From time to time, we have SpringBoard ex-interns come back to thank us after becoming success stories. This time, we have one that is more special – a testimonial was given by the ex-intern’s supervisor!
The other writer is Sophia who successfully switched into Corporate Finance after many months of hard work.
While we celebrate their successes, we hope that you are also inspired to achieve your fullest potential.
Success Story: Tata says “Thank you SpringBoard for introducing a quality candidate like Yuan Jin”
Tata was Head of ASEAN property research at a regional brokerage house and was introduced to Springboard by a friend in the industry. He saw value in the work done by SpringBoard in grooming talent to prepare them for finance industry front office roles. Thanks to Springboard, Tata was introduced to Yuan Jin, an eager young man with lots of positive ingredients in him. Yuan Jin was a CFA charter holder when he signed up for our Mentorship Programme and had learnt well in the good hands of Ruishan, one of our numerous star mentors.
Tata is a no-nonsense type of supervisor and only wished to see quality candidates in his team. Yuan Jin was a good fit, as he exhibited fearlessness, relentlessness, and energy – which sometimes are more important qualities than any degrees (accolades). Springboard had prepared him well, not only with the skills required to do the job but also mentally preparing him for the expectations of LIVE work in our finance industry.
Yuan Jin spent three months under dedicated care & training under Tata. In the first month, Yuan Jin performed basic functions of the business, from building comparable spreadsheet using Bloomberg to collecting news around the region on ASEAN properties. This was followed by heavier tasks in second month, which include financial modelling of SREITs, Singapore developers, and Indonesian developers (both building from scratch and maintaining an existing, running model). Yuan Jin spent long hours to understand concepts (granted, Real Estate is one of the most complex industries with several sub-segments such as residential, office, retail, industrial, and hospitality – each with their own demand-supply fundamental and accounting treatment) and drivers of the sector. In the third month, Yuan Jin took on a responsibility of writing notes, a demanding task for a newly joined intern.
Yuan Jin learnt well under Tata and was later able to take his knowledge to other parts of the business and was transferred to the Corporate Finance team (with Tata’s recommendation), where he now has gained a full time employment with the team. Yuan Jin is testimony that by working hard, having the right attitude, and finding the right channel/network, one could perform well in the industry. We are all very happy with Yuan Jin’s achievements, and as a result, Tata continues to source candidates from Springboard today, helping to mentor our Advanced interns.
Success Story: how Sophia benefited from SpringBoard Program that helped her into Corporate Finance role…
I was an intern in the Springboard Program for about 6 months before successfully getting a job in the industry.
The 6 months has been extremely rewarding although it did take up a lot of time.
I joined the bottom-up equity research and financial modelling program, where I was introduced to the basics of building a full-scale financial model in real life and also understanding how the different drivers of the economy, industry and company would come into play. As much as I have built financial models prior to joining the Program, I soon realized that there was so much more to learn. To add on, the real-life tips which my mentor shared with me were invaluable as I wouldn’t have learnt these from reading.
The Kairos stock challenge allowed me to put what I have learnt to practice. Although it was difficult, it allowed me to clarify many of my doubts and queries I had. There was also a huge sense of satisfaction to have personally complete a research report and a presentation. The practice and experience gained from the challenge were very useful for interviews.
In addition, the Springboard Program encouraged the interns to network and to talk to more people in the industry. The networking sessions were useful to understand their real-life experiences and also the various parts of the entire financial industry chain and which part I was more inclined or interested in. It was initially difficult to start talking to people but I made a conscious effort to try and they indeed proved to be very insightful.
Overall, I would like to thank Springboard for the Program and hope that the above has provided potential interns with an insight to the Program.
