Career-based colleges help fill gap of qualified workers

Career-based colleges help fill gap of qualified workers

Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's rapid industrial growth requires a supply of
skilled and work-ready employees. It is no secret, however, that
the country's educational system, which puts more emphasis on
general knowledge than practical skills, has resulted in a gap
between supply and demand for highly skilled employees.

At present, fresh graduates, if accepted for vacancies, are
required first to be involved in an apprenticeship before being
allowed to proceed.

Or, if they are lucky enough, the management will send them on
job training courses so that their skills can meet the
requirements and qualifications of the job.

The immediate need for "ready-to-work" employees in the
industrial and financial sector has resulted in a mushrooming of
career-based higher education courses. Although most still base
their educational programs on short-term orientation, their
presence has brought much-needed assistance to the preparation of
ready-to-work employees.

The colleges offer short-term, skill development programs for
senior high school and university graduates, or even those with
several years of work experience, to meet specific industry
needs.

Management, marketing, secretarial, public relations, foreign
language, computer, information technology (IT) and advertising
skills top the list of fields offered by career colleges because
employees highly skilled in one of these are in high demand.

Focused on career skills, the colleges prepare all related
components, starting from curriculum, teaching method and
facilities, to tutors in such as way that they support the goal
of the schools and, most importantly, graduates are expected to
be more skilled and ready to work.

With regard to teaching staff, for instance, the schools
involve practitioners in their specific area of expertise who are
still active in the industry. With their skills, they are
expected to share their know-how based on their real working
experience, with their students. This is one of the advantages
that students rarely enjoy when attending a traditional
university.

Because the provision of practical skills is a top priority,
about 70 percent of the subjects are related to practical
applications, and how the knowledge is applied will depend on the
area of study chosen.

At IPMI School of Business, for instance, students are
encouraged to focus their studies on certain managerial issues.
"With our know-how-based approach, students are encouraged to
become actively involved in solving managerial problems as
exercises. In this way, the participating students cannot only be
sensitive to managerial concerns but also to be professional in
the field," said IPMI School of Business director Andido.

Established in 1984, IPMI School of Business is one of the
oldest career colleges that focus on management, providing
magister management (MM) courses for those with working
experience in managerial affairs.

The school's MM regular programs are offered for employees
with two years of working experience in managerial affairs and
its MBA is for executives with five years of managerial
experience.

To ensure the students are accustomed to working within an
international environment, the school uses English as its
language of instruction.

Adindo said that the school had seen an increase in demand for
professional managers from various companies, including those
engaged in finance, investment and banking, operations and
production management, over the last few years.

But the school has also been providing a skills program for
senior high school graduates as a "nursery" that they can
explore. Therefore, starting last year, it also offered business
programs to senior high school graduates.

Another long-established career college in town is InterStudi.
Unlike IPMI, which focuses on management, InterStudi provides
more career paths for students.

The educational institutions offer non-degree and degree
courses in various fields including public relations (PR),
broadcasting, management, computers, languages, advertising and
marketing.

Set up in 1982, InterStudi has been engaged in the provision
of alternative studies for senior high school graduates wishing
to develop their skills and be ready to work rather than continue
their studies at university.

Short-term, non-degree courses range from three days to one
year, while to gain a sarjana degree, one will need four to five
years.

The curriculum at InterSudi is based on what a company in a
related field needs when it comes to a job. For instance, in the
field of public relations, students are encouraged to directly
apply their knowledge of PR by being involved in organizing a
workshop or presenting a seminar to a small group. "This is to
make them (students) more familiar with what PR should do in a
real company," said InterStudi director Toto Adiyanto.

For students who study broadcasting, InterStudi is equipped
with mini-studios for radio and TV where training for
broadcasters is given. "At the studios, students are encouraged
to behave as if they were real broadcasters on duty," he said.

Because they have no job experience, the students are also
given a lesson designed to enhance their working attitudes and
their sense of responsibility when working in a team by, for
instance, asking them to undertake assigned projects related to
the respective area.

Meanwhile, to contribute to the supply of ready-to-work
employees with advertising skills, Stephen Ng. established Imago
School of Modern Advertising in 2002.

With its slogan, "Where Future Admen Are Born," the school is
expected to produce graduates with advertising skills, not only
for practical but also for conceptual purposes, in the light of a
changing market that requires new thoughts, ideas and
innovations.

Because the graduates of Imago are expected to be employees
who are highly-skilled and work-ready, the students are
encouraged to choose which specific area of advertising they are
interested in when they enter their second and third semesters.
"They can choose to learn account servicing, creative management
or media management, subjects commonly found at an advertising
agency" said Imago School of Modern Advertising academic director
Stephen.

The emphasis of the curriculum refers to business, strategy
and the practical world. "We focus on concept and strategy. Imago
does not teach technicality in designs, illustrations and
photography but more how to work with illustrations and
photography," he said.

To help them gain practical skills, the students are divided
into small groups that are involved, for instance, in undertaking
consumer surveys, advertising projects or working on a vocational
assignment for a company, Stephen said.