By providing an exhilarating and holistic recruitment programme for its graduates, Maybank has set a new benchmark for recruiting programmes in Malaysia.

The bank was awarded the title of the company with the best regional recruitment in Human Resources’ inaugural Asia Recruitment Awards 2015.

Judged by existing HR practitioners, the company was recognised specifically for its graduate recruitment programme titled Maybank GO Ahead Challenge (MGAC).

An international business case competition, the MGAC was designed to unearth talents beyond academic excellence, and to provide students with an idea of a how a real business environment is.

In addition to presenting business cases, participants in the programme have to perform well across various disciplines and real life situations to test all components of their personality.

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These include strategising and engaging in an amazing race across KL and Jakarta, and cooking for the homeless. They are also required to present a funding plan to a team of top industry players and bankers and create a marketing plan and then execute it in the busiest part of KL.

Such activities form a big part of the programme, as the company believes these challenges contain elements of logical, lateral thinking, motor skills, articulation capability and stakeholder engagement.

Since its inception in 2012, the programme has grown significantly. For instance, the number of countries participating in the programme grew from six in 2012, to 14 in 2014.

Additionally, the number of applicants to the programme increased from 1,000 in 2012, to close to 11,000 in 2014.