News Release - 28 March 2019

UOB Malaysia launches its first structured internship programme to prepare undergraduate students for a career in banking

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 28 March 2018 – United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd (UOB Malaysia) today launched the UOB Smart Bankers Internship Programme, a three-month structured training programme designed to prepare undergraduate students for a career in banking. The programme, which is aimed at Malaysian students completing finance–related degrees at universities both at home and abroad, incorporates on-the-job training at the Bank as well as classroom-based training. The programme affirms UOB Malaysia’s commitment to nurture young, high-calibre talent to prepare them to be banking industry leaders in the future.

The UOB Smart Bankers Internship Programme, which runs over a period of 10 to 12 weeks, will attach students to specific units within the Bank, including Retail Banking, Corporate and Commercial Banking, Global Markets, Channels and Digitalisation, Information Technology and Human Resources. Through these attachments, students have the opportunity to gain practical banking experience by working on various cross-collaboration projects and initiatives. Students will also be assigned a mentor, who will provide guidance, regular feedback and appraisal sessions.

In addition to providing students with practical work experience and industry knowledge, the UOB Smart Bankers Internship Programme is structured to equip students with classroom training related to personal development and methods to build personal career goals. For example, students will learn ways to maintain a positive and creative mindset. They will learn how to identify and to eliminate setbacks and barriers, manage their goals and priorities and build leadership and personal motivation.

Mr Lai Tak Ming, Executive Director and Country Head of Human Resources, UOB Malaysia, said, “While most traditional internship programmes provide interns with on-the-job work experience, the UOB Smart Bankers Internship Programme goes a step further by focusing on both practical and personal development. Through a series of classroom-based training and mentoring sessions, our interns will learn to apply strategies that will help them make smart and informed decisions to build successful careers.”

UOB Malaysia launched the UOB Smart Bankers Internship Programme with 13 undergraduates. To encourage high-achieving students across the country to apply for the Bank’s internship programme, UOB Malaysia will partner with leading universities in Malaysia. Mr Lai said that the partnership would give more local students insight into the skills needed to excel in the field of banking.

“As a Bank that is committed to building a future-ready workforce equipped to meet the needs of increasingly tech-savvy customers, we invest heavily in training and development programmes to ensure that our people remain relevant. In line with this, we continue to nurture young talent and support their career development with our management associate and structured internship programmes. Through our collaboration with various local universities, we can help prepare more of Malaysia’s undergraduates for a future in banking and help build Malaysia’s banking sector for the future.”

Undergraduates who excel in the UOB Smart Bankers Internship Programme may be offered a permanent position at the end of the internship and be invited to join the Bank upon graduation.

Students who are interested to apply for the UOB Smart Bankers Internship Programme can visit www.uob.com.my.