Not too long ago, I finished my tenure at LINE after working in the company for more than a year. Along with many other feelings, the farewell moment reminded me of a dilemma I had before joining the global tech startup company—the dilemma that I know a lot of fresh graduates experience in this digital era: should I kickstart my career in the corporate or startup landscape? While majority of people (including many parents) still perceive big corporations as the best place to work because of their big names and promising compensations, the younger generation now start seeing startup companies to be just as attractive as big corporations because startups offer a range of flexibility, cool office, and oftentimes competitive compensations as well. I myself decided to work at LINE because I was (and still am) interested in tech industry and the opportunity to play a significant role for the company. Then again, back then I didn’t really know whether I was suitable for a startup life or not.

As someone who is in the stage of finding the best environment to grow, I regularly assess how a startup with its nature and culture fit my personal development needs. Throughout my employment, I then realize that startups, especially in tech industry, have some bottom lines. The nature of the industry, such as fast-changing and disruptive, creates some patterns that I believe happens across the tech industry. That being said, I can tell that there are some characteristics of startups which can be useful to consider before you choose corporate or startup to start your career. Although I’ve never worked in a big corporation to compare, at least this article can help you to assess whether startup is or is not for you.

1. No Such Thing as “Best Practice” in Startups

Back in college, several seniors told me that in our early career, we should focus on getting the understanding about how the company and its industry works. So, when I decided to work in a tech startup company, I thought I would get the opportunity to learn how we should do things in tech industry to win the market. After working more than a year at LINE, I certainly did learn about the company and the industry, but not the way I expected it to be. I found that there is almost no template or rigid procedure on doing the business. As long as we can deliver the expected result, be it analysis, campaign, or event, we can freely propose our way. While big corporations may have everything standardized in their business, I believe it is hard for startups to establish best practices because of the following reasons:

First, an innovation can quickly go obsolete in tech industry. Known as fast-changing industry, innovation is created on daily basis in tech industry. At any point in time, there could be an innovation released in the market and it suddenly changed the landscape. Remember how Instagram hit Snapchat hard when it released Instagram Story feature? With this nature, startups hardly establish a best practice, because by the time they establish it, it may no longer be relevant to the market. And it does makes sense for startups to focus on responding and catching up to every change in the industry instead of insisting on establishing best practices.

Second, disrupting the market also means doing something no one has ever done. Startups offer better and often cheaper products/services to disrupt the market. And to do so, they have to find unconventional ways in doing the business, so they can keep being profitable while maintaining competitiveness over conventional businesses. No wonder, very often startup companies have to reinvent its ways, considering no one has ever done what they are doing. Has anyone turned conventional ojek to ride-hailing which can deliver person, food, and even document before Go-Jek? I don’t think anyone has ever done that. In contrast to big corporations or more established industries, startups in tech industry often don’t have other players or past experiences to benchmark. As a result, startups have to keep experimenting, doing trial and error, and finding the best ways to achieve business objectives. Even an experienced person may not be able to use his/her best practice knowledge in the previous industry simply because the rule of the game is very versatile.

I would say on this matter, startups hardly give their employees a structured, regular, and uniformed learning process. Rather, they encourage their employees to go through a series of trial-and-errors, extract lessons from failures, and learning by doing. So, startups, in my opinion, are really suitable for those who have the desires to invent their own ways of working, who are comfortable working in ambiguity, and who are not afraid of failures.

2. Being Versatile is Part of the Job

I was an in-house consultant, an in-house investment analyst, a project management officer, and a local product manager during my tenure at LINE. How was it possible for me to have several roles? It is actually quite common for startups to operate in a small team and limited human resources. Consequently, startups often require their employees to be versatile because in several cases, there are tasks to finish, but the company doesn’t have dedicated team yet to handle it. So, usually the company would ask its employees to handle several roles and do various tasks. In that situation, startup company often demands its employee to be versatile. They have to be able to learn many things at the same time. Employees also need to be comfortable to execute various tasks that can be so different from one another. Having experienced it myself, I think the versatile nature of my job has benefited me in two ways:

Exposure to strategic and execution roles

In my case, I am grateful that I was exposed to both strategic and execution roles. One time I had to think of the big picture to set up my company’s annual target, and another time, I had to be detail-oriented because I was assigned to launch a product. Combination of these experiences trained and equipped me with skills to both plan and to execute. On one hand, I had to be able to understand our industry landscape, oversee the overall business, monitor product lines, and track every revenue stream. On the other hand, I also had to be detail-oriented, negotiate directly with partner or client, organize event, or even talk directly with users.

