Daring to Be Unemployed for a Master's Scholarship, Now Leading a State-Owned Enterprise Subsidiary
Two years without a job. No salary. No certainty. Pujo Pramono’s only capital at the time was the belief that to move further, sometimes one must first be willing to lose something. While many chose to maintain a rising career, Pujo did the opposite. He resigned from his job as an engineer at Telkom to return to university. A decision that was seen as too risky at the time, but became a turning point that changed the way he thinks, leads, and interprets the meaning of an opportunity.
‘At that time, many colleagues asked, “You just got promoted, why resign?” That decision was indeed not easy. But I felt that a bachelor’s degree alone was not enough. There was a level of education I had to achieve to support my work, especially if I wanted to be at the managerial level,’ Pujo told CNBC Indonesia.
On paper, there was no reason for Pujo to leave his job. His career was developing. He was part of Telkom’s young generation that helped build the telecommunications network in Sumatra when Indonesia’s cellular industry was just beginning to grow. However, amidst his flourishing career, Pujo realised there were limitations he had to overcome. He believed education was necessary to cultivate a new perspective beyond technical skills. From that awareness, he made an unusual decision.
Pujo enrolled in the Master of Management programme at the University of Indonesia through a Putera Sampoerna Foundation scholarship. For nearly two years, he was willing to leave his job to pursue a bigger dream, despite facing uncertainty. ‘For that dream, we must indeed be brave even though the “road” ahead may not yet be smooth,’ Pujo recalled.
During his studies, Pujo felt that the Putera Sampoerna Foundation not only gave him the opportunity to continue his studies but also a new way of thinking. Through the knowledge he learned, he began to understand that every human decision is always driven by reasons deeper than just visible benefits. One of the most memorable experiences for Pujo occurred during the orientation for Putera Sampoerna Foundation scholarship recipients. At that time, motivator Andrie Wongso introduced the philosophy of self-determination, the belief that a person’s future is ultimately determined by themselves.
For Pujo, this philosophy was not just motivational words. The message came at a time when he was at a crossroads after deciding to leave his job to continue his education. ‘Mr Andrie Wongso said that if we are hard on ourselves, keep learning and are willing to push ourselves, then the world will become soft on us. Conversely, if we are soft on ourselves, lazy to develop, it is the world that will be hard on us,’ Pujo explained.
The message further strengthened his belief that the decision to leave his job was not a loss. From that moment on, he viewed education as a long-term investment to build a way of thinking, not just to obtain a degree. This change became more pronounced when he delved into marketing and consumer behaviour. From there, Pujo began to understand that technology cannot be separated from human behaviour or business models.
‘I am grateful to have learned marketing. I studied consumer behaviour and means-end theory. From that, I understood that every person makes decisions based on attributes, benefits, and value. That way of thinking can then be analogised to many things, even to life,’ said the man who now serves as Director of Operation & Sales at PT Metra Digital Media.
It was this new way of thinking that he brought back when he resumed his career at Telkom. One manifestation was seen in 2009 when Pujo was one of the figures involved in formulating Telkom’s philosophy and tagline, ‘The World in Your Hand.’ At that time, the slogan not only meant that your future or your world is determined in your hands, but also carried a deeper, very visionary meaning. In that era, mobile phones were still mostly used for calling and sending short messages. However, Pujo and his team at the time saw something further. They believed that one day, almost all human activities would move into the palm of the hand via mobile devices.
More than a decade later, that prediction became a reality. Mobile phones are now the centre of people’s activities, from working, studying, and shopping, to accessing financial services and utilising artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For Pujo, this reality confirms one thing: technology is just a tool. What determines success is the human being who is willing to keep learning and adapting faster than the change itself.
This way of thinking, which combines technical and management perspectives, has coloured his career journey. Today, he is trusted to lead various digital transformation initiatives at Telkom. From there, greater responsibilities continued to come until he was entrusted with a directorship at a state-owned enterprise subsidiary, serving as Director of Operations & Sales at PT Metra Digital Media. However, for Pujo, the position is not his greatest achievement. For him, the experience of studying at the University of Indonesia through the Putera Sampoerna Foundation programme was the starting point that accelerated his career development while enriching his way of thinking. ‘That was the starting point that drove my career and knowledge development. From what I learned, I can share it again through writings and books so that the benefits can also be felt by others,’ said Pujo.