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.