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Apprenticeship competition raises awareness on GBS industry

Champion team, Intel with their mentors and a member of the judging panel. Champion team, Intel with their mentors and a member of the judging panel.

In order to raise the profile of the Global Business Services industry in Malaysia, the first-of-its-kind SSO Apprenticeship (SSOA) 2015 competition was held from Sept 28 – Oct 2 in Penang for university students to participate in.

The competition was a collaboration between Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and AISEC Malaysia, an international youth association, supported by industry players in Penang.

During the five-day competition, three groups of shortlisted students were required to work together to solve real-life business problems and produce industry-driven solutions, while being mentored by respective host companies which were Intel Malaysia Shared Service Center, AirAsia Global Shared Services, and IHS Global.

The winners were judged based on their final business proposals to a panel of judges. The winning team of five students took home a cash prize of RM2,500 sponsored by MDeC.

“The SSOA is a great programme to create awareness about shared services among students across Malaysia. We are impressed with the students that have already participated in the programme and look forward to connecting with new talent across various universities,” said Intel Malaysia’s Melissa Marianne Anthony Pragasam and Swee Tuan Seah.

Also on the board of mentors was Air Asia Global Shared Services Sdn Bhd CEO Chan Suit Fong who said, “MDeC sponsoring this event is definitely the right step towards promoting understanding of shared services among university students.

“It was a pleasure indeed to hear the students feedback how much they have learnt about what shared services is. It makes us proud to be part of the programme where AirAsia could contribute to help build Malaysia future talents.”

“The SSOA is definitely one of the beneficial initiatives to be collaborated by the key players in the market. We hope that MDEC and AISEC will continue to grow, equip and develop the younger generation to be the leaders of the future,” said IHS Global (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd senior recruiter Ally Loo.

The panel of judges involved in evaluating the teams. The panel of judges involved in evaluating the teams.

Meanwhile, students who participated in the challenge found the programme beneficial in expanding their knowledge in the Global Business Services industry, which was formerly known as Shared Services and Outsourcing.

“SSOA is a very good programme which allows students to interact with the real business world to gain first-hand experience, instead of understanding the SSO industry through theory only,” said Lim Hooi Ying of the winning team, who is currently studying at INTI college.

“Teamwork and numerous idea improvisations lead us towards our accomplishment at the end. I’m really appreciative of this experience, which gained us a deeper understanding of the SSO industry,” said team member Ng Yi Xiang from University Sains Malaysia.

To drive the industry further, MDeC has set up a dedicated job portal for the industry, in collaboration with myStarjob.com, which can be accessed through mystarjob.com/gbs/

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