A story about a Bangkit graduate who successfully launched her career in a unicorn startup

“Indonesia has the highest number of unicorn startups in Southeast Asia.”

(Greenhouse Report 2019)

The growth of unicorn startups in Indonesia goes fast. There are currently eight unicorns out of this country; two are Bangkit industry partners, Gojek and Tokopedia (now merged as a new entity named GoTo). These circumstances make unicorn startups need to be strengthened by skillful tech talents. Opportunities to be a tech expert in startups are wide open, and fresh graduates’ interest in launching a career in unicorns increases.

To be successfully hired by a unicorn startup, a fresh graduate must have sufficient preparation before recruitment. Excellent performance in college, organizational experience, and skills acquired from the career readiness program are considered a list that must be met when you want to apply.

💻 Mulai Belajar Pemrograman

Belajar pemrograman di Dicoding Academy dan mulai perjalanan Anda sebagai developer profesional.

Daftar Sekarang

Taking part as a tech talent in a unicorn startup has also become Qassandra Chaidir’s dream. She is a persistent learner and has a passion for cloud computing. Her interest in diving deep into tech finally led her to become a System Engineer at Tokopedia. Her success in starting her first job as a fresh graduate cannot be separated from her perseverance since she was in college and her opt-in in Bangkit.

When Cloud Computing Holds Qassandra’s Attention

Before putting significant effort into preparing herself for Tokopedia’s recruitment, Qassie began her journey by joining Google Developer Student Clubs in 2019-2020. She played an important role in Google DSC as a leader. It was Google DSC that introduced Qassie to cloud computing, and it held Qassie’s attention.

Not only did Qassie interested in cloud computing, but Google DSC also encouraged Qassie to thrive. Her meeting with various competitive talents from over Indonesia pushed her to keep learning. After taking many activities in Google DSC, Qassie enhanced her experience by doing an internship at a company named Lalali.com.

Bangkit 2021 Cultivates Qassie’s Will

As time went by, Qassie’s desire to sharpen her cloud computing and system engineering skills grew. She needed to expand her tech knowledge once she contributed to Lalali. This motivated Qassie to hone her craft in Bangkit 2021 because the curriculum of this program provided the learning materials that Qassie was looking for. Besides that, her will to take Google ACE certification encouraged her spirit to be accepted in Bangkit 2021.

For Qassie, the certification she was pursuing had nothing to do with recognition. She felt that the point of taking certification is the learning process before the exam.

While undergoing Bangkit 2021, Qassie was concerned about her being the only woman engineer on the team. But the solidarity and good cooperation between Qassie and her team smashed her fears.

The skills and knowledge that Qassie acquired from Bangkit 2021 met her expectations. Besides gaining technical knowledge, Qassie put her interest in one soft skills training about “Effective Communication.” She reviewed almost all learning materials Qassie got from Bangkit 2021 before the interview session with the giant unicorn, Tokopedia.

Qassie never thought that, as a fresh graduate, she would finally be hired by Tokopedia as a System Engineer. Her successful career launch at Tokopedia made her realize that the Bangkit experience gave her many benefits, and lots of its learnings were applied at work.

Make Mistakes and Learn from It

After Bangkit shaped Qassie into a skillful talent and paved her way to be hired by Tokopedia as a System Engineer, Qassie had her thoughts about Bangkit.

“Bangkit is not a place that shows who is better than whom. This is where we can make as many mistakes as we like and learn as much as possible.”

Besides being free to explore her tech skills, Qassie felt that Bangkit gave her sufficient knowledge to support her work in the infrastructure sector. Qassie’s achievements show that Bangkit has a significant role in creating fresh graduates ready to work in a unicorn-class company.

Qassie on How to Be an Engineer in Unicorn Startup as a Fresh Graduate

Qassie didn’t apply to Tokopedia as an inexperienced fresh graduate. She first equipped herself with the required skills and thorough preparation, which made her hired by the giant unicorn. Here are some suggestions from Qassie if you, as a fresh graduate, want to launch your career in a unicorn startup:

Be Active and Get Involved in the Community

For Qassie, getting herself actively involved in the community is essential. You can push yourself to make new improvements every day. Therefore, to hone her organizational skills, Qassie participated in Google DSC on her campus, Universitas Trilogi.

Decide the IT Engineer Profession You Want and Master Its Base Knowledge

You have to decide which one is your dream IT Engineer profession. Then, master the required basic knowledge for your chosen career. If you want to follow in Qassie’s footsteps, you must learn deeply about cloud computing, Linux, networking, coding, etc. Most learning materials about cloud computing can be found in the Bangkit program. The curriculum is comprehensive and available from the basic level until you are ready to take the Google ACE certification.

Measure Your Competence Through Global Certification

After your knowledge “supplies” is sufficient, you must test your skill by taking global certification training. Qassie decided to take the Google ACE certification opportunity given by Bangkit. For Qassie, this certification can measure her competence. The case study and learnings that she got from industry experts in Bangkit are the materials that often come out during the certification process.

Qassie has begun her journey as a System Engineer in a startup with Bangkit. Will you take the same path too?

Read the story from other Bangkit students here: