What It Means to Come Home and Make Impact for Gharda Derrian
Ambitious, enthusiastic, and avidity appear to be the right three words to describe Gharda Derrian, Senior Manager, Revenue, and Growth at Pegipegi. He believes in education empowerment as he strives to gain the best experiences in it too. Today, we’re diving into Gharda’s point of view on his LPDP experience and joining Pegipegi as a marketing practitioner at last.
An opportunity from LPDP scholarship
A year after finishing his Electrical Engineering Degree at Institut Teknologi Bandung, Gharda aimed to pursue higher education, a Master’s Degree through a scholarship program from Lembaga Pengelolaan Dana Pendidikan, or LPDP. “It’s one of the most prestigious scholarships granted by the Indonesian government, an opportunity I shouldn’t miss in any circumstances,” he said. Through all the selection processes, he made it as an LPDP awardee in 2014.
Gharda pursued his Master’s Degree at Eindhoven University of Technology (TUe) studying Electrical Engineering. “I put technical studies as a priority and the Netherlands as a priority city to study as well. Regardless of the University title and ranks, I’ve always looked forward to pursuing one”. He believes that having an opportunity in higher education would add more profound knowledge and valuable experience to support his career life in the future.
When Gharda started his education, he wanted to be an electrical engineer who could contribute to developing new technologies. However, his master’s thesis has taught him that the research life may not be the correct field for him. Although he may have an interest in other industries afterward, the lessons he got from his study have always played a massive part in shaping him better. “During my time in the Netherlands, I learned new things that I know would be beneficial for my future professional skills, and one of them comes from their education system. I really value their exam methods that tried to focus on the foundation of our knowledge. On exams, I rarely got any repetitive questions, and that’s a good thing. This way, I’m forced to think by my own values, and it encourages me to have a strong foundation on my answers and knowledge as well,” said Gharda. He’s convinced that this method is still useful up until today, in every professional problem he’s trying to solve.
This exam and other teaching methods in the Netherlands has given him knowledge about differences between education system in Indonesia and other countries. Not only did this helped him be more open-minded, it also prepared him for any professional career changes in the future.
Back home to Indonesia
Finishing his Master’s Degree in 2016, Gharda went straight back home. “Students who already finished their studies from LPDP scholarships are required to go back to Indonesia. It was never an issue for me, as I really miss my country.” Now that he’s back home, he realized there are so many things people would take for granted from this country — and those things are the things that made Indonesia seem fascinating. “To be honest, I miss the chaotic traffic, 24/7 food stalls, even the smallest things like gorengan,” he laughed.
“The moment I’ve graduated from my Master’s Degree was the time to contribute in the workplace.” Gharda knows that this is what his studies have lead to, that he should applied what he have learned into this new career journey. In preferences, he doesn’t have any distinct attraction toward any specific business — however, he is more enticed by the role and the impact that he can contribute in. After going through several years of working experience in a consulting firm as a Business and Integration Architecture, Gharda finally joined Pegipegi in December 2018.
Joining Pegipegi
“Pegipegi offers me a great opportunity, and I’ve always had a heart to know more about the online travel sector that became very popular. Then, in late 2018, I joined as Product Marketing Manager,” he said.
Gharda believes that Pegipegi has healthy ambitions for the business, and he fascinates Pegipegi’s mission to make traveling more accessible for all Indonesians.
For Gharda, Pegipegi’s mission resonates with his ambitions to make impact, especially when it comes to make better lives for Indonesians. “I do like its mission as it focuses on empathy. For instance, how #ButuhPegipegi campaign pictures a very noisy world where people face different life scenarios every single day. In good or bad, Pegipegi encourages people to travel. This empathy factor is potential to be a differentiator toward other competitors.”
As one of Indonesia’s biggest Online Travel Agencies, Gharda is intrigued by what this company has to offer.
“Pegipegi has a uniquely different mission that is not currently in use by other OTAs. It wants to act as a strong enabler for Indonesians to see other parts of the world. To me, it is interesting.”
His decision to join Pegipegi is never a bitter choice, as he feels that the tiniest contributions are always appreciated in this company. “Here, I am in charge of making sure Pegipegi hits its business target for all products by collaborating supply, demand, and product. I cannot say it is a simple work task, as it’s really not, but it is obviously fulfilling,” said Gharda. “The teams I got at Pegipegi consists of many of the most supportive people I’ve ever met. I value each and every one of them, as much as they value my presence at the same time.” As one of the leads in the Marketing Team today, his everyday role motivates him to bring the absolute best for Pegipegi.
Viewing education background from the workplace
From his LPDP experience in the Netherlands, Gharda knows that there are a lot of learnings that he can apply to his work. “Education is just one of the bases for the skills that we have today. When it comes to real career life, it is much wider than that,” he said. “I don’t think employers really put a lot of weight based on your academic experience. Although it is one of the many important things, what matters the most is your knowledge and ability.”
In a fast-paced business environment like Pegipegi, things are continually moving at a lightning speed. There’s always a new thing to learn and implement every single day. An industry like this needs a set of determined team members to generate improvements, and that includes having people with excellent both soft and hard skills.
To Gharda, LPDP (and other scholarships) is not the major factor that makes people more competitive, but it is more toward their ability to absorb lessons during their study itself. “At work, you’re valued by how much you can contribute, learn, and face challenges. These factors are what I’m trying to bring to my role at Pegipegi,” Gharda described. “Just a little idea for whoever looking forward to applying in a professional career, focus more on showcasing what you can do for the company. This will help you impress your employers more.”
Are you ready to make impact? Join us to make traveling more accessible for all Indonesians. Find your journey on Pegipegi’s Career Page and let’s #GrowTogether.
