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hen they are in doubt, they go to career counselors, who help them decide what steps they should take to improve their career path.

Adhitia Putra Herawan said it had been hard to find a career consultant in Jakarta, and so he turned to his colleague who also worked at a human resources division.

“Once I got an offer from an IT consultant company, but the job desk was different from what I had been doing. I was interested, but I was not sure I could do it,” he said.

Before being offered a new job, Adhitia had been dealing a lot with technical matters in the information and technology field. But he was also interested in management.

Through many informal discussions with his colleague counselor, Adhitia finally decided to grab the chance.

“My counselor helped me map my strengths and weaknesses, assisted me in going through the company profile in order to succeed in the job interview, and helped me define things I should learn to keep up with the new job,” he said.

Adhitia said that the advice he received from his colleague helped him stand out amid the tight competition in looking for jobs in Jakarta.

Sharing the same opinion, Ulil Khairani also found it very useful to discuss with someone who could help her improve her performance at work.

She said during her regular career consultation that she did not only get feedback about her work, but also solutions for her work-related problems.

“At least three times a year I meet and have a long talk with a career consultant at the office. We talk about things that usually affect my work, such as boredom, and run through new ideas,” she said.

“It becomes like a reflection for my work, and by regularly having a consultation, I can feel that my career is moving fast in the direction I want.”

A psychologist and the founder of human development consultancy company Daily Meaning, Alexander Sriewijono said the demand among Jakartans to have a place to share their career was quite high.

“Unfortunately, it is very rare to find an independent career counseling company here in Jakarta. Most career counselors are usually within the company’s human resources
division,” he said.

However, he said, people could still get career counseling through other mediums, such as programs in radio and televisions, career columns in magazines and seminars.

Alexander said based on his experience in becoming a guidance source at career programs in radio and TV stations, most people who looked for counseling had been working for around three years.

“They have started to question their career. They talk about whether their decision to find a new job is right, or not, and they share their problems at the office and about their future,” he said.

The second-biggest group of counsel seekers is fresh graduates, and then those who have decided to set up their own business, Alexander added.

In addition to searching for advice from career counselors, Alexander suggested that fresh graduates and experienced workers alike identify their employability skills by themselves to increase their value as the competition for jobs in Jakarta was tough.

Identification can start with figuring out one’s passions, the specific kind of job they want, the standards that should be met to get the jobs, and the efforts that should be made to close the gap.

“As for more experienced workers, identification should include assessment of their responsibility to their level of competency,” Alexander said.