Scholarships, Aus, NZ, Local - Yayasan Sime Darby

Name of Scholarsip: Yayasan Sime Darby for Overseas and Local Unis

Country of Sponsorship: Australia & NZ

Type: Full Scholarship comprising of Tuition Fees, Fixed Allowance (for Accomodation, Bills, Meals, etc.), Airfare to and from place of study at beginning and end of study, book allowance per annum, one-time settling down & clothing allowance.

Field of Study: Engineering, Biotech/Biosciences, Computer Science, Accounting, Business Administration (it may change to include other fields or exclude the aforementioned fields. Look out for the newspaper ad. But this is the general list)

Tenure: As long as the duration of your course of study

Bond: 7 years for overseas, 4 years for local (regardless of course of study)

Prerequisite: Conditional Offer Letter from University of your own choice (Necessary to be even considered for interview!), Minimum 7A1s for SPM, STPM/Pre-U results or forecast results, Participation in extra-curriculur/community service activities

When/How to apply: Look out for advertisements in newspaper. As for the website, they will only post up applications when advertisements appear in newspapers. Usually between March to May when SPM & STPM have been released. There is usually no application form, but they usually require your personal particulars, CV, and passport-size photograph along with the certified hard copies of the prerequisites.

Contact: www.simedarby.com

Person-in-charge of Scholarship: Viknesh & Zurain

Interview Format:

Preliminary Interviews:

Typically 8 interviewees per session, for a total of 16 days of interview sessions. Upon arrival, interviewees are required to fill in an application form and are given 30 minutes to write an essay on a given topic. I was lucky my topic was something like 'What industries is Sime Darby involved in and how do they contribute to the Malaysian economy'. Do your homework so you know enough information about the company, which is actually a huge, multi-national conglomerate. Sime Darby has extensive information on who they are, what they do, and how they come about on their website.

The prelim interview session is broken into 2 parts - face-to-face interview and Case Study (also known as Group Discussion)
Face-to-Face Interview: Usually with HR Execs. Arrive on time, dress smart formal, keep the nails and hair trimmed. Inherently interviews are all about getting to know each other. When they ask questions like "Tell us something about yourself", you should not be asking them back "What do you want to know?" This is your big chance to wax about yourself. Basically, you want them to see that you're capable of something and not just some slob living everyday life without any zest for anything in particular or a nerd who knows nothing other than studying. Smile! Allow the interviewers to communicate with you, be polite. Sound confident without being condescending. Don’t worry about your interviewers; they were really pleasant! At the end of the session, do ask for the e-mail address of your interviewer so that you can send in your 'Thank-you's and appreciation for their time.

Case Study:

Reflects on the interviewee's maturity and the ability to express ideas/opinions/arguments as well as making decisions and influencing others into agreeing to you. The 8 will be split into 2 groups.

For this prelims, if you are someone with reasonably good results, could express yourself fairly well in English, and portrayed yourself decently, you would most definitely make it to the selection/final interview.

Final Interview:

Selection/Final Interview: Typically 30 interviewees per session, for a total of 2 days of interview sessions For this session, you have only 1 face-to-face interview with HR Managers/Directors. They are the ones you want to impress because it is either you make or break it.

Probability of securing scholarship per year: This is an estimate from my own experience. They do not guarantee the actual figures and do not necessary reflect how Sime Darby makes their selection every year.
Applications: 300+
Prelim Interview: ~120
Final Interview: ~60
Chosen for overseas: 5-8
Chosen for local: 15-20

Expected Time for Response:
Prelim Interview (right after application): 1 month
Final Interview (if you passed the prelims): 1-2 weeks
Selection for scholarship: 1 month or more

Important Requirements for Consideration:

Passion: When you are on your quest to securing a scholarship, you have to want it with all your heart. Overseas scholarships are quite limited, especially for post-pre-university students so you want the scholarship so badly, you will find all ways and means to prepare yourself for interviews, keep yourself abreast on your field of study, and keep your grades up to mark. It is not something tangible, but people will be able to see and feel it from you, especially your interviewers. On a personal level, I have 'successfuly' been rejected by JPA, Petronas, ASEAN Pre-U, and Jardine (for Oxford and Cambridge Unis only) before being selected by Sime Darby. If you ask me, that is quite a number of rejections. Was I disappointed? Of course! Was I desperate? You bet I was! Even more each time I got rejected.

Grades & Exam Results: Contrary to the popular belief (especially those held by parents), grades are NOT everything. I'm not talking about being an all-rounder here, I am saying that you do not need to have straight A's (or 1A's for SPM) for ALL your exams to get a scholarship although your chances will be greatly improved if you're an all-rounder to begin with. You just have to possess reasonably good grades. One or two C or Ds in your report card for your internal exams just shows that you're a normal human being with limitations. Sure, there are people out there who have impeccable records, but they are but a few. Not everyone can be Einstein. Interviewers know this and usually they give a bit of leeway when it comes to reviewing your scholarship in the grades criteria as long as you meet the minimum requirements (i.e. SPM. My results were in fact at the minimum requirement at 7A1s). My interviewer even asked me about my Physics results and my bad performance in Form 4 which gave me a chance to explain on how I bettered myself to get that A1 in SPM. However, it is essential to at least have excellent results for your final examinations.

A LASTING Impression: We all know that a major component of any interview session is the time spent conversing with the interviewers themselves. They are the ones who will determine whether you get the scholarship or not. They also have emotions and feelings like all of us. Besides the basics of interviews like dressing and manners, there is one very important aspect in securing the interview session: making a LASTING impression. If they like you, you stand a higher chance. If they don't, you can forget about all your excellent academic achievements and extraordinary sporting prowess. As I've mentioned earlier, be confident not cocky. You might want to include/say something unique during your interview session so your interviewers remember you for it. ALWAYS remember to send them 'thank you' mails or letters to acknowledge their time and effort spent with you. The interviewers would certainly appreciate it.

Yours Sincerely,
Justin Tiew
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Justin Tiew Senn is a 19 year old YSD(Yayasan Sime Darby) scholar
who is going to pursue a double degree in Computer Science & Mechatronics in Melbourne University. He did his A-Levels in Taylor's College and had his secondary education in VI. His passions include Water polo, web & graphic design, body-building, & photography