I opened the door and asked for the permission to enter. Chairman sir welcomed me with bold voice and a smiling face.
Chairman sir : What's your name? What do you do now?
Myself : I'm Muhammad Sajjad Hossain, from Chittagong. Currently I'm working as a senior officer at Sonali Bank Plc.
Chairman sir : Very good. When did you join there?
Myself : October 2022 sir.
Chairman sir : Okay. What's your first choice?
Myself : Bcs foreign affairs, sir.
Chairman sir : Tell me in three sentences- Why do you wanna join foreign affairs service?
Myself : Firstly, I want to represent my country to the outer world. Secondly, With this job, I will be able to contribute in solving problems faced by workers abroad. Thirdly, this job will create opportunities for me to boost our economy.
At this stage, chairman sir pointed to external sir to ask me questions.
External 1 : What is your major?
Myself : Sir, Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
External 1 : He asked me a question about how Newton's laws of motion are related to our metro rail.
Myself : I wasn't sure about this one. Answered anyway but he wasn't convinced.
External 1 : Do you know the Newton's laws of motion?
Myself : Yes sir. Told him all the three laws.
External 1 : Okay. Let's move on. What is the difference between Ambassador and high commissioner?
External 1 : What is MoU? What is the difference between MoU and Agreement?
Myself : Answered the question with examples. He seemed quite satisfied with that.
External 1 : Tell me the importance of Sundarban?
Myself : Sir, we know that Sundarban is the largest mangrove forest in the world. It is a great source of beauty. If we can focus on that and represent it to the foreign countries, then more tourists will come here and our country will get more foreign currency reserves.
External 1: How do we get foreign currency reserves?
Myself : Here I told him about FDI, tourism, Remittances.
External 1 : What will you do for our economy if you get appointed in a foreign country?
Myself : I told him about solving problems of our workers in that country, arranging regular meetups with economic delegates of that country, signing bilateral treaties with them.
External 2 : Sir already asked you several questions. Tell me, how will you represent our country in abroad?
Myself : I answered him mentioning our liberation war, Bangabandhu, dynamic leadership of our honorable PM Sheikh Hasina, mega projects, economic prospects etc. But he suggested that I should've mentioned the geographical location of our country first. I smilingly agreed with him.
External 2 : How will you attract FDI in our country?
Myself : Again I answered him mentioning Mega projects, special economic zones, one stop service, investment friendly government, hard working people, geographical advantages of our country etc.
External 2 : You should mention the most important thing. That is 'money'. You should ensure them that they will be profitable by investing here. (Again I agreed with him without any arguments or delay)
External 2 : What is the capital city of The USA?
Myself : Washington D.C
External 2 : Then what is located in New York city?
Myself : I think he was expecting that my answer would be 'NY' instead of Washington D.C. Anyway, I told him about UN headquarter. Unfortunately I couldn't remember anything else at that moment.
External 2 : Where is statue of liberty located?
Myself : Sorry Sir, I don't remember that right now.
External 2 : Okay. Tell me about the election process in the USA?
Myself : I told him about presidential leadership, electoral votes. ( He added something to my answer and mentioned that I should know these things in details as I will be appointed in foreign countries. Again I politely agreed with him)
At this moment sir (external 2) told chairman sir that he was done with me.
Chairman sir : Okay Sajjad, Tell me how will you attract tourists to our country?
Myself : Sir, I will tell them about the natural beauty of our country. I will be telling them about how our govt is ensuring the safety of foreign visitors by tourist police, about the people of our country and how affectionately they will welcome tourists as they are very kind hearted.
External 2 : Sajjad, You could've mentioned about the accommodation system, transportation system in our country. Also your country's people are not very well mannered. You should train them first. ( I was condemning myself for forgetting the accommodation and transportation system. But I agreed with him for the latter part)
Chairman sir : Okay Sajjad, You can go now. Please take your documents from Sir.
(That was my viva experience. Almost all the questions were common to me. I practiced them in my practice session several times. The Board seemed very satisfied with my answers. I was getting high hopes already and my hopes are fulfilled now. Thanks to the Almighty Allah)
