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DBS to hire up to 100 through Hack2Hire recruitment hackathon

DBS today announced that it plans to hire up to 100 of the brightest tech sparks through its recruitment hackathon programme - Hack2Hire.

According to a media release, this will double the number of technology talent that the bank has hired through the same programme in 2017.

Given the success of 2017's Hack2Hire recruits, the bank is expanding the programme's remit to hire for a wider range of technology skillsets.

Apart from recruiting for developers, data scientists and system engineers, this year, the bank will also be on a lookout for scrum masters [1], user interface and user experience designers, mobile application developers, and solution architects, to create an all-rounded, Agile technology team [2].

Soh Siew Choo, DBS’ group head of consumer banking and big data analytics technology, said that DBS is transforming digitally to keep pace with the fast-changing behavioural and consumption patterns of its customers.

“To reimagine banking, it is important that we leverage the latest technology and embed ourselves in the customer journey. The new tech talents bring fresh perspectives and skillsets, and complement existing teams to enable us to continue making banking simpler and more effortless for customers.”

The first such recruitment drive in Southeast Asia, the DBS Hack2Hire programme consists of two parts.

The first part is an online technical assessment designed by DBS's technology team to gauge the base skillsets required for the jobs. After passing the first part, the second part will see candidates hack their way into solving real-life business use cases in a team setting using their technical, analytical and problem-solving skills in under 24 hours. Successful candidates will be offered a job within the same day.

Foo Cher Fong, a data scientist who joined DBS through Hack2Hire last year, said: "When I first joined DBS, it was completely different from what I imagined it to be. The culture is like a start-up and it is very dynamic. As an employee, I am constantly encouraged to give my best, learn more and improve further. In my previous company, I was dealing with data of a different variety, image processing and visual effects. The bank provided the relevant training to help me transition into my new role and learn how to master modern stack technologies."

Foo Cher Fong (middle), a data scientist who joined DBS through last year’s Hack2Hire programme, working with DBS colleagues. Foo Cher Fong (middle), a data scientist who joined DBS through last year’s Hack2Hire programme, working with DBS colleagues.

 

Over the last five years, DBS has made significant investments in strategic technology initiatives to weave banking into the everyday life of its customers so that they can spend more time on people or things that they care about.

This includes initiating a comprehensive re-architecture of the bank's technology backbone as well as catalysing a change in culture within the bank to one that is more "startup-like" in nature. DBS' digital-first strategy has enabled it to broaden its footprint in growth markets like India and Indonesia without expensive physical distribution networks.


[1] Scrum masters are facilitators of an agile team. [2] An Agile team is a cross-functional team with different skillsets and knowledge to create new products and services.

Photos / DBS

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