My Journey in Pursuing a Career Path from Scratch
An effort driven by a strong will always yields satisfying effort, and that's what Fajar Zuliansyah Trihutama (22) from Pangkalpinang did. Because becoming a technologist is his dream, he has read books on fundamental algorithms and learned how computers work since high school.
When he pursued Computer Science at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, he maintained his productivity by participating in several off-campus activities that led him to a more specific dream job, Data Analyst.
Currently, Fajar spends most of his time accomplishing his thesis and undergoing an internship at Kalbe Consumer Health as a Data Analyst. How is the whole story of him getting the position? Let's dive in!
Currently, Fajar spends most of his time accomplishing his thesis and undergoing an internship at Kalbe Consumer Health as a Data Analyst. How is the whole story of him getting the position? Let's dive in!
Maintaining Productivities in University Life
"Does it benefit others, make me happy, and get me financially independent? That's how my parents advised me about the career I should pursue. As long as I meet these criteria, I'm free to choose my future career," said Fajar.Such words encouraged Fajar even to hold fast to his choice. No wonder he enrolled in tech training and joined related communities besides college, such as Google Developer Student Clubs (GDSC) and Bithub. It was also the community that introduced Fajar to Bangkit.
Among the three (3) learning paths in Bangkit, Machine Learning takes the first option in his decision. Why so?
He intended to keep learning about data modeling analysis and enrich his knowledge of how it works from A to Z. "Making friends with people with similar interests is fun," he added.
"In addition, in Machine Learning, there are many specializations that I could explore. This stimulated me to focus on managerial roles, such as Product Lead. But then, I realized that I should master junior-level work first before moving further."
Among the three (3) learning paths in Bangkit, Machine Learning takes the first option in his decision. Why so?
He intended to keep learning about data modeling analysis and enrich his knowledge of how it works from A to Z. "Making friends with people with similar interests is fun," he added.
"In addition, in Machine Learning, there are many specializations that I could explore. This stimulated me to focus on managerial roles, such as Product Lead. But then, I realized that I should master junior-level work first before moving further."
Experiencing Life-Transformation through Bangkit
Fajar grew up in an environment that used to communicate using Indonesian rather than English. It then exposed him to difficulties in Bangkit since the delivery of all material utilizes a foreign language.Hence, his learning process adheres to "practice makes perfect." Although he was overwhelmed by understanding the material in English, he was able to catch up. He had a trick to prepare before class by studying and planning the questions he would address later in the session.
Meanwhile, the most memorable session for him was the Guest Speaker Session. Why so?
The experts from the industry who provide insights, according to him, are very captivating in their presentation and thus support his learning process.
Meanwhile, the most memorable session for him was the Guest Speaker Session. Why so?
The experts from the industry who provide insights, according to him, are very captivating in their presentation and thus support his learning process.
“The startup pitching material from Bangkit came up with tons of tips and tricks for presenting a product with engaging content. Isn’t this very applicable?”
In fact, the Capstone Project requiring him to have hands-on experience was also applicable. While working on an application, he valued the essentials of self-competence as a digital talent.
Together with other team members, Fajar developed a tourist destination recommendation application called Mevel. How does it work?
To get recommendations for tourist destinations, users could upload photos of their "outfit of the day." They would also have output and entertainment packages from local SMEs. This prototype that took East Java as the coverage area grabbed the top 53 capstone project titles.
In line with Fajar's wish to pursue a managerial role, he had such experience on this occasion. Forbye Machine Learning Engineer is a project manager who monitors the progress of team members' tasks.
Were there any other wishes of Fajar in Bangkit? Sure, TensorFlow Developer certification was the answer! Although he was pessimistic since there was one problem that took a lot of time and didn't match the plan he had prepared, he could go through this all with gratitude.
"For the exam process to run smoothly, prepare the technical details carefully, such as managing data forms that include tensor arrays. This is handy to reduce the debugging risk, which will take loads of time," informed Fajar.
After Bangkit, What's Next?
One thing that Fajar wanted to highlight after graduating from Bangkit was his increased confidence level. He could identify this since he no longer hesitated to participate in data analysis competitions and research groups on campus. What else?Solidly, Fajar challenged himself that he was able to take an internship while working on his thesis. Within a week, he had to simultaneously commute from Bandung to North Jakarta to fulfill these two obligations. Will he be staying caught up?
"During my thesis, I didn't take as many courses as a freshman. Instead of having too much leisure time, I decided to stay productive by taking an internship. How do you run these two things? Communication. I should make a tutoring appointment with the lecturer in a week. When I don't have a schedule, I will focus on off-campus activities," revealed Fajar.
Does it seem systematic? Anyhow, Fajar is totally aware that he needs to sacrifice some things. "The rest time. After my internship, I worked on my thesis," told Fajar.
In line with Fajar's chosen path, he interned as a Data Analyst at Kalbe Consumer Health. He needs to go through four recruitment stages before getting the offer. This is also related to his squalifications, such as management skills and mastery of tools, including Excel, Tableau, and SQL.
“The most challenging recruitment stage was the user interview. Luckily, I joined Bangkit as Google Data Analytics’ optional classes were notable for me as an outstanding candidate.”
"This time, soft skills from Bangkit, which include a growth mindset, project, and time management, could help me play a role at Kalbe Consumer Health. Moreover, I'm on the C-level Channel and Capability Development team, and I use my work output to release company decisions and policies."
Fajar added that he got countless business process insights and concepts of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) at the internship.
For cohorts who want hands-on experience in the industry like him, he highly recommended augmenting every opportunity related to whatever has been taken. It all would grant good things to us sooner or later. "Register Bangkit now; what are you waiting for!" he concluded.
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