Irfan Fachrudin MSc (on the top frame) and Rachmat Gunawan MSc (on the bottom frame), two alumni speakers of Fast Sharing Session: Study and Careers in Europe

ITS Campus, ITS News – Included in the top ranks of developed countries in Europe, definitely make Germany and France targets for most students as a place to continue their education and career. This perspective was conveyed by these two members of the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology’s Alumni Association of Countries Abroad at an online sharing session on Saturday (13/6).

They are Irfan Fachrudin, M.Sc., and Rachmat Gunawan, M.Sc., two ITS alumni who have crossed the globe in order to explore education and pursue a career in Germany and France. Both Irfan and Rachmat, on that occasion, explained about the education sector and the professional sector in Germany and France.

Irfan Fachrudin, M.Sc., when presenting his material in Fast Sharing Session on Study and Pursuing a Career in Europe

Education and Career in Germany

Irfan explained that in terms of education, Germany occupies the fifth position in terms of Research and Development Expenditure in Europe, amounting to 104 million Euros. “This figure is equivalent to 3.1 percent of Germany’s Gross Domestic Product (red),” revealed this ITS Electrical Engineering alumnus.

Even so, continued this bespectacled man, tuition fees in Germany were made free. It’s just that students are required to pay 150-400 Euros each semester for public transportation services and other contribution costs. “Besides being cheap, German education is also of high quality. Proven in 2011 that Germany became the initiator of the Industrial Revolution 4.0,” emphasized this German Rostock University alumnus.

According to Irfan, college registration in Germany is quite easy. Applicants only need to find the campus information they want to go through the following pages: https://www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-prgrammes/en/, https://www.tu9-universities.de, the direct page of each university or institution, or a certain list from the Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan Indonesia (LPDP). “Next, just fulfill the required documents and wait two to five months for the confirmation receipt,” he added.

In regards to the professional sector, added Irfan, Germany is the right country for job applicants. This is because, up until 2020, Germany is the country with the largest economy in Europe and ranked fourth in the world with a GDP of 3.84 trillion United States Dollars (USD).

“The German Software Market is also the largest in Europe with a revenue of 27.6 million Euros in 2020,” he revealed.

According to Irfan, the work culture in Germany is very good. German society has a productive and efficient culture, planned and result-oriented, and disciplined with direct communication to the core. “So even though the duration of German society’s work is low, its productivity ranks third in the world,” he concluded.

Rachmat Gunawan, M.Sc., when presenting his material in the Fast Sharing Session on Study and Pursuing a Career in Europe

Education and Career in France

Rachmat, as a part of batch 2013 of ITS alumnus, who pursued his education and career in France elaborated, that besides Germany, France is also one of the European countries with a high-quality education. Besides the English-speaking countries, France is the most popular country for international students.

“This popularity definitely is a result of the achievements behind it,” mentioned this man who is familiarly called Rachmat.

Sure enough, Rachmat continued, the National Center de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), which is the French National Center for Scientific Research, is the largest research organization in Europe. “Even in the field of mathematics, France achieved second place in the Field Medals, after the United States,” said this alumni of the ITS Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding Engineering Department.

In contrast to other countries, added Rachmat, higher education in France is divided into two types, namely Université and Grande École. These two types are also based on the amount of tuition fees, with Université of 170-380 Euros for local students, and 2,700-3,700 Euros for foreign students. Whereas the Grande École amounts to 5,000-24,000 Euros for all students.

Not much different from German universities, stated Rachmat, interested students can easily find information on the destination campus on the https://www.indonesie.campusfrance.org/id page, the direct page of each campus, or a list of destination campuses provided by LPDP. “It’s the same, just fulfill the required documents, apply, and wait for the confirmation, which takes around 2 months,” continued this member of the French ITS Alumni Association.

While the professional world, conveyed Rachmat, France is a very promising country to be explored. This is because France is the most attractive country in Europe to plant foreign capital (Foreign Direct Investment). In financial terms too, the French Bank is the largest bank in Europe.

“Among the 10 largest banks in Europe, four to five of them are banks in France,” added this École Centrale de Nantes, France graduate.

Regarding the work culture of the French society, according to Rachmat, based on the data, French workers are superior to the United States and Germany in terms of work hierarchy and accuracy. “In here (France, red), there is no racism nor gender differences at all. All are treated equally, even in communication,” he concluded.

After explaining about the education system and the professional sector in Germany and France, Irfan hopes that this activity aimed at contributing alumni, who continued their education abroad as speakers, can educate ITS students who wish to continue their studies and pursue their careers abroad. (mad/rur/ory/ITS Public Relations)