As an effort to equip prospective graduates to be able to compete with other university graduates, Diponegoro University held a Soft Skills Training Webinar on Thursday (16/09) at 09.00 AM through Zoom meeting platform.
This Soft Skills training webinar has the theme of “Hit the Job Market, Improve your Soft Skills”. The event which was attended by hundreds of prospective Undip graduates was also attended by the Vice Rector I for Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Budi Setiyono, S.Sos., M.Pol.Admin., Ph.D.; Dean of Faculty of Psychology Undip, Prof. Dian Ratna Sawitri, S.Psi., M.Sc., Ph.D.; Director of Academic Affairs for Student Affairs and Alumni, Hanifa Maher Denny, S.KM., MPH., Ph.D.; Deputy Director of Student Affairs and Alumni, Dr. Nuswantoro Dwiwarno, S.H., M.H.; Head of Academic and Student Administration Bureau, Edy Surahmad, S.Pd., M.Sc.; and also invited the Director of Human Resources of PT Pelindo III, Edi Priyanto.
In his remarks, Vice Rector I for Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Budi Setiyono, S.Sos., M.Pol.Admin., Ph.D., welcomed the implementation of Soft Skills Training Webinar for prospective Undip graduates. “On behalf of the university leadership, we are grateful for the initiative of activities carried out this morning,” said Prof. Budi. This webinar activity is a form of Undip’s concern for prospective graduates so that they have provisions that can later be used in their careers.
“This is a form of concern from the university towards students so that they can have good careers in the future, become useful people, and contribute to solving various problems that exist in our society, nation and country, or even in the world,” explained Prof. Budi.
Prof. Budi hoped that this activity can strengthen the identity and abilities of prospective graduates against various kinds of challenges and obstacles that will later be faced in the world of work. Thus it is necessary to have various kinds of competency skills, not only hard skills, but also soft skills.
“The ability to master soft skills cannot be taken lightly. Someone succeeds in life not only because of hard skills, but we need touches of soft skills,” added Prof. Budi.
As previously known, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused an era of disruption for all fields of work. Prof. Dian Ratna Sawitri, S.Psi., M.Sc., Ph.D., said that there are several fields of work with disrupted physical proximity, including health, tourism, office work, classroom teaching and training. With the disruption, there will be several replacement jobs. “What will be faced later will be different from 5 years ago. The future of work after Covid-19 will have Remote Work, Digitization, and Automatization,” said Prof Dian.
Prof. Dian added that although in general some meetings are currently conducted online/virtually, it is hoped that networking will continue. In addition, prospective graduates are expected to always update their personal data history. “It is important to update the resume. Both in statically written information and through the activities you do, such as an internship at a university,” said the Dean of Faculty of Psychology Undip. This will make it easier for others to understand ourselves.
According to Prof. Dian, another thing that needs to be adjusted is to be prepared with a different pattern of worker recruitment from the year before the Covid-19 pandemic, for example virtual/online tests and interviews. It is better to prepare yourself with working conditions from home or remotely to stay productive.
The era of disruption in the field of work that has occurred has caused prospective graduates to worry about their future careers. Director of Human Resources of PT Pelindo III, Edi Priyanto, said that he should consider work as part of worship. “Think of work as part of worship, so that every time we work we always carry the intention to benefit others by providing the best solution,” said Edi.
Furthermore, according to Edi Priyanto, there is a need for disruptive innovation to deal with the current industrial disruption, one of which is teamwork or collaboration. “The current era requires collaboration, so those who are not familiar with team work must start learning, because nowadays every activity requires collaboration,” explained Edi.
In addition, there is a need for communication and critical thinking. Collaborative activities, communication, and critical thinking will give birth to a creativity-innovation. With the current conditions, forming soft skills can still be done online/virtually.
Edi added that the soft skills that prospective graduates need to possess include Communication, Self Motivation, Leadership, Responsibility, Teamwork, Problem Solving, Decisiveness, Time Management, Flexibility, and Negotiation.
Translated by: Titis (Public Relations)