Wide range of experience: from investment analysis to content creation

Also, I am grateful that I was exposed to various tasks so I got the opportunity to learn many different fields although only on surface level. During my tenure, I had the opportunity to do the following:

– extracted user data to produce business analysis,

– drafted legal contract,

– assessed investment opportunities,

– executed user acquisition campaign,

– designed marketing activities,

– conducted market research,

– pitched sales to clients,

– negotiated with partners,

– and made product improvement recommendation

By doing all those tasks, I got some basic understanding about each field which in the end helped me understand the company’s overall business. And of course, those knowledge are really useful to deal with various counterparts. When I talk with a marketing person for example, I know that their targets are usually based on impressions and clicks; when I talk to a salesperson, I know what matters for them are client’s needs and revenues; and when I conducted market research, I know that it’s really important to avoid biases that might be implied in our research questions.

In short, startups often provide opportunities for their employees to explore various roles and responsibilities which may or may not be related to each other. These opportunities are totally valuable for those who want to understand how the business really works. However, startups couldn’t wait for the employees to master the new field first. They expect the employees to be versatile and learn those new tasks while doing them. If you think being a generalist is cool and are keen to explore many roles, startups may be a good place for you!

3. Clear Career Path Exists —But Only If You Make it Happen

Just like how its business challenges conventional practices, startups also offer unconventional career paths. That’s why, we often see someone who works in startup could get promoted faster compared to those who work in corporate. The reason behind it is that startups mostly have slim organizational structure and companies which are in growing state usually expand really fast. This situation gives startup employees opportunities to handle bigger responsibilities or get promoted to a new position in order to catch up with the business expansion.

In many startups, career path is often highly flexible. It doesn’t follow conventional rules where someone has to serve a specific length of tenure to get promoted. Instead, it gives more opportunities for someone who has extraordinary competence to get promoted. In my observation, career acceleration is more likely to happen when there is a business expansion (meaning there is a new leadership role open) or when someone has extraordinary competence (meaning the management is convinced that the person can handle bigger responsibilities, thus got promoted).

While on one side startups offer career acceleration, on another side they also may cause their employees to experience career stagnation. The reason is simply because startups (especially those in very early stage) also often do not have clear career paths for their employee yet. In that case, we as employee may get no career advancement within a certain period of time. In my observation, someone who already know what they want and those who aggressively fight for their ideas are more likely to accelerate their career. The opposite apply to those who just follow instructions and aim to only complete every task given to them. In other words, career acceleration exists, but only for those who make it happen.

Simply put, career flexibility may bear different results, depending on our efforts and role availabilities. For those who want to build something their own ways, startup may provide them the opportunities, including granting them career acceleration to make it happen. However, for those who prefer to only get tasks done and expect within some period of time get promoted, it may cause you career stagnation. And I think regardless whether you are working for a startup or a corporation, in the end, company appreciates high-performing employees. Thus, it is really important to do our best and always go the extra miles.

Conclusion

I am really grateful for my time at LINE. During that considerably short tenure, I learnt a lot from the tasks given to me, from the roles assigned to me, and from the bright minds around me. And if there is one lesson that I think people need to know from my experience, I would say that beyond where we work, be it startup or corporate, there is something more important for us to understand: ourselves.

Beyond our workplace, I believe we should know our career aspiration, the skillsets we want to acquire, what kind of environment works best for us, and even how we put work in our life aspiration. By answering those questions, we should know better which companies are more suitable for us.   

Having worked in the startup landscape for more than a year right now, I can say that startups may not be for everyone, the same way corporation, government, and non-profits also may not be for everyone. Every sector has its own traits, including the opportunities and challenges it may offer. Thus, it is our job to understand ourselves and know which environment is most suitable for us so that we can develop our potentials to the fullest.

