change my name to ‘Fierce’ then? Would it make better sense to you?

I DO admit that I can be BRUTALLY honest at times, I dislike receiving template emails, and I certainly cannot stand the way some people behave as if I OWE THEM SOMETHING WHEN I MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT!

What might have happened if I had been “graceful” enough to reply to their email with my answers to their interview questions:

Here’s what a fellow blogger shared with me. He received the SAME email from the PERT ladies, and he actually spent half an hour crafting a reply to them. He is also one of Singapore’s top food bloggers:

 “Just to let u know. I replied them, by email. Only becos they are from my same school. I got a reply… These are not the answers we want because we have more questions but thanks. Somewhere along that line. Regretted wasting 30 min of my life typing a reply.”

I do not regret what I did, simply because the ladies DO NOT APPRECIATE our time.

And I will try to blog about them gracefully, if possible.

Another friend who saw the comment by the blogger who wasted 30 minutes of his life typing a reply to PERT, has this to say:

Especially of late, I’m receiving a couple of requests for meet-ups or phone interviews from the universities students. Hardly any one of the emails shared how the interview can benefit me in a tangible manner. It’s not that I’m stingy with time but I value my time than to give it off in a frivolous manner. I mean even if you 1) can’t offer anything tangible or 2) don’t know what’s tangible to me, at least 1) make intelligent guesses or 2) make an offer to find out how they can help me in my work. Cheesy as it sounds, it’s the small things that matter. None of the students did that and they just expect a standard copy-paste email template will get them the responses they need, when they need and how they need.

I think they have to learn it younger la. If not, when they go to the workplace, then they see our Western or other counterparts who are more adept at social intelligence and this kinda basic stuff. Then they get jealous and say, “hey, why i work so hard but i don’t get recognized but the (put in the nationality) knows how to (put in acts of social intelligence) get all the credit and opportunities”.

If you get it now, great. If not, too bad.

Why I Turned Down An Interview By NTU Masters’ Programme Candidates

I’ve been receiving a number of interview requests this year, and if you don’t already know, I do accept most of them (in fact, just about all of them). I’ve done interviews with an SMU undergrad (whom I had to teach a thing or two about camera angles, how to pose questions, etc) and accepted interview requests from polytechnic students. So, why am I rejecting the NTU Masters’ Programme candidates?

Their Email:

Dear Grace

We are conducting an academic research project as part of our masters’ programme at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information, Nanyang Technological University.

The aim of the project is to assess the social media landscape in Singapore.

We are writing to you as working with grace is one of Singapore’s top blogs and your insights will be extremely valuable to not just this project, but in shaping the way organizations engage social media influencers like yourself in the future.

The study is strictly for academic purpose and your identity will be kept confidential in our submissions.

The face-to-face interview will not take up more than an hour; below are some of the questions that we’ll be asking.

• How do you decide on the content to post on the different social media platforms?
  
• How do you determine if a topic is worthy of writing or sharing?
  
• If an organisation were interested in engaging you to be their social media commentator or to write an endorsement piece for them, what would be your consideration?

Could you please let us know if you would be able to participate in the interview by Thu, 31 Oct 2013?

The interview will be conducted between Fri 1 Nov and Mon 4 Nov, at a date/time convenient for you.

Alternatively, an email interview is also available. 

We look forward to hearing from you! 

Thank you!

Best Regards

Priyanka, Elizabeth, Rachael & Truda (PERT)

~

Why I’m Saying No:

1. They call themselves “PERT”, which could mean “impudently bold, saucy“. For a formal interview request, I’d rather they not do this acronym thing with their names.
2. Secondly, I read the email twice and found no answer to the question “WIIFM – What’s In It For Me?” These ladies are telling me that this interview will be “strictly for academic purpose” and “(my) identity will be kept confidential”. So, WHY I would want to spend an hour of my time with them and help THEM with THEIR project/homework? What sort of blogger has so much time to spare?
3. And they seem to know nothing at all about me or my blog, beyond that superficial comment that my blog is “one of Singapore’s top blogs”. I would have been DELIGHTED if they had managed to reference one or two blogposts they found exceptionally insightful or if they had read my book and loved it. Do they even read my blogposts???
4. It seems like they are sending out a template email, to more than one blogger. What gave me that impression is how the name of my blog is in bold letters (“working with grace”) which is usually an indication to the email sender to change this field before blasting the email to the next potential interviewee. [2 of my blogger friends confirmed that they received the exact same email]
5. They obviously have not read my book ‘Blogging For A Living’ or they would have been taught how to send interview requests. In the book, I share how I secured the interview with Peter Buffett (via email) without paying him, though my trainer friends had paid a 5-figure sum to interview Peter’s ex-wife.
6. The deadline specified (for responding to them) is also a turn-off. ” Could you please let us know if you would be able to participate in the interview by Thu, 31 Oct 2013?” You send me an email today and EXPECT a reply by tomorrow? What if I have so many emails to clear that I don’t read your email till the day after tomorrow? These ladies apparently care more about themselves and their project, than me and my time. They can at least also pretend to be concerned that the interview would take up time I can’t spare, and I would have said YES to their request! 😉

How I Would Have Written That Email Request:

Dear Grace,

We came across your blog WorkingWithGrace.wordpress.com and your book ‘Blogging For A Living’ and are very impressed by how you made your blog one of Singapore’s top blogs! We love that interview you did with Peter Buffett and got inspired by your interviews with other millionaires, celebrities and entrepreneurs.

We would be very honored if you could share with us some insights to be incorporated into our research project for the masters’ programme at Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information, Nanyang Technological University.

We know that as a full-time blogger, you are very busy, but we would be really grateful if you could spare us an hour or two of your time. Please let us buy you lunch if you would be willing to come by our campus for the interview, and send you a copy of our research findings with other leading social media influencers after we conclude our study.

Would you prefer a face-to-face or email interview?

We look forward to your favorable reply.

Best Regards,

Priyanka, Elizabeth, Rachael & Truda

~

This, ladies, is how you ask for an interview and increase your chances of securing it (even IF you are sending this email to many people!) P/s: You don’t even have to buy my book. Though… if you had mentioned that you’d like me to come by to autograph it for you, I’d be more than happy to do the interview, and autograph the book. 😀 *wink wink*

*Update*: The PERT ladies reply… and why I think they STILL don’t get it.

https://workingwithgrace.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/the-ntu-masters-prog-ladies-finally-get-it-or-maybe-not-2/

*Final update*: For the Masters’ or PhD people or whoever you are, if you’d like to leave a comment saying that I SHOULDN’T publish the PERT ladies’ names, please don’t be silly. How else would you know what PERT means, and how silly it is for them to make this PERT acronym from their names? And it is after all, only their first names, not their full names, without their photos, and not linked to their LinkedIn profiles or whatever. [I could so definitely find their pictures or profiles online if I REALLY wanted to (quote) “name and shame” them. I didn’t publish their email address too (if you’ve realized).