Freelance Working in Newspaper
January 2002 during my holiday, I decided to have new experience by working. I applied work as surveyor in Jawa Pos newspaper and I have been accepted. My task was to collect information or to survey Jawa Pos's customers about Jawa Pos service, whether they were satisfy or not. For that purpose, I have been given verification letter which explained that I was their surveyor (Picture 1.) and some sheets of questionnaire that should be filled by the customers.


Pic 1. Verification letter as surveyor in Jawa Pos

It was quite fascinating, because it should be done door to door or personally. In fact, it was difficult in executing this job in the field. Even I had already "work evidence" from this company, I still got suspicious reactions. Many different responses I got from the people. Some of them were very warm welcoming me and discuss in long time, or even gave me a glass of water. There were also some people didn't like my coming and gave negative response. Well, it was normal by reason of criminal rate was done by unknown person in the community was high. After I have collected customers opinion about the service of this company, I had to give the results to the company and they checked it whether I really have done it or not.

From this working, I learned how were the customers opinions and desires about service of the company. I also met new friends who also had the same aim with me to get experience by working. Two weeks after I have worked, I decided to end my work. This decision I made for the reason that I had to start my study in new semester.

Part-time Working in Consultant
Starting from 2001, I was active in many activities of extra campus organization. One big activities of my organization was Cadre event. I was a fundraiser of this event. My task was collecting fund from alumni of this organization door to door. During my task as fundraiser, I met this person whose owned a consultant. The name of this consultant is "PT. Eltekons". Coincidentally, he is an alumni of my university also. After some dialogues, he offered me to work in his consultant. I was really surprise and I accepted it. I thought that I want to learn about consultant and I want to have experience in consultant field.

I was in the fourth semester of my study in the university when I worked part time in this consultant for one year, during 2002 - 2003. I thought that I was so lucky, because actually finding consultant and work in this field was difficult. Moreover getting some jobs which is suitable with our background study in this period was also difficult. Unemployment rate in my city, Surabaya, was still high.

In this consultant, I worked as an assistant of social and environmental fields. My tasks were to make technical proposals, collect some primary data and information by surveying many study areas in East Java (see: my activities in Indonesia). I met many people with different skills, qualifications, and background study. From a senior who had experience in certain field for many years until some students from my university whose worked in the same consultant. I learned and exchanged experience with many people I met. In the year 2003, I decided to be focused in preparing my internship in the upcoming year of 2004 and my bachelor thesis after that. One year was not enough to understand this world. I had already the knowledge but only a bit of the big circle.

Internship
In 2004, I carried out practical work (internship) in PT. Petrokimia Gresik. According to the regulation in my program study, it is an obligation for students in the last year of study to make internship for minimum 2 months. It is a kind of cooperation between university and industrial in the form of real work practice. I made it in a group with my friend. We applied an internship in PT. Petrokimia Gresik (Petro Gresik) and proposed the title (see: curriculum vitae for the title). Petro Gresik is a big private company of chemical fertilizer in East Java. They has a good reputation in producing the product and good consciousness of environmental responsibilities. After we have waited for some days, we were accepted to make this internship and our title were agreed by both of supervisors from the university and the company.

In the first day of my internship, I met with other students from different universities in East Java Province. They were also applied in the same company, but focused on various unit process based on the title proposed. We were gathered in the same building for two days. During two days, we were explained about the company profile, unit processes and groups in the company, regulation in working area, the safety in working, and privacy issue of the unit process plant. After that, we were separated in different groups of working. According to the title agreed, I and my friend were placed in operation units of production, safety, and wastewater treatment. We were also involved in the routine working and meeting. In the closing, we had to write an internship report. The report contains explanation about unit processes (what we have learned) and requested homework to be solved from the supervisor in the company and the university.

Full-time Working in Consultant
In 2005, after I have finished my bachelor thesis, I worked full time in the same planning consultant. This time, I met many new people with very large range of education level and ages (Picture 2), from Junior high school up to bachelor engineering graduated. In the first day, I adapted with my working environment. Even the consultant was the same, but with many new personals inside, changes will be occurred automatically.


Pic 2. Large range of education level and ages in PT. Eltekons



In my working I should analyze different fields of study such as economy, social, culture, tourism, education, except my background study.

I learned about teamwork and cooperation. how to make negotiation with people that we don't know at all, how to concentrate and focus to solve certain problem, managing many things and people, how to organize consultant, how to structure the time and fit it into the schedule.

During my working for 3 years, I think that I like this world. Therefore, I have a dream to own an international engineering consultant in the future later on.

To be continued ....... Autobiography - part IV