For the past 8 months, my company has been trusting me to handle a product. Since this is a new product, I was required to recruit new team members. As the lead of the product, I had the privilege to pick my own team members. I thus spread the vacancy, reviewed resumes, and interviewed candidates for the position. As it was an internship, I got to go through the entire process again whenever an internship period ends, which means until now, I have completed the recruitment cycle twice.

During the hiring process which involved reviewing hundreds of resume and interviewing dozen of candidate, I found something interesting. I found out that many talented fresh graduates or college students –even from top universities, failed to get hired because they were not prepared enough. So, through this writing, I would like to share my experience to help college students or fresh graduates out there nail their dream job and/or internship by having a solid preparation. Of course, I am not an expert in this, but I believe my experience is valuable to give some pictures on what an employer is looking for from a candidate. Let’s get started!

Understand the company and the role you apply for

Through candidate interviews, I was surprised to know that some candidates didn’t really learn about the company they were applying to. They were probably too busy decorating their resume and skipped learning about the company. But there’s no excuse.

Companies hire people who know what to do with the job they want to have. So make sure you are seeing your potential employers with some knowledge about the company and the job. Because telling them that you don’t know much about it won’t make them hire you. Here are some advices you can do to understand the company you are applying to.

1. Find the latest news about the company and its industry

You know what to do if you know what and how the company is doing. Getting the latest news about the company can help you understand what the company probably needs from you and how you may help the company. The more you know about the company, the more you know what they are looking for from its employee. And by knowing that, you know how to show them that you are the right candidate for the position.

Usually, we only need to know the general information about the company, such as company’s background (history, structure, values, etc.), its products or services, industry landscape (competitor, trend, etc.) and company’s culture.

2. Similar job title can mean a totally different role

As a recruiter, I wrote the job vacancy myself. I broke down the intern criteria and described the job they will do as an intern. Later, I also decided the intern’s title so they can put it on their resume. And even after explaining it in a detailed manner, I still found some candidates who didn’t have idea on what they were going to do during the internship, or those who were surprised when I explained the role and responsibility that I put on the vacancy information. I assumed that these people either misunderstood the job title or didn’t carefully read the vacancy.

So, whenever you apply for a job, make sure you read the role and responsibility carefully. Just like in my case, companies often use the same job title that refer to different job description. By reading the role and responsibility carefully, you will be able to prepare your application and even interview better, because you know how to make yourself suitable for the job.

What you usually need to check are whether you like the type of works, whether you have relevant background related to the job, and most importantly whether you have the qualification –specific requirements expected by company. Answering those questions can help you show recruiter that you are suitable for the position, especially when we don’t really have relevant backgrounds for the job and thus have to use different angle in explaining our experiences to prove that we can be a fit for the job.

Understand the recruitment process

In several interviews, I could see that some candidates had no idea how the recruitment process would be, or what kind of test would be conducted. So, it means some candidates failed not because they are not good enough, but more likely because they are not familiar with the test during recruitment process. And how can you pass a test if you don’t even know how to do it, right?

Companies operate in different ways, depending on their industry, product, service, and obviously the company structure. For that reason, companies have to recruit employee who are not only qualified, but also can fit in their system and culture. That is why, companies also have different recruitment processes and methods to make sure they select the perfect fit candidate to be their employee

3. Selection process varies from one company to another

When I asked some candidates to do market sizing for me, or create action plan from an objective, many of them got surprised and failed. Usually, I use case interview method in interviewing candidates. I give them a case to solve and they have to explain me the solution along with the reasoning. There is no right and wrong answer in case interview. As long as you can justify your solution with sound reasoning, interviewer will take the answer. And the reason why candidates I interviewed failed is because they didn’t know how to do case interview. And they didn’t know it because they most likely didn’t try to find information how my company usually do selection process.

There are several common selection process, such as written test, focus group discussion, presentation test, and case interview. It is important to always check how company we apply for select candidate before we apply for it. We can find the information through desktop research or asking our friends and seniors who work or have worked in the company.

