Clubhouse Sharing Session: Industry Myths, Debunked!
A couple of weeks ago, I jumped in the hype ship of Clubhouse, the application that allows you to the network through an audio chat. I believe it’s a brilliant app that could change the way we do FGDs, events, and how we network. It has little to zero barriers of entry and you can connect with whoever you would like to connect with, from students to Elon Musk and other prominent names.
To this, my friend came up with the idea of creating a sharing room with a topic of debunking myths across industries. I guess she was inspired by another room that she joined previously, so I helped her execute this idea.
We managed to gather some of our friends across industries to help debunk the popular myths within their industries, from their own perspectives and experiences. So before you read this, please remember that these opinions do not represent the entire industry!
The discussion went live for more than two hours before I had to exit early. Being the first-timer that I am, I feel like this conversation was quite fruitful yet fun! We had good laughs and moments of seriousness equally. So here are some myths debunked from our friends’ point of views for the industries below:
Tama — An entrepreneur in the crowdfunding industry in Indonesia
#1 Myth: Every entrepreneur is rich.
NO — Some start from scratch, but extra-financial wealth does help to start!
#2 Myth: Entrepreneurs need a lot of money to start.
YES — Building up companies does need a lot of resources. This also comes with great responsibility to investors and or VCs that we’ve agreed with. We can’t just ask for money without a properly calculated ROI forecast and or proper strategy.
Also, hiring the right people that want to dedicate their time and effort to the company is challenging. At the starting stage, we’d need someone who shares the same vision too!
Karin — Corporate Communications is one of the biggest F&B company in Indonesia
#1 Myth: Corporate Communication department is a costly department.
YES and NO — Comms team brings exposure for the company in many ways with various objectives -depending on the company’s size. Some smaller companies are looking to build up a reputation and bigger ones are looking to protect and maintain the reputation. This requires some cost and not so quantified/tangible ROIs if compared to sales or marketing. But these are completely different things and they all compliment each other!
#2 Myth: F&B clients are always demanding to their agencies.
YES and NO — Especially in this specific company and team Karin works, they ensure that briefs are done properly hence they expect agencies to help them accordingly. Also, this team does not only ask for agencies to execute but also expects their insights and expertise to help better the assigned projects.
Radifan — Marketing in the education industry in Indonesia
#1 Myth: The education sector in Indonesia is always corrupted.
YES and NO — The education sector is indeed closely related to huge fundings from the government. This does not mean that every fund is always corrupted but there are indeed some shady transactions happening from time to time.
#2 Myth: Every student’s parent is annoying and fussy.
YES — Parents have the right to be fussy about their children’s education, for their children’s best interest. But we do need the parents to be aware that they play a role too in supporting their children’s education, and a collaboration between schools and parents at home is needed to excel children’s ability to study and develop. Especially during these times.
Rama — Tax consultant in one of the big 4 accounting firms in Indonesia
#1 Myth: Working with one of the Big 4s is always stressful.
YES and NO — It’s a survival for the fittest kind of thing. You can still create healthy boundaries for yourself but there are others out there who would do everything and anything to get on top. Some close their work at 10pm some at 5am. But YES, especially during peak season.
#2 Myth: People always take drugs to stay up in the Big 4.
NO — Including Rama and most of his circles, they binge on Coffee instead, haha!
Ajeng — Growth Marketing in e-Commerce in Indonesia
#1 Myth: Most Fresh Grads these days are looking to jump on the e-Commerce ship.
Mostly? YES — How Ajeng sees it, is that every year graduates graduate, there are changes in the hype across industries. Maybe in 2010, it was banking, and in 2020 with this digital transformation, it’s e-Commerce. So yes, most of the fresh graduates are keen on jumping this ship.
#2 Myth: Every online campaign (1.1, 12.12, CNY, etc) are sleepless nights.
YES — It’s definitely an experience. It’s very usual for people to sleep at the office during online campaigns as everyone needs to standby. Especially for the e-Commerce company, she works with, every banner, pop-ups, and other visual gimmicks are uploaded manually -still. So they always have to be on standby (from campaign operations to the campaign lead).
I know I promised to cover to other industries which are banking and tobacco, but unfortunately, I’ve lost my notes! I truly apologise for this and will make it up with other insights via my upcoming articles.
The clubhouse experience is really great. I would recommend this app to everyone who really wants to build up their network, confidence to speak in public, as well as being keen on learning from others.
I hope there will be more Clubhouse sessions about careers! I will definitely share the key takeaways.
Cheers,
Tiara
