Yogyakarta, September 11th 2021─Usually, fresh graduates are confused about how to jump into their career world. This is the reason behind the RISETalk #16 events titled “Fresh Graduates, Don’t be Confused!” held by the Youth Studies Center (YouSure) Fisipol UGM with Rise Foundation on Saturday (11/9). The event was streamed live on Instagram and was hosted by Ika Kusumawati as a Human Resource practitioner as well as Safira Tafani as a Research Assistant Intern at YouSure Fisipol UGM.
According to Ika Kusumawati, right now there is a difficulty in matching fresh graduates with the right job, that is why, fresh graduates need to explore the jobs that they are interested in. However, if the job openings are not in line with their passion and academic background, there is no reason to not try. According to Ika, skills in a job can be obtained outside the university.
Fresh graduates are also confused when it comes to whether they should work or continue their studies. To solve this, Ika gave one important point, which is about our ability to measure ourselves and our needs. “Continuing our studies is good, however we still need to know what we want to do once we graduate. If we want to have a career in academics, continuing our study is important. However, most job openings prefer job experience over studies,” said Ika.
In facing uncertainties after graduation, Safira as a Research Intern of YouSure Fisipol UGM talked about the importance of mentors and facilities from the university. According to her, those are the things that can help direct students after their graduation. Mentorships are also important for students’ self development.
Meanwhile, as students, we need to be careful with hustle culture. “This can also make us under perform,” Safira said. Other than that, hustle culture can also affect our mental health. In regards to passion, Ika said that it needs to be developed continuously. Students need to open themselves up to always grow. They also need to learn from their past mistakes.