Cyberjaya, 204January 2022 : The results are already proving themselves; BeSquare builds team and individual competencies extremely well. Designed to strengthen both personal and professional capacity of participants, and bridge the gap between university and employability, BeSquare by Deriv is having a profound impact on the lives of its participants. Beyond ‘just-an-internship’, BeSquare is a hands-on, practical programme with real employment opportunity at the company for those who embrace and develop well.
BeSquare’s first cohort commenced in September 2021. Forty-eight (48) Malaysian university graduates clocked in at Deriv’s Cyberjaya headquarters to start a programme of industry learning, professional growth, and self development. The programme, carefully curated by members of Deriv’s senior team, ensures each participant gets a solid grounding in multiple aspects of the business; from mobile development, cybersecurity, business intelligence, and quantitative analysis, to a broader into understanding of finance, marketing, and inter-personal communication – skills and concepts which round out individuals ‘bigger picture understanding’ of their role(s) within any organisation. Working together both as a team and alongside mentors, they solve real problems faced by the business, and share solutions developed in order to springboard further growth. One such task was to identify and strategise practical improvements to Malaysia’s MySejahtera application; a very solid lesson in product design and implementation.
With the programme currently housed in the top floor event space of the current Deriv office (think ballroom x movie theatre, soon to move to their own complex in January 2022, just a few hundred meters away), the BeSquare cohort have plenty of space to work collaboratively. “The projects they work on require a good mix of independent problem solving and activation, combined with group-think approaches to ensure no stone is left unturned. They have the chance to work with their trainers and members of our senior team too, in order to share, demonstrate, and discuss feedback in depth” stated Waqas Awan, Chief Business Development Officer, Deriv.
BeSquare equips graduates with knowledge and skills that are relevant to meet the demanding nature of today’s tech industry. The only speedbump, at that’s due to the pandemic, was that “we were unable to fly in some of the trainers from our other offices, so some sessions were purely remote. We hope that for our second cohort in 2022, we will have these people on the ground working with our Malaysian talent” noted Shamini Pillay, Training Manager, BeSquare.
Reflection by participants has been very positive; “the foundation that they [BeSquare] lay down is very valuable. It is such a good learning opportunity, an incredible experience” noted Nur Haziqah Alias. Nadiah binti Ahmad Zairee added that it has helped her “develop communication skills and confidence, to be more articulate. BeSquare has made me able to express [myself] more clearly”.
Tatiana Joanne Cheah added that “the programme was a lot more diverse and dynamic than I thought”, which made it “exciting to learn, especially as I didn’t originally consider the depth and layers to digital product design”. With a core mantra being “working alone together; we find new angles to problems, and new ways to solve them”. Ricky Espineli
Thain added, the “highlight was the collaborative work; individually but together”, encouraging not only collaboration but accountability too.
“It was initially pretty challenging for our participants, but the trainers and the new learning patterns of engagement made the sessions interesting” noted Goh Choon Yih, Training Manager, BeSquare.
“Whilst there are still two (2) months left in the programme with this inaugural cohort, the quality of candidates and deliverables is reinforcing the decision to accelerate BeSquare. The outcomes now speak for themselves, and I firmly believe we have excellent long term candidates in here ready to join Deriv as full time team members. We look forward to opening up more spaces in our April 2022 cohort, and contributing to the development of even more graduates” added Waqas Awan.
Besides receiving mentorship and guidance from experienced professionals, BeSquare participants who perform exceptionally well during the programme will be offered permanent positions at Deriv. If they accept, they’ll have the opportunity to pursue a tech career with an industry leader that’s geared for growth.
Applications are now open for the second cohort of the BeSquare programme. Recent graduates or final semester students from the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are encouraged to apply. The applicant must be a Malaysian citizen, with fluency in English essential for a successful application.
Further information, and application details are available on the BeSquare website, https://deriv.com/careers/besquare/.
