In order to attract young graduates and teach them the financial trade, the Singapore arm of Maybank Kim Eng simultaneously runs dual mentoring programs.
Kenny Lo, the brokerage’s head of retail equities in Singapore, spoke to
HRD about the Industry Mentors Network (IMN) and the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with SIM Global Education.
The IMN is a mentoring program in which an industry expert provides professional guidance to students from
Ngee Ann Polytechnic,
Singapore Polytechnic or
Temasek Polytechnic.
There are 14 colleagues from Maybank Kim Eng participating in this program, Lo said.
“These mentors have different expertise in areas such as sales, business development, IT, marketing and HR. Currently we have matched seven of them to 33 Ngee Ann Polytechnic students.”
This matching process is still ongoing, he added, with three to five students tagged to each mentor.
Mentors and students meet at least twice a year, he said. Initial discussions with the students determine the format of the lesson that works best.
“For example, mentors could bring students to industry conferences or have a sit-down discussion with them – the format of these sessions is flexible.”
In an introductory session held on 25 May, mentors and students met for the first time. The first mentorship session was then held on 16 June in the form of a corporate visit which let students get a first-hand look at the Maybank Kim Eng office.
“An internship is another avenue these students can consider in the future,” Lo said. “They will get to participate in the organisation's projects and get a feel of what working in the financial industry is like.”
One reason why Maybank Kim Eng joined the IMN was that providing candidates with work experience was becoming increasingly important.
“We want to give students an opportunity to further develop themselves and to find out if this is the right industry for them,” he said.
“It’s enjoyable for us too. We have all had mentors in our careers, so to be that person for someone else is very rewarding.”
In addition to the IMN, Maybank also signed an MOU with SIM Global Education on 25 February 2016, Lo said. One of the initiatives under this partnership is an internship program.
“We currently have three SIM Global Education students interning with us in various departments including research, education and marketing.”
Working with the SIM Financial Training Centre, Maybank also offers demo trading accounts for education purposes, he added.
“This will allow them to familiarise themselves with a stock trading platform, learn how to use our trading tools to analyse stocks, and access our global research reports.”
In the future, the brokerage will also work with SIM Global Education on their Career Chapter in which Maybank will provide mentors in a similar capacity to the IMN, Lo said.
“We will also be organising regular investment seminars and engagement sessions to improve financial literacy among students.”
Image by ペウゲオト / Own work / CC BY-SA 3.0
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