Clouddian Fazalmuttaqin: Developing Grit Through Competitions
This article is written for SICOMAS publication. SICOMAS stands for SISTEM Competition Material Supplies where you can find competition proposals and materials from those who already experienced in the corresponding fields. Clouddian shared five of his business case competition proposals, which you can find here: https://s.id/SICOMAS2020
His name is Clouddian Fazalmuttaqin, an Information System undergraduate student batch 2017. Two months ago, he just got elected as Fasilkom’s Most Outstanding Student, which is predictable because he’s one of Fasilkom students who is very well-rounded; active in organizations, got high grades and actively upgrading his knowledge through joining vary competitions and won at least 5 times in national-scaled competitions. In this session, we will dive in to know his journey throughout his experiences in joining those competitions and how he achieved those winnings.
It all started in 2017 when Cloud was still in his Freshman year. He joined a competition in BINUS and struggled so much. With no background in the economy, he and his team were struggling to even understand the terms in the Case that was given by the competition.
The first thing he did at that time was he listed all the terms from the case that he didn’t understand and searched it online. Despite the struggle he encountered, he found joy in searching and understanding those economy-related terms. Long story short, he knew that he’s into cases and consulting and was planning to join more. In that first competition, Cloud and his team got 2nd place, a good start it is.
After that first competition, Cloud joined many more competitions in his sophomore and junior year. With perseverance and grit that he grew during that journey, he managed to snatch several awards; 3 times first place in national business case competitions, runner up of Find IT Data Analytics competition held by Informatics Student in UGM, and runner up of business plan competition held by UNPAD.
Winnings are not all that he got. By joining competitions, he got useful connections, knowledge that supports his study as an Information System student, and had a chance to learn that it is very important to not give up and have perseverance since he only got winnings in 25% from the total competitions that he joined.
Tips n Tricks
We asked Cloud to share some of his tips and tricks that he learned during joined those competitions
Team Picking
Cloud had experienced collaborating with many kinds of teammates. Here are some of his intakes:
On teaming up with more experienced people
When we teamed up with people who already experienced in dealing with business case competition, as expected, we can get guidance from them that the chances of your team getting stuck in the problem-solving process is low.
However, there must exist a knowledge gap between you and the team. If not handled properly, that knowledge gap can lead to you having a hard time catching up with the discussion thus lower your confidence in proposing solutions to your team which can lead to hampering the discussion process.
On teaming up with people who have the same experience level
Teaming up with people who have the same experience level is a chance for you to explore your ideas because you are less afraid of making mistakes.
However, the possibilities of you and your team stuck in the problem-solving process is high, from structuring and finding the root causes to finding the best solutions to be put on the proposal.
Tips
It is very ideal to pick team members that you are comfortable with and have the same knowledge level of you so you don’t have to teach your team members the basics.
However, if you can’t have both in your team members, you need to make sure that you and your team are on the same page. Find their motives, if you’re targeting to win then you need to find teammates that targeting to win too.
Closing Remarks from Cloud
Do not afraid to try and fail. Joining a competition is a form of investment. Win or lose, you will always get knowledge, experience, and chances in meeting people that are experienced in their fields.
Start as soon as possible. Joining competitions is one way to explore yourself, as you experience more competitions, you will know which fields fit you which is not. If you don’t start as soon as possible, you will lose the chance to
SISTEM aims to accommodate members to develop their passion, do not afraid to approach managers and even me or Adam (VP) if you need any help
Reach out. One of SISTEM’s value is to help to accommodate Fasilkom students, especially SISTEM members, to develop their passion. Do not reluctant to approach the SIG Managers, SISTEM’s president, and vice president if you need any help. We encourage you to share what you want to achieve to us.
