Tracer Study of Japanese Department Graduates in West Java

This study aims to describe the profile of Japanese Department Graduates in West Java which includes waiting period to get the first job, type of job, type of company where alumni work, Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) grade that is owned by graduates, and the feedback given by alumni to the Japanese Department. This study used a descriptive evaluative method with a survey approach. Respondents in this study were graduates of the Japanese department and the head of the Japanese department from four private universities in Bandung, including Universitas Kristen Maranatha, Universitas Komputer Indonesia, Universitas Nasional Pasim, and STBA Yapari ABA. The results of this study expected to be able to obtain comprehensive information about the profile of Japanese department graduates and feedback from alumni, to improve the quality of graduates of the Japanese Department. Keywords—Tracer Study, Japanese Department, Graduates


I. INTRODUCTION
Education contributes to the development of quality human resources, mastery and technological development, and economic growth. Ali argues that efforts to build Human Resources through education are the first to be done to create community welfare [1]. Higher education has a critical role in the national development of the Indonesian nation, especially in developing the quality of human resources to improve the nation's competitiveness. Teichler explained that there are five main criteria for the success of a college in penetrating the workforce, including the relatively short first employment period and easy job search; low unemployment rate; relatively low level of nonpermanent employment; