Annissa Claudia Makarim, a student of Communication Science Study Program, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Universitas Brawijaya (UB) has successfully won the opportunity to participate in the Internship program at Garuda Indonesia.
Through this internship experience, Claudia had the opportunity to apply the theories she learned in class directly in a professional environment.
“I can adjust the skills I have to their needs,” she said.
During her internship at Garuda Indonesia, Claudia relied heavily on her understanding of organizational communication, copywriting, and internal and external communication.
At Garuda Indonesia, Claudia was placed in the JKTIX or Human Capital Organization Transformation unit, specifically in the Communication division. In this division, she is responsible for various internal communication materials, such as making posters for employee emails, managing podcast content involving directors, and designing organizational communication templates.
From this experience, Claudia realized that internal communication has a very crucial role in the sustainability of a company.
“Initially, I thought the most important communication was external, but it turns out that internal communication is the foundation of the organization. If internal communication is not clear, misunderstandings can arise among employees and that can impact the company’s operations,” she said.
She gave an example of how every word used in internal communication materials must be chosen very carefully.
“When making a poster for a new policy, I revised it several times because the choice of words had to be clear and not open to multiple interpretations. Otherwise, there could be conflicting news in the office,” she explained.
In addition, Claudia also observed that vertical communication—between superiors and subordinates—plays an important role. One program that she found very interesting was Connect with the CEO, where employees can discuss directly with the President Director.
“I think this program is very good because it makes communication between leaders and employees more open. This is similar to the theory of vertical communication that I learned in class,” she added.
One of Claudia’s main tasks during her internship was to create various internal communication materials, including copywriting and visual design.
She admitted that the copywriting skills she learned in college helped her a lot in compiling communication materials that were not only informative, but also able to influence the way employees think.
“I learned that communication in written form is not only about conveying information, but also must be able to move people. This is very much in line with what I learned in the copywriting class,” she said.
Beyond the communication aspect, Claudia also felt challenges in the work culture at Garuda Indonesia.
One of the most memorable experiences for her was the Meet4Great session, where every week employees were asked to read one chapter of the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and discuss it in an open forum.
She had felt pressured because she had to actively participate in discussions with senior employees, but this experience actually honed her skills in critical thinking and public speaking.
Claudia also revealed that this internship experience changed her perspective on the world of work, especially in understanding how complex communication is in an organization. If previously she was only interested in external communication, now she also sees the importance of building solid internal communication within the company.
Internship in the aviation industry further strengthened Claudia’s interest in pursuing a career in this field, although she still wanted to explore other industries before making a choice.
“It turns out that working in Human Capital is not as boring as I imagined. In fact, I am more interested in building better internal communication in an organization,” she said. (*/UB PR/ Trans. Iir).
