LATEST UPDATE.

After almost 4 years since my first job at Sunway, I can't believe I am still receiving emails on this subject and this thread is still active. Kinda nostalgic for me to read my post on the matter and it seems there were some level of immaturity in me at that point of time

I will still leave my post under as unedited for all to read but now I have started my own company in Singapore since year 2010 after my various job roles within the Sunway Group business units.

I must say that the experience within the various business units have equipped me with good experience overall from sales, marketing and technical skill sets. However, had it been done in a more structured manner and if there were proper processes at that time, it would definitely be more beneficial.

I am sure with the revamped programme, kinks should be worked out by now and the last time I kept in touch with the HR personnel running this programme it still sounds very competitive in terms of compensation and benefits compared to the industry offerings.

All SMART trainees are excellent individuals and I have good memories with every one of them. For those who have managed to get into the programme, congratulations, best of luck to your careers and hopefully we might meet one day in any of the reunions of the SMART alumni

P.S: I may still reply to some PMs but it won't be as frequent as I'd like due to workload from running the business

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Hi all,

Since my last postings about Sunway Group a year or more earlier, I have been receiving a lot of PMs ever since about working in Sunway, benefits, working environment, about the SMART Programme which I am part of. So instead of just answering the PMs one by one, I decided to just start a thread.

So please feel free to ask about it, I will try to give you my unbiased views but bear in mind that of course my views are affected by the experiences I go through. So fire away with the questions~!




Perhaps I shall answer a few questions first from the PMs I got:-

forumer trust86 asked:-



Well yes I am still working in Sunway and generallhy the Sunway SMART Programme is a management trainee programme that you will find in all other MNC companies. It is a 2 year programme which aims to put you in a managerial position after that (though I still have not seen any member of the programme beyond an assistant manager level, so take their claim with a pinch of salt). What you get with it is the various kinds of training, rotation to different business units in the first 6 months and also the exposure to top level management.

Now for the bad part, as good as it may sound they still put you into normal positions after that which I think really kind of defeats the purpose of recruiting high calibre people and putting them to do grunt work. Having said that, it also depends on which business unit you get into. So if you are one of the lucky ones to go into profitable business units then beautiful.

Interview wise I would think it is very engaging (the final stages) but just to give you an idea you start off with a presentation after the initial selection. Then you will be short-listed from there and invited to a day-long interview where there are 3 stages of 'management games'. Overall I felt it was quite fun. won't be that difficult if your command of English is good and you have achieved your CGPA or results in an above average manner.


Raven 22 asked:-



1 - Don't count on the average it differs WIDELY from BU to BU. You may get from none to up till 5 months depending on the business unit you are in.

2. - Again, don't count on mega increases, especially in today's climate. You won't nail much from the increment, at most perhaps it might be 20%. But when you are working, I don't think demanding an increment average is good. You will be rewarded handsomely if you contribute accordingly.

3. - Benefits, hmmm I guess there are a lot of discounts in Sunway related companies (i.e. Pyramid and hotels) that you can get but I guess for me the best would be the 50% education off in Sunway University College and the property discount that you get. But be careful~! All of them comes with terms and conditions. For example, the education discount does not cover the better degrees and MBAs like when I was applying for my Victoria University MBA. And the property discount only comes after you have been working 2 years with the group.

4. - Honestly, I will recommend a friend only if they are joining good business units with the right management team, other than that all the other BUs just plain sucks! An idea of the good companies would be just to look at the money generating ones (i.e. SunCity, SunCon, Sunway Medical, Sunway University College & Sunway Marketing). My personal favorite would be SunCity because I like it that their management has a long-term view and up-to-date on current developments.


Had a long chat with forumer Y3n as well but no updates after the final interview. Hope to hear from you though

This post has been edited by lord_shadow: Apr 26 2012, 01:43 AM

Well the answer to car park is a both yes and no

If you are senior management and above then of course you get a car park

They have a staff car park just besides Menara Sunway and opposite the Resort Hotel but you will have to pay a monthly fee for it. Usually you will have to queue up on a list for these parking privileges

Now good thing is, they also open up a season parking for the staff in the shopping center so that you can just walk over from the car park.

If you are looking for free parking, then either get cosy with the people who issue these cards or get your way up to senior management

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Added on October 29, 2008, 6:57 pmfirecrac, which BU are you working for? Based in Malaysia?

This post has been edited by lord_shadow: Oct 29 2008, 06:57 PM

SunCity's a good choice

Let me know when you get in there, I have lotsa SMART trainee friends in there

Amanda85,

Sunway BPO has generally a good concept of the business and I like their GM as he is very practical, takes care of his employees and has good vision. Just be careful on what position you are in, Sunway BPO are generally technical positions.

Of course the other thing is that it may be sales that you are looking at.


Shingin,

Sorry, don't know much about the geotechnical team. But I would assume that you are referring to SunCon here.

Is it me or does it seem that mostly everyone in the thread here just focuses on the $$$ factor

Anyways, my advise to those coming out would be not to focus on $$$ so much, but perhaps look at your prospects of career and character development. This would go a long way.

When you talk about SSC? Which one are you referring to? ITSSC ? Finance SS

Well for people who are going into the SMART program, I better advise that you have a clear vision on where you are headed because often than not, the developments are usually on the job training.

Yes, I have graduated from the program. And I wouldn't use the word 'product' mainly because everyone turns out differently depending on their personality and like I have mentioned which BU which has sponsored you.

I would suggest not to give general advise without solid evidence to back up the statements. Careers form a big part of our lives (whether we like to admit it or not), and my advise is to join a company where the culture and their mission fits your personality, it will take you much further than you can imagine.

I can't say in more specifics because I don't know what's the average pay for a graduate in Physics, but I reckon if you are a graduate with good results, shouldn't the pay be at least RM2K and above?

Well, like I said it depends on which business unit you are talking about. Like I said, I have some good admiration and praises for SunCity, unlike most of the other business units.

Civil Engineering hmmm..... yeah SunCon seems to be the best BU to start off with your qualification. Of course my advise is don't let your options be limited by what your qualification allows you to do.

Is Civil Engineering what you want as a job?

Just call the HR up and ask when is the next SMART programme intake, they will usually advertise in the major newspapers when they are hiring for the SMART programme. And don't worry about the age as it's the competencies and your results that matter.

I got in to the programme despite me not even graduated yet at that time. So it's really the attitude and your academic performance that counts initially before you get to the interview process.

No denying the fact that probably much has changed since the last year, boy it's been a year and if not for you guys digging up the thread i would have forgotten about it. Well, two of my close friends in the batch has indeed reached managerial status, so it really boils down to the individual and the company you are in.

Yup, you are correct to say that after the 2 year program there is another program which is called the Young Hi-Po (Potential) programme. It's just another level of management trainee where they prepare you for a bigger role.

For total disclosure, I have just left the Sunway group just last month but of course I will help out as much as I can in the questions as I am still considered an 'alumni' I guess

This was the business unit that I worked with before. Who will you be working under? PM me if you are interested in finding out more because it depends on which software you will be selling at the end of the day. That will determine how enjoyable your job will be