Assalamualaikum and hi!

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Applying for the Yayasan Telekom Malaysia scholarship is quite simple as they don’t require any essays and what not. Just remember the course you applied for and your reference number that they’ll give after submitting your application.

The courses offered:

Electrical and Electronic – Computer Science – Marketing
– Communication – Information Technology – Economic
– Mechatronic – Network System & Security – Statistics
– Computer – Data Analysis – Actuarial Science
– Software and Programming

I applied for mechatronic engineering, which is a combination of electrical and mechanical engineering, which its functions focus slightly more to telecommunications.

Online Test

After that I don’t remember how long it’s been since the closing date, they’ll give you an email saying that you’ve qualified… Not for the scholarship yet, but to take an online test

The test was called Logiks General.

There were two assessments, math and english. It was normal, daily used math and also doable, but the time limit made it hard to finish them all within the allocated time (or maybe it’s just me and my rusty brain). The english was OK too, so don’t worry too much.

eg: ‘the opposite of hectic is ….’ And ‘the  word similar to tranquil is….’

So yeah…. that’s how it was.

Honestly I did not finish answering all the maths questions, and reda with anything that’s gonna happen next until one day…

YTM EQ CAMP

Quite a long time after the test I received an email saying that I was qualified to attend the

‘YTM TALENT-A EQ CAMP’

I really didn’t expect to make it to the next stage because of the math test.

Mine was at D’Village Resort, Melaka. The camp varies according to where you stay, so those from utara will attend the camp held somewhere in utara. Food and accommodation are all sponsored by Telekom! The list of documents you need to prepare is included in the email. I kept it in an envelope, but when I reached there, we were to transfer everything into a file they provided. I cannot say whether it will be the same for the upcoming years, but be prepared with an envelope, at the very least.

Yeah and be sure to highlight EQ because it has A LOT to do with how the candidates were evaluated, although most participants didn’t notice it at first. Those who came to the camp were considered to have equal IQ (which I doubt..I mean…many whom I met there scored higher than me in SPM (I got 9As campur campur)) so they decided to test your EQ next. From what I observed, the participants selected for the camp scored in the range of 7A’s to 12A’s in SPM. But do not worry, because once you are selected for the camp, facilitator really evaluated everyone equally.

We were to register first to get our room keys. It was a three days two nights stay there, the food was delicious and the place was, for me, quite decent especially for a ‘camp’. Then, we were separated into groups of around 20 people (yup that many in a group) and as usual the ice breaking starts.

Be sure to get actively involved in any group activities, and by ‘actively’ I mean, be a really good team member, and if you are a leader, take the responsibility as a leader in anything your group did, and make sure to play your part as a team member as well, not relying on others to do things for you. Your group may have to stay and finish projects till as late as 1 a.m., but please stay awake and participate.

There will be a LOT of activities during the camp, but my blanket answer is this:
You and your team will have to go through many things, so be mentally and physically prepared. Be aware of your emotions, no matter what the facilitator will say, and also be aware of your friends’ emotions. Adjust yourself to adapt to the situation or the environment you will be put through, but maintain your focus to achieve what you want at the end. And don’t forget to be the best version of yourself.

Other than that, go through your co curricular activities, the positions you held, and the experience that you have gained during school years that would boost the facilitator’s impression towards yourself. But do remember that boastful people are not really appreciated in society as well, and since you have a group of 20, please pick your words wisely.

Next, be prepared with current issues (politics, economy, education) because some groups had debates going on.

Also, prepare the reason why you think you should get the scholarship, and try to make it different from the common answers like “because I can work really hard” or “this scholarship can help me achieve my fullest potential“. Remember having 20 in a group would most likely result in people having the same things to say. My tip is, try and relate your qualities to your experiences which will make it more personal. Tell them that those qualities are what you can give Telekom, something the others may not have. But, again, please be humble with your words but make sure what you want them to know is reached.

Finally, clothing! Many people were off guard on this one since it’s a camp. But be presentable 24/7 .

On the last day, they held an interview so the ones that have done can go home. The interview was held in groups of six and there were around four to five interviewers. The questions that they asked were not fixed for every group and consisted of very random questions, like, I’ve got a friend that said she was from Melaka during her introduction, and the interviewer asked, “So how many museums are there in Melaka?” and Melaka-related questions came up continuously after that in the group.

Yup, it’s really THAT random. Just remember to be polite, I guess, because realize that whenever random questions come up, they don’t expect the correct answer (really, does everyone need to know how many museums are there in every state?) but its your reaction towards the question that counts. Be prepared for the usual questions though, like “Introduce yourself” and “What are your strengths and weaknesses” and “What can you bring to Telekom if you were chosen as a scholar (remember that you’ll have a bond for 7 years with telekom if you get selected)”. Oh and get to know more about Telekom as well! My group interview lasted for an hour, but some had 2 hours so it really depends on what they want to ask you. Next; end of camp and wait for results.

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Telekom is very generous to open up their application to all undergrads, just that the overseas program is only for SPM leavers, while the matriks and asasi students will be applying for the scholarship to MMU. 

If you are required to give an opinion about the camp while you are there, please remember that the camp has been held like that for 14 years, so there is a reason for every activity they organize. Think about it before answering.

I may have not said specifically on what we have done during the camp, but the tentative varies on the group except for interview day and that’s all I can say. The interesting thing about this camp is its unique way of handling this program, and how many people would not realize why the reason why they have actually done it that way. It’s way different from any other camps that I have been to, but all in all it was really enjoyable.

Note that students applying for engineering overseas MIGHT be sent to a country that uses another language such as France, Korea and Germany. So the best part is, if you get selected for any of these countries, you’ll get to fly on that same year to do foundation+language there for 2 years and further your studies till masters.

Alhamdulillah I got an email followed by a phone call from Telekom, and they offered me to do engineering in France, and if I accept, I would be going this 22nd June (on the same year)

Hope you guys found it useful and good luck！