Before engaging in the industry, one must prepare their positive personal branding to show the readiness of that individual. To teach students about this concept, the Computer Science Faculty at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) hosted a seminar entitled ‘Branding and Beyond.’

The seminar was a program presented by the Career Counselling in the Computer Science Faculty at Udinus. It took place on the third floor of the E building. At the seminar, there were Communication Science students and Film and Television students attending the event. 

The personal branding seminar was a routine program, serving as an output for the career counseling class. This was as stated by Devi Purnamasari, M.I.Kom., the Coordinator of Career Counselling in the Computer Science Faculty.

Furthermore, Devi mentioned that the focus of this seminar was ethics and character. According to her, hard skills can be learned anytime and anywhere, while ethics and character must be developed for a long time.

“We want students to learn directly under the practitioners so they will be more prepared to seek jobs in the industry. The theme of this seminar is ‘Your Digital Communication Expert’ featuring three speakers excelling in personal branding,” she emphasized. 

Those three speakers were Tantida Isa—the Head of the Communication Sub-section at Perhutani Divre of Central Java, Aris Budiyanto—the AVP Postpaid Operation at Indosat Semarang, and Akhmad Fesdi Anggoro—a Motion Graphic Designer and a VFX Artist.

The first session was presented by Tantida Isa, who explained the concept of personal branding and career opportunities at government-owned enterprises. She gave several tips concerning work interviews, starting from learning the company profiles. 

“Then, you need to strengthen your branding using the motto of selling yourself and manage your social media. Currently, social media will be checked by the Human Resources Department (HRD) when you apply for a job. Digital footprints are almost impossible to cover, so you need to maintain your good image. Don’t forget to also fill your portfolio with experiences, and explain it to Human Resources in a concise way,” she explained.

The Importance of Personal Branding

The second session was presented by Aris Budiyanto, who explained the steps of personal branding. Personal branding is about making a stand-out and memorable image. 

“We must first determine our goals, identify our uniqueness, construct personal branding, communicate the brand, and evaluate,” she emphasized.

He also stated that there were three essences of personal branding, including personal identity, which refers to how one perceives oneself as a stand-out individual from others. 

“The second essence is personal image. It refers to how people see you at the first impression. While the last essence, personal persistence, is one’s ability to be motivated and oriented on a specific goal,” he continued.

Then, the seminar concluded with a presentation concerning the creative industry. The presentation was delivered by Ahmad Fesdi Anggoro. On that occasion, he explained how to prepare for the creative industry, which requires hard and soft skills. 

“Hard skills center around the mastery of using relevant tools within a field. It scopes basic knowledge about the industry, including recent trends in design, film, and content creation. Meanwhile, soft skills put more emphasis on non-technical capabilities, including creative thinking, collaboration, adaptability, and communication skills,” he explained.

Not only that, he also mentioned that the creative industry had several ethics one must abide by. These ethics include professional ethics, communication ethics, teamwork ethics, ethics in handling conflicts, and ethics in innovation and competition.

“The most important thing is to maintain trust. Getting a trust is easy. Maintaining it, however, is not as easy,” he concluded. (Humas Udinus/Ika. Foto: Dok. Ilkom Udinus)