4. Make your curriculum vitae tell story and explain your achievement

During job opening, a recruiter can get hundreds of email consisting CVs from applicants. Before you read this article, you probably don’t believe it when people say that recruiter only have 1 minute to screen your CV. But, if you have experienced checking +300 CVs in your email like me, you will know that a CV is only reviewed 30-60 seconds each. Bad impression within that short period, such as sending your CV without body email or complicated CV layout, will result in recruiter ignoring your email. So, make sure your CV stands out during the screening process by enabling your CV to tell your story and explain your achievement. The goal of your CV is to make recruiter understand that you have the qualification they are looking for within 30-60 seconds. Make it simple and powerful!

When you are writing a curriculum vitae, there are several things you need to make sure. First, only highlight experiences relevant to the job we are applying for and never try to put everything in the CV as irrelevant experiences are not valuable for recruiter. Second, explain our achievement instead of only describing our role in past experiences. Recruiter wants a performing candidate and telling them that we were performing in past experiences is going to convince them. Third, use numbers to quantify our achievement and impact. Using numbers in explaining our achievement helps recruiter to assess our qualification and compare us with other candidates.

As reference, you can find my CV here.

5. What recruiter is looking for from interview session

So many people, including myself, are often nervous during interview session and sometimes make unnecessary mistakes because of it. However, what we usually forget when we are coming to the interview session is that the recruiter is actually already interested with us, which is the reason they invited us for an interview. From a recruiter perspective, interview is basically a chance for them to make sure if a candidate is suitable to be hired from many aspect, including competency, experience and culture. When you are invited, it means recruiter is already interested in you and see you as potential candidate. Be calm and be yourself to make sure you can present yourself in best way.

In my experience, there are two scenarios of interview: (1) recruiter wants to test a specific skill –usually for a more technical job, or (2) recruiter wants to test your logical thinking and problem solving capability –usually for general roles where we can learn the skills while doing the job.

And despite the position and the role, there are several things that recruiter is looking for in an interview, such as communication skills and logical thinking. Through the interview session, recruiter also expects to know more about our background, past experiences, and achievements to assess whether we are suitable with company’s culture. So, we better prepare these stuff before coming to an interview.

Conclusion

Throughout the interview, I met many talented candidates who are really interested with the job, but in the end didn’t manage to get hired because I found other candidates who managed to perform really well during the interview session. I feel bad about them who didn’t get hired, because I know, these talented candidates could have passed the selection process if they were well-prepared when they came to the interview. More than that, I believe everyone can also get their dream job as long as they prepare well for the recruitment process. So, if you are a job seeker and planning to apply for your dream job, make sure you understand the company and the role you are going to apply for, as well as the recruitment process. And hopefully, this article helps you to do your best and get your dream job!

I’ve always been a firm believer that having a mentor is the most efficient way of learning any subject. It prevents us from unnecessary trials and failures. With their abundant experience, a mentor would know how to maximize our potentials by helping us focus on acquiring the crucial skills and knowledge to succeed in our respective career path. Through mentorship, we can accelerate our learning process by absorbing years of experience lessons that our mentor has to offer.

During my college life, I am grateful to have enjoyed mentorship from my seniors, be it in Model United Nations, debate, or organizational activities. Those mentors of mine have been my role models, as well as advisors, to strive both inside and outside of classroom. I constantly benchmarked my achievements to theirs and learnt various lessons from them. Even after I graduated from university, I always seek a mentor to become my professional role model. This is why, when I saw the opportunity of mentorship that I could attain in one of the most well-renowned global chat messenger companies, I knew that I had to apply and join them right away. Long story short, the Universe was being really kind to me—I was accepted by this prestigious company as their Business Analyst.

After 3 months working in the company, I mustered enough courage to ask the country’s Managing Director for a 1-on-1 session with the purpose of attaining feedback and asking several questions related to my personal development. Much to my surprise, he welcomed the idea and was willing to set up an appointment with me. During the session, we discussed my work performance and talked about my aspiration for a mentorship. The Managing Director told me to ask anything, so I asked the following question—what should a fresh graduate learn early in our career to strive in the future? The answer he gave me was priceless. Based on his experience, he said that there are at least 3 things that I need to learn if I want to lead a company someday.

Know How to Make Decision

Early in our career, most of our duties usually revolves around executing a certain task. Usually, people from the senior management level are the ones who make the decisions, and they will assign some tasks to us for execution. This method often results in us focusing too much on how to best deliver our work, without trying to understand why and how the decisions are made. Now, this isn’t the wrong way to go. However, if we are aiming to be a great decision maker in the future, we should learn how our leaders and the company make a decision. That includes the steps to make the decision, aspects to assess, and the risk management involved.

