Managing Dual Careers: Tackling the Challenges

Meet our alumna, Priscilla Prayogo from Bachelor of Arts (Majoring in Psychology Studies), who is passionate about her work and is an excellent example of someone who has been able to successfully manage two different paths. Read her story below.

What are you up to right now?

I currently work as the Human Resource Advisor at KoinWorks (Fintech) for a little over 3 years now and as the Financial Accountant at PT. Lentera Panen Mandiri (rice-milling factory). I started off as part-time 7 years ago and have since took up the full-time role in the last 4 years ago.

Can you tell us more about your current role?

As the HR Advisor at KoinWorks, I work as the in-house performance coach/psychologist and provide workshops/webinars on psychology-related topics. Meanwhile, when I’m working as the financial consultant, I’m mostly responsible for the company’s financial planning/analysis, budgeting, and report of the factory

If you could highlight one memorable experience in your working experience so far, what would that be?

Working two very different jobs has provided me with a lot of exposure in learning to deal and manage different experiences which come from interacting with different kinds of people in totally non-related fields, one being in a tech company and the other in manufacturing.

What are some of the lessons learned or challenges faced?

Being patient, compassionate, yet professional – all at the same time while juggling two different kinds of jobs, because fundamentally when it comes to interacting with people, it took a lot of processing time to both adjust, develop rapport, and produce results. On top of that, I had to deal with managing my own burnouts from helping people deal with theirs.

How do you feel studying at the Singapore campus of James Cook University has helped you? What do you miss the most about your time at JCU?

Studying at JCU gave me the opportunity to become exposed to a lot of the important, fundamental basics in the psychology field, without having had to stay too far away from my home country. And of course, the food selection both at the campus and in Singapore are just excellent – both made such a wonderful study experience!

What would be your advice for current students?

Never doubt that you can one day be someone great, and that the world truly has everything to offer you with what you need to have in your personal and professional journey. Try to make the best use of your university time, not only to have fun and study, but to explore other things which hopefully can aid you in better deciding which specific path in your career you might be better suited for. And if that doesn’t happen, then that’s perfectly normal. Do take the extra time (not forever though) to explore a bit more and even continue your study further if you feel like you need to!