Dozens of SMKN 39 Jakarta Students Undergo Job Interview Training from YARSI Psychology Faculty

Responding to the high unemployment rate among vocational high school (SMK) graduates, a team of lecturers from the Faculty of Psychology at YARSI University held a training session on job interview preparation and professional ethics for 47 students in grades XI and XII at SMKN 39 Jakarta in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta. Evaluation results showed the training significantly improved students’ readiness and knowledge in facing job selection processes. Data from the Central Statistics Agency as of February 2025 recorded SMK graduates as the group with the highest Open Unemployment Rate nationally, at 9.01 per cent, higher than senior high school graduates (7.05 per cent) and university graduates (5.25 per cent). In fact, SMK graduates are specifically prepared to enter the workforce directly. One of the causes is the gap in non-technical skills (soft skills), including the ability to present oneself in a job interview. “Many SMK students actually already possess good technical skills, but they fail at the interview stage because they have never received adequate briefing and simulation experience. This training is here to fill that gap,” said the Head of the Community Service Team from the Faculty of Psychology at YARSI University, Sari Zakiah Akmal, in a statement in Jakarta on Sunday (19/7/2026). The training lasted a full day, from 09.00 to 16.00 WIB, and was divided into four sessions: an introduction to the job interview process, strategies for answering questions using the STAR method (situation, task, action, result), interview simulations with direct feedback from facilitators, and a briefing on soft skills and professional ethics in the workplace. The effectiveness of the training was measured through evaluations before and after the activity. As a result, students’ perception of their self-readiness in facing job interviews increased significantly from an average of 3.48 to 4.29 on a scale of 5, with 40 out of 46 participants experiencing an improvement. Students’ knowledge regarding job interviews also rose by 11.5 percentage points. Participants gave very positive assessments of the activity’s implementation with an average score of 4.54 out of 5, and cited the STAR method as the most memorable material. “The increase in self-confidence is one of the impacts most frequently conveyed by students. This is important, because research shows that anxiety during interviews is directly related to a decline in candidate performance,” Sari added. SMKN 39 Jakarta welcomed the activity. The school, which was established in 1970, has approximately 875 students across four skills programmes and has established cooperation with various industries.