Join Internship Programs While Planning on Your Career!

Yogyakarta, 4 March 2018 – “There is a wide gap between what we learn in class and what we encounter in the professional world. Internship programmes can help us to bridge this gap,” as said by Luqman Tifa Perwira, the founder of Astadaya Consulting. Luqman was the speaker for March’s internship briefing session, held by the Career Development Center (CDC) of Fisipol UGM on Monday (4/3) at BA 204 room. When entering the workforce, one’s failure can be caused by one of the three factors; the lack of competence, not realizing one’s potential or unable to promote the existing competences. Thus, what should be done?

 

• Self-Reflection and Answering the Question of ‘What Should Be Improved?’

Personal development consists of three aspects; general plus technical knowledge, experience and people skills. Other aspects include attitude and personality. A lack of presentation skills is one of the examples and can be mitigated by participating in internship programs. “Personal branding is important, without having to be overconfident on ourselves. The time that we spent on internship programs can be used to fill this gap,” as Luqman stated.

 

• Mastering the Tripod Concept

The next aspect is understanding the tripod concept, which contains mastery on one’s field, commitment plus work ethics and etiquette. Similar to a tripod, if one leg is missing, it cannot function properly,” Luqman said. Furthermore, internship programs can also be utilized to prepare for the future career. What are the differences between a career and a job?

 

• Differentiate Between a Career and a Job

A career is the lifelong prospect, since it involves emotions and passion. A career provides an opportunity for long-term personal development. Meanwhile, a job is relatively temporary and without a long-term prospect. “If we want to do more, we must have a strong reason on our career choices,” as Luqman stated.

 

• Confused on Determining Your Future Career?

Career Anchor by Edgar Schein has eight characteristics that can help you to determine your career, ranging from technical competence to lifestyle. In addition, the Japanese concept of Ikigai can also aid you in planning your career paths through various indicators on what do you like, what skills do you have, what the world needs and what are you paid with.

As a closing remark, Luqman urged the participants to determine their own definitions of success. “Success is not always linear; our career paths can be different from our educational backgrounds. Determining a career will be far easier if we already have a plan, despite the lack of competences. This is where internship programs help us to discover our interests.”