By learning how the leaders and the company make a decision, we would gradually learn how to replicate the process on our own. We know what we should do before making a final call, we know what sort of information that we need to have, and we know how to make a decision with calculated risks.

In an established company with multiple layers of decision-making process, we can learn a lot from the procedure, as the company already has a mature system to assess options and minimize risks. However, if we work in a startup, chances are you need to take more initiatives to ask the decision-makers why and how they make the decision, because oftentimes we will be faced with a situation that requires you to be more independent and swift in the decision-making process. Furthermore, we need to also learn the bigger picture behind every decision that our company makes. Learning those things would strengthen and accelerate the improvement of our decision-making capability.

Learn How to Learn

With the world changing so fast—especially in the tech industry—we cannot simply rely on our past experience. Instead, we need to have the skills that help us adapt with any situation we are in.

The second skill that we need to acquire early in our career is learning agility. It is a skill to be a quick learner who is able to rapidly study, analyse, and understand new situations and business problems. In short, it means being adaptive and creative in solving problem in a new environment.

To strengthen our learning agility, we need to learn how to learn. Knowing the right learning techniques suitable for ourselves will accelerate our learning process when we face a new subject or field. More than that, we need to sharpen our creativity. This means that we need to be open to a wide array of ideas and accustom ourselves to see a problem from different angles. By doing so, we should be able to come up with a fresh idea as a result of combining our past experience and current challenge.

Without learning agility, an experienced person might face a failure, simply because the past strategy no longer works in the new situation. For example, someone who previously worked in an established company and moved to a startup might not be able to apply a proven successful strategy from their previous job because the startup doesn’t have the same financial or human resource capabilities. It also applies when we get a promotion. Sooner or later, we will get promoted to a new position or field which we are not familiar with. In that case, only those with a strong learning agility can consistently perform well.

Master How to Present Ideas

Lastly, this is a basic yet crucial skill: communication. As a fresh graduate, we often overlook our communication skills. We think it’s people’s fault that they couldn’t understand our million-dollar ideas, while it actually stems from our failure in presenting the ideas to others.

Communication skill is definitely something that we need to learn early in our career. In presenting our ideas, it is important to have a clear structure, sound reasoning, and well-thought out details. This applies for both written and oral communication. Whether we are presenting our ideas in a meeting or in an email, we need to always have it. On written communication, we need to remember that we have less control over the audience. This means that we should explain our ideas in a more detailed manner to prevent any misunderstanding or misinterpretation.

In an actual meeting, we might have more control over audience. However, in oral communication, other factors become more important—our voice, intonation, emphasis, and body gesture play big roles to strengthen our message. Here’s the Managing Director’s favourite video which he usually watches before going on stage.

I worked with Pak Ongki Kurniawan for 5 months and have learnt so much from him within the short amount of period. Indeed, am so grateful for the opportunity and the mentorship he gave me. Wish you the best for your next journey, Chief!

tapi usahanya kecil.

Banyak orang yang punya cita-cita,

tapi memilih menjadikannya lamunan daripada tindakan.

Banyak orang mengharapkan kesuksesan,

tapi memilih beralasan daripada menawarkan solusi.

Jadi, masih mau jadi kebanyakan orang?

Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullah..

Dari banyak tempat belajar dan mengembangkan diri di dunia kampus, ada satu tempat yang telah banyak memberikan saya banyak sekali pelajaran. Diawali dari ngobrol santai dengan senior sekaligus mentor saya, Kak Maya Susanti, saya tertarik bergabung di International Student Association for International Studies (ISAFIS). Dua tahun kemudian, di sinilah saya, di posisi yang dulu Kak Maya emban. President of ISAFIS. 

