More firms invited to join job fair

JAKARTA (JP): Atma Jaya Catholic University yesterday invited more companies to join this year's job fair.

Deputy rector of the university Johannes Temaluru said the job fair, which is due to be held in December, would benefit both companies and universities.

He said a job fair where potential employers could meet directly with potential employees would be economical for companies.

"Through the program, a company spends less money than advertising vacancies in newspapers or magazines. A company was subject to pay a cooperation fee of around Rp 400,000 per day," Johannes said.

For job seekers, the program would mean spending less time and money looking for potential new employers, he said.

Atma Jaya Catholic University began the job fair in 1995. "The second fair, last year, was a success with 5,000 applicants and 20 companies involved," Johannes said.

The university is currently holding a similar program called "Road Show 1997" which began yesterday.

Job fair is open to the public while the "Road Show" is only for university graduates and final year students.

Fourteen companies, including PT Astra International, are participating in "Road Show 1997". The companies will take turns to display their company profiles and conduct recruitment tests.

Basuki Suseno, a senior manager of Astra, said the company had difficulties finding qualified personnel who also understood the company's mission and vision.

"Most applicants are only ready for training not the job itself," he said, describing the difficulty in netting qualified staffers.

Sudirgo Wibowo, the dean of the Atma Jaya Faculty of Psychology earlier criticized the tendency of companies which demanded "instant workers" based on a recruitment test or an applicants' high grades.

"Recruitment tests should also take into serious consideration an applicants' psychological aspects so that the company will attract self-motivated workers who are honest and loyal," he said. (03)