Originally Posted by Unregistered

Pay wise they recently buffed their salary to make it more competitive. 5.4k starting pay if I'm not wrong. It's just average if u compare with the grad progs in other banks, so nth special in terms of salary. Guaranteed pay increment upon completion of the 2 yrs programme. Pay jump to about 7k i think.

Culture wise highly dependent on the dept u get thrown into. U will experience 2 diff dept - 1st yr u don't have a choice in ur dept. 2nd yr u will rotate into another dept of ur choice (but u will compete with ur peers and it all boils down to supply & demand. The dept hiring mgr will have the final say)

Work life balance entirely depends on dept also. But in its core, i personally think the entire process internally is very very inefficient. Too many layers, too hierarchical and is super traditional. I get it that the org is huge so they need a lot of process in place. But those are not efficient at all.

Personally i feel that if u rly wanna grow as a developer, don't bother with this place esp in sg. Odds are a lot of the stuff are being developed offshore and u r not actually needed.

My personal experience wasn't exactly great and i left this programme prematurely (in my 2nd yr after my rotation - that's when i concluded there's no more redeeming factor in this prog). I was pretty much thrown into the deep blue sea all the time with minimal guidance. Like i said, most of the developers are situated offshore so it's rly difficult to guide u thru screen sharing and phone calls. Altho disclaimer not all depts are like that (but most are). I have fellow prog mates who r in dept where their core dev team is situated in sg, so they are in pretty good hands.

Package wise it's good. 20 days leave if I'm not wrong, and medical benefits are not too shabby. But to put things in perspective, i feel this place is not exactly the best place for fresh grads to join because u won't learn as much because of the inefficiencies. Half the time it felt as if u r spending unnecessary time dealing with inefficiencies instead of the actual problem itself. With the good benefits, i personally think it's a little trappy. Kinda bait u in and make it difficult for u to leave because u can't rly jump elsewhere (other than financial sector) that matches this benefits.

Conclusion is, i would rly urge u to think twice before getting into this. Weigh the pros and cons because i feel entering this place and this programme is kinda like a dichotimy between benefits vs learning. Yes the package might seem attractive, but i think it's at the expense of ur learning. Long term wise is not a good thing. While u r still young and have the stamina and capacity to learn, don't tie urself up here. Maybe this company might be ok when u r in ur mid life and have a family and all u care about is stability rather than learning and trying out new things.

P.s. I'm currently in a consulting firm right now, and i can say for sure I'm growing exponentially compared to when i was a tech analyst in citi. I left before the 2 yrs was up so my pay didn't hit 7k, but it was alr so difficult to find jobs or position out of the banking sector that won't need me to take a pay cut with my (lack of) experience. That's when i rly felt the importance of leveling up to make myself worth that amount so i can have more options to jump in the future.

Just my 2 cents worth. All the best.