ACICIS’ Business Professional Practicum (BPP) resumed its in-country delivery in Indonesia in January-February 2023. Launched in 2015, the BPP is suitable for undergraduate students, postgraduate coursework students, and early career professionals.
Modelled on ACICIS’ successful Journalism and Development Studies Professional Practica, this program was developed with support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s New Colombo Plan. The BPP runs for six weeks in Indonesia, including a two-week intensive Indonesian language study and industry-led seminars at Atma Jaya University, followed by a four-week supervised industry placement. The program runs from early January to mid-February each year.
The BPP provides an opportunity for students of business, management and marketing, or early career business professionals, to gain valuable experience working in the field of business and commerce in Indonesia. Host Organisations are drawn from a wide range of Jakarta’s business and industry sectors including: banking and finance, infrastructure and mining, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), creative industries, the Indonesian Stock Exchange, Indonesian Ministries of Finance and Trade, as well as chambers of commerce.
As an assessed program, the BPP is designed to meet requirements for work-integrated learning modules and other practicum-based course components.
The BPP is designed for students who have no existing Indonesian language skills. Candidates with existing language skills are also welcome. All industry placements provide an English-language working environment.
The BPP’s informative seminars, immersive language classes, and fulfilling internship
placement has equipped me with the necessary experience and knowledge to be able to work
in the Australia-Indonesia space.
– ACICIS Past Participant
Aims
The aims of the BPP are to:
- Provide students with a practical learning experience with a Host Organisation in an Indonesian business workplace environment; and
- To enhance bilateral understanding through the creation of new partnerships between Australian and Indonesian counterparts, and to serve as a medium for the exchange of ideas in the field of business and commerce.
Structure
The structure of the six-week program is as follows:
- Two weeks of intensive Indonesian language classes at Atma Jaya Catholic University, designed to give participants basic Indonesian language capacity;
alongside
- A series of seminars and fieldtrips led by experts and practitioners from Indonesian and international businesses and commercial organisations operating within Indonesia;
followed by
- A four-week supervised practicum placement designed to give participants an English-speaking professional experience within an Indonesian or international firm operating within Indonesia.
Supervision
ACICIS’ programs in Indonesia operate under the direction of the ACICIS Resident Director. In addition, an Academic Program Officer (APO) is assigned for the duration of the BPP to oversee all aspects of the program, including the supervision of its academic content. To see who the current BPP Academic Program Officer is, see their profile on the ACICIS Staff Members page.
Some important points to note
- Applicants should be aware that they are applying for the program, not a specific placement. Participants must therefore accept that they may not be placed in their desired choice. In addition, all ACICIS placements with business organisations depend entirely on the goodwill and preparedness of such organisations to host participants. Such organisations retain the right to withdraw from the program or vary the number of participants they host at any stage. Therefore, while acting in good faith in preparing participants for placements, ACICIS cannot guarantee any specific internship site and participants must accept this need for flexibility as a condition of participation in the Business Professional Practicum.
- The visa that participants enter Indonesia on is not a working visa. Participants are strictly prohibited from undertaking any form of paid work during their time on the BPP. ACICIS takes this matter very seriously and will take disciplinary measures against any student found undertaking paid work of any kind throughout the program.
- Participants are advised to take a laptop with them to Indonesia, as in most cases this will help them greatly in their work placements. In some work placements it is essential.
- Please be advised that Atma Jaya has a dress code which will be enforced by ACICIS. T-shirts and thongs are not appropriate.
- Orientation is compulsory for all BPP participants. If you cannot attend orientation then you will, unfortunately, not be able to participate in the program.