Kontribusi pertama ISAFIS dalam hidup saya dimulai ketika saya mendapat kesempatan untuk mewakili ISAFIS ke The 59th International Student Conference di Jepang pada tahun 2013 lalu. Kalau bahasa pendiri ISAFIS, Bang Faizal Motik a.k.a Bang Ical, saya ini ‘diperawani’ ISAFIS. Artinya, saya keluar negeri untuk pertama kalinya berkat ISAFIS. Tahun pertama di ISAFIS, saya dapat tanggung jawab besar karena diminta menjadi Head of Social Events dari  Jakarta MUN 2013, salahsatu acara akbar ISAFIS. Setahun di bawah kepemimpinan Kak Maya, banyak sekali ilmu yang saya serap dari lingkungan orang-orang keren ini. Tahun kedua, saya belajar menjadi konseptor dari Mas Gineng Sakti. Bukan cuma namanya yang sakti, tapi juga ide dan konsepnya. Selama satu tahun, saya mendapat kesempatan untuk lagi-lagi berkontribusi lewat Jakarta MUN 2014 sebagai Director of UNESCO. Menjadi seorang director bukanlah kesempatan yang mudah didapat dan ISAFIS memberikan pengalaman itu. Bahkan, keberhasilan saya menjadi bagian dari delegasi UI untuk The European International MUN di Den Haag sekalipun ada hubungannya dengan ISAFIS. Salahsatu senior saya di ISAFIS, Kak Gea Larissa, merupakan orang yang mendukung dan membantu saya sehingga terpilih. Sekarang, di tahun ketiga saya di ISAFIS, giliran saya melanjutkan tongkat estafet dari Kak Maya dan Mas Gineng. Berkontribusi dan membalas kebaikan organisasi ini pada para penerusnya. 

Satu hal yang selalu dibanggakan dari sebuah organisasi adalah alumninya. Siapa dan sudah menjadi apa para alumni seringkali menjadi ukuran besarnya suatu organisasi. Berdasarkan hal tersebut, boleh dibilang ISAFIS merupakan organisasi yang bukan sembarang organisasi. Para pendiri dan alumni ISAFIS merupakan tokoh-tokoh yang dipandang di negeri ini. Beberapa nama, seperti Faizal Motik, Irma Hutabarat, Imam Prasodjo, Hikmahanto Juwana, Adnan Pandu Praja, dan Fadli Zon bukanlah nama yang asing di telinga kita, Mereka semua telah menjadi orang-orang penting di negeri ini dengan keahliannya di bidang masing-masing.

Para Alumni ISAFIS

Tahun ini, tepatnya tanggal 14 Februari, ISAFIS menyambut hari ulang tahunnya yang ke-31. Seperti biasa, kami diundang untuk bersilaturahmi, diskusi, dan makan-makan bersama alumni di rumah sekaligus sekretariat organisasi, Jalan Banyumas No. 2, Menteng. Ini merupakan kesempatan langka bagi kami para anggota maupun pengurus yang sedang menjabat untuk bertemu dan bertukar pikiran langsung dengan para pendiri organisasi kami. Selama acara silaturahmi kemarin, banyak sekali pelajaran dari alumni dan juga kejadian lucu yang terjadi.

ISAFIS New Members

Special Edition Mug

Budayakan Antre

Makan Bareng Presiden Terdahulu

Setelah makan-makan lengkap dengan pencuci mulutnya, saya mewakili teman-teman pengurus mempresentasikan ISAFIS pada masa kita. Acara akbar ISAFIS, seperti Indonesia International Week dan Jakarta MUN juga dipresentasikan melalui video. Setelah itu, saya memperkenalkan Board Executive maupun Board of Director yang akan bekerja sama dengan saya selama satu tahun ini. Di penghujung presentasi, saya menawarkan alumni mug dan kaos ISAFIS yang memang telah disiapkan sebagai salahsatu strategi fundraising kita. Satu paket mug limited edition plus kaos dan goodie bag kami banderol seharga Rp150.000,00. Ketika saya sedang menawarkan merchandise tersebut, tidak disangka Bang Ical membantu kami promosi dan membuatnya jadi lelang. Harga awal tiba-tiba naik jadi Rp1.000.000,00, lalu ada lagi yang menawar Rp2.000.000,00, dan paling tinggi terjual dengan harga Rp3.000.000,00. Dari 20 buah mug yang kami siapkan, dengan hanya menjual setengahnya saja kita mendapat dana sebesar Rp10.300.000,00. Ini benar-benar di luar dugaan dan membuat saya senang sekaligus terharu karena para alumni ini begitu peduli dengan ISAFIS maupun adik-adiknya. Dana itu sangat berarti buat kami karena akan dikelola untuk kegiatan-kegiatan ISAFIS selama satu tahun ini.

Presentasi ISAFIS 2015

Cerita ISAFIS ke Alumni

Promosi Mug Edisi Spesial 31 Tahun ISAFIS

Bang Yendi – Donasi Rp2.000.000,00

Bagian pengurus selesai, dimulailah diskusi atau sharing alumni. Pertama, Prof. Hikmahanto Juwana yang memulai diskusi. Sebagai bagian dari Tim Sembilan yang diberi tugas oleh Presiden Jokowi untuk memberi pertimbangan dalam masalah antara KPK dan Polri, Bang Gihik ini cerita tentang situasi terkini dan memaparkan bahaya korupsi. Bang Gihik cerita bagaimana beratnya terlibat dalam posisi beliau sekarang yang penuh ancaman dan bagaimana beliau juga terlibat dalam penyelesaian masalah yang sama beberapa tahun sebelumnya ketika polemik KPK dan Polri juga pernah terjadi. Lebih lanjut, Bang Gihik memperingatkan dengan tegas untuk menjaga ISAFIS dari praktik-praktik yang mengarah pada korupsi karena banyak sekali organisasi yang katanya organisasi pemuda sekalipun terlibat hal-hal semacam itu.

Bang Gihik Memulai Diskusi

Bang Imam Sedang Nostalgia ISAFIS

Orang terakhir yang cerita tentang ISAFIS adalah Inang Irma Hutabarat, begitu beliau minta dipanggil. Pendiri Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) ini cerita mengenai upaya kriminalisasi KPK yang tengah terjadi. Inang Irma cerita bagaiman dirinya terlibat dalam perumusan undang-undang dan pendirian lembaga negara bernama KPK. Melalui ceritanya, Inang Irma berharap anak-anak muda tidak lupa sejarah bangsanya sendiri. Menurut Inang Irma, sejak awal KPK dibentuk untuk ‘menghajar’ institusi kepolisian dan kejaksaan yang pada masa Orde Baru begitu korup. Karenanya, wajar jika KPK akan selalu mendapat serangan dari pihak-pihak tersebut. Hal yang sama juga terjadi di Hongkong ketika pemberantasan korupsi dilakukan di sana. Inang Irma juga berpesan untuk menjaga ISAFIS dan anggotanya agar jauh-jauh dari korupsi karena korupsi itu bagai kanker yang menggerogoti hidup suatu negara.

Inang Irma Mengingatkan Proses Lahirnya KPK

Kalau sudah diskusi di rumah Bang Ical itu waktu tidak terasa. Tahu-tahu larut malam seperti juga kemarin. Diskusi panjang lebar akhirnya diakhiri dengan berdoa bersama dan tiup lilin sebagai acara simbolis. Doa yang panjang dan mengharukan dipimpin oleh Bang Ical dan kemudian bersama Bang Imam, Inang Irma, dan Bang Ical, saya meniup kue ulang tahun ISAFIS.

Berdoa Untuk Kebahagiaan dan Keselamatan Keluarga Besar ISAFIS

Tiup Lilin Bareng Para Pendiri Imam Prasodjo – Irma Hutabarat – Faizal Motik – Ilman Dzikri

Acara kemarin buat saya sangat membahagiakan sekaligus mengharukan. Semoga teman-teman pengurus tahun ini bisa berkembang bersama di ISAFIS dan juga bisa mencintai organisasi ini sebagaimana alumni dan juga saya mencintainya.

Selamat Ulang Tahun ke-31 ISAFIS! Jaya Selalu!

Presiden Lintas Generasi Ilman Dzikri (2015) – Faizal Motik (1984)

Foto Bersama Bang Imam

Foto Bersama Bang Ical, Inang Irma, dan Bang Gihik

Foto Sama Bang Geisz Chalifah

Ketemu Bang Adnan Pandu Praja Setelah Acara Selesai. Alhamdulillah bisa ngasih dukungan langsung ke Bang Pandu dan KPK tanpa harus turun ke jalan.