Coping with Career Uncertainty by Joining Bangkit



Since childhood, Ardiyanto Halim (22) has liked to play with robotics. The hobby lingers so much on him that he took Electronic Engineering at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember in university. Living his passion, he diligently passed through his semesters with satisfying results.

However, there's one thing that made Ardi cast doubt on his study preference. "Too many Electronic Engineering graduates out there. How could I compete if my competence is the same as others?"

After contemplating, he discovered he needed to expand his knowledge and skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Once he knew the Machine Learning path in Bangkit was so much related to his intention to learn AI competencies, he didn't take much consideration to participate.

How is his story of navigating through doubt and uncertainty by joining Bangkit? Let's dive into his story until he gains TensorFlow certification!

Ardi's Family Background Gave Him a New Perspective

Coming from Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Ardi moved to Surabaya in East Java to pursue his passion for Electronic Engineering. Being accepted at his dream university made him eager to study the major well.

Electronic Engineering courses were indeed his priority to focus on. His interests were studying microcontrollers and IoT, his two favorite courses ever. According to him, these two subjects are so much related to the robotics hobby since childhood.

Out of pure love for robotics and electronics, he realized that he missed something big: a sense of purpose. "What am I doing this for?" "What would I do after graduating?" "What kind of contribution could I give to society?" Those are the questions that Ardi keeps pondering. The doubt heightens as he realizes that many Electronic Engineering graduates are out there and he is a mere "one in a million."

He remained hungry for answers until, eventually, the semester holiday brought him back to his hometown Pontianak where he helped his father work as a vegetable farmer. When doing the hard, laborious, and manual work, his doubts slowly find answers. He wanted to apply what he learned at university to lessen his father's burden in the farm field.

As an Electronic Engineering student, he knows that his insights are helpful in physically creating a product innovation. However, the electrical engineering basics are not enough to run the product itself. Machine Learning is needed to operate a new product in a complex process using language programming tools.

Language programming itself is something new for him. Through Bangkit, he found that this program could facilitate him to realize an Artificial Intelligence product for his father and others. Later, it also supports his career path by combining Electronic Engineering courses and Machine Learning.

Spending 900 hours studying Machine Learning materials was not a cup of tea for Ardi. Accelerating ILT sessions amidst his activity as an active student takes much effort in terms of time management and self-motivation.

In that phase, he states that it's okay for us to feel down and give ourselves a rest. "It's impossible if we don't have a problem in our life," he adds. Apparently, mastering Machine Learning materials was much more complicated than he thought, as the study is really new for him.

In fact, the initial challenge in deepening Machine Learning is understanding each algorithm's concept and mathematics. For a newbie like Ardi, executing it could take much effort, especially in real-work situations where he ought to prepare and arrange the data. Even though it is difficult, Ardi notices that his persistence to conduct such experiments has some positive impacts. Among them, he gradually gains proper parameters for solving problems in processing data.

The Capstone Project Encouraged Ardi to Move Forward

The end of ILT sessions in Bangkit means the Capstone Project has begun. Ardi was thrilled about this one as he could train himself to encounter real work situations later. Furthermore, his father's work inspired him to submit a product proposal related to the farm field to the Bangkit Capstone Project. What is that?

In running the Capstone Project, Ardi was pointed as a team leader to guide the members in doing their tasks. "Frood: Fresh and Less-Waste Ingredients Detection" was indeed their work. This application is used to classify the freshness of fruits and vegetables to lessen leftovers.

Together with five other Cohorts who came from the Mobile Development and Cloud Computing learning path, Ardi gained a bunch of experiences regarding professional work life. It also boosted his confidence as his role proved he could tackle career expansion through the cases included.

TensorFlow Certification and Ardi's Career Journey

He said the Capstone Project could significantly uplift Ardis's soft skills in communication and critical thinking. Hence, certification would prove his entire value as a capable talent. To achieve it, he ought to pass the exam first. He then recalled all the materials he absorbed during Bangkit. The result?

Although Ardi experienced a hard time in fulfilling one of the answers to five questions, he obtained TensorFlow certification. However, Ardi claims it's a small step for him to dive into extensive Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning matter. He then enrolled in an internship.

The first Ardi's internship experience is dedicated to Research and Development in PT. Bambang Djaja, Surabaya's leading manufacturer, distribution, and instrument transformers. This role is responsible for achieving companies' growth toward investigation, testing, and maintaining market relevance toward product development.
“Data processing and Python programming I studied during Bangkit helped me carry out the role. As a result, I got the chance to execute individual projects to build the application for the company's needs.”
Ardi wants to keep his focus on the internship and do his thesis. On the other hand, Idea Generation and MVP planning soft skills from Bangkit motivated him to consider his career-wise as a start-up employee. He claims that these two could support him in tackling challenging work there.

If you seek a learning program that encourages you to be more confident for moving forward no matter what, I highly recommend you join Bangkit, said Ardi. In addition, he felt grateful to trust Bangkit for his self-development through struggling moments.
“Let me list the benefits I gained from Bangkit: connections, a bunch of knowledge, and help me to discover the career path I would fight for that is Machine Learning Engineer or Data Engineer.”
More stories about Bangkit Alum and Cohort:
  1. Muhammad Suhri Ainur Rifky - "Nothing is impossible to work on your dream."
  2. I Putu Cahya Adi Ganesha - "Achieving goals starts with committing to yourself."
  3. Muchammad Rafli Riyana - From Generalist to Specialist: A Path that Rafli Found in Bangkit

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