Hang Your Dream as High as The Sky

As the only child in the family, Henrico Aldy Ferdian (24) is grateful for his parents' support of his education. That enabling factor helped Rico to move up the career ladder in the IT field. One by one, his dreams came true, including being able to join giant tech companies such as Google, Tokopedia, Traveloka, and Gojek.

However, it didn't mean Rico got everything at once. As a former Computer Science student at Udayana University, Rico fell in love with tech right after he was exposed to the internet and started working on his laptop in 4th grade.

On his career journey, he decided to participate in many upskilling programs, such as Bangkit, that could support his work and deepen his knowledge. What was more exciting was that Rico even completed Bangkit twice in two different learning paths. Why so? Check out the full story below.

Rico's Early Interest in Tech

While most primary schoolers like to play outside the house, this boy from Bali preferred to surf on his laptop.

Rico said that his love of software engineering began in high school. He still vividly remembers that Java was the first programming language he taught himself, which led him to go to Universitas Udayana majoring in IT. Then, he was increasingly exposed to various tech branches such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, and Software Engineering. It made him more enchanted by the tech world.

"I tried to study many IT stacks one by one to find out my level of interest. Eventually, it led me to software engineering, which became the top of my interest."

Gained Practical Insights from Bangkit

When Bangkit was still a pilot project and accepted only 300 cohorts in 2020, Rico decided to participate. Then, this program only had Machine Learning as the only learning path. The following year, Rico returned to Bangkit as a cohort and chose the Cloud Computing path, with a 10x bigger capacity and a growing number of applicants.

At first, Rico was intrigued by the leading company, Google, behind Bangkit. Moreover, he believed that by joining this program, he could gain valuable experience applicable to the industry, broaden his knowledge in IT, and expand his professional network. Rico believed everything he got from Bangkit could help him excel in the industry.

According to him, participating in Bangkit was one of his best decisions because this program laid a good foundation for his entering his first career.

"Bangkit helped me a lot. After focusing on AI at my university, I chose the Machine Learning path in Bangkit 2020. Then, I implemented what I had learned in Bangkit in my campus project. Besides Machine Learning, Cloud Computing was also applied to my current job, particularly to the Back-End."

Excelled Both in Hard and Soft Skills

In his first participation in Bangkit, Rico took the TensorFlow Developer Certification exam and passed it. The global certification was helpful for him to apply for internships at Traveloka and the AI company.

Rico admitted that joining Bangkit helped him a lot. Things he usually does at work, such as managing time, utilizing the Google calendar, prioritizing tasks according to urgency, giving and receiving feedback, and doing presentations, are still relevant. Meanwhile, the Machine Learning skills he learned in 2020 were primarily used in lectures for his thesis and in several projects he worked on.

In Rico's second participation in Bangkit, he picked a different learning path. His decision to learn Cloud Computing was motivated by his desire to deepen his tech skills to prepare for his future career in the Back-End field. This Google Cloud-powered knowledge taught him many valuable lessons about cloud infrastructure.

Moreover, as a job applicant, he said his learning in Bangkit helped him stand out from the crowd of other candidates.

"Back then, in Bangkit soft skills classes, I got insights about personal branding and interview communication. It gave me ease in creating my resume and boosted my confidence during the interview. Cloud Computing knowledge is also beneficial for me to adapt to my tasks faster at work."

Rico’s #LifeafterBangkit at Tokopedia

What did Rico do after graduating from Bangkit? The answer is he simply did what he loves!

After officially becoming one of Bangkit's Alums, Rico has worked as a Software Engineer at Tokopedia until now. In this role, he focuses on the Back-End. He said that working at one of the big tech companies in Indonesia, both in terms of culture, solid teammates, and having a good business, is a dream come true. He's glad he can gain and learn many things to develop here.

Was there a particular reason why he chose the Back-End role? Yes, there was. This field aligns with Rico's passion for building and developing products. Through software, he could do anything with a computer. That enabled him to significantly impact others through the apps he created. Then, in university, Rico studied mobile development and was inspired to go further in the back-end field.

Outside of his current job, Rico still contributes to Bangkit. He became an advisor for five capstone project teams in Bangkit 2023. Besides that role, Rico also became a Cloud Computing instructor.

With such achievements, Rico wants to share some tips with the Bangkit 2023 Cohort. His desire to continue learning and not be complacent has brought him to this point.

"Since tech development is rapid, we should be eager to keep learning and updating our knowledge. This improvement would make my career significantly develop. First, I worked at a small company; then at a startup, until finally, I could contribute to a large company.”

As a closing, he added,

"For all Bangkit 2023 Cohort, we're in the tech winter right now. Bangkit is a handy guide to survive in the current situation. So, make the most of this precious opportunity. After graduating from this program, take the global certification exam, create some innovations, and pursue careers in any company."

More stories about Bangkit Alum and Cohort:

Bangkit Blog