This Is The Place To Work If You Want To Be An Islamic Banker Of The Future

Our aim is to transform into a high-performing Islamic bank with agile team leaders and members from different levels and functions.

According to Farid Basir, Chief Human Capital Officer of Bank Rakyat, “Islamic Banking (IB) has experienced double digit growth in the last 10 years. The nature of IB is all encompassing so we have to progress from a syariah-compliant mindset towards the intention behind IB. We need more IB leaders to drive the transformation going forward.”

Bank Rakyat is stepping up to achieve that by developing a pool of Islamic bankers for the future. Says Farid, “Since Malaysia aspires to be the Islamic financial hub of the world, we need to have the talent to meet future needs of Islamic Banking. It is a good niche for Malaysia to be in, thanks to our strategic location in this region.”

So if you envision yourself to be a world-class Islamic banker, here’s how you can be part of Bank Rakyat’s quest to develop more quality bankers.

For starters, there is Bank Rakyat’s Management Trainee Programme, which was recently launched. “The programme aims to develop future leaders in Islamic banking, specially designed to provide graduates with a strategic platform to jump-start their career in the Islamic banking industry,” explains Farid.

The 24-month development plan includes classroom training, case studies, and on-the-job exposure through work rotation across Bank Rakyat’s key business and functional units.

It is a three-phase structured programme that include:

Foundation Building (Al Muassasah), a foundation-building course focusing on Islamic banking, leadership and personal effectiveness skills.

Business Experience (Al Khibrat Fi Al-Aemal) where trainees will be rotated to work in five key business units to experience and develop a profound understanding of the bank’s operations and build a strong network.

Career Assignment (Al Tawzif), the final phase where management trainees will choose their preferred business or functional unit based on their strengths, preference and the bank’s requirements.

Management trainees will be mentored by senior management leaders and enjoy accelerated career development focusing on Islamic finance, leadership and innovation in addition to handling Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) assignments anchored by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Also, according to Farid, Bank Rakyat will sponsor your pursuit of professional certification courses and examinations conducted by the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professional (CIIF) so that you can be a recognised Islamic banker.

As to why Bank Rakyat is the place to develop your career as an Islamic banker, Farid says it is the biggest Islamic cooperative bank in Malaysia, fully owned by its members and declared close to RM2 billion in profits in 2016.

“Our aim is to transform into a high-performing Islamic bank with agile team leaders and members from different levels and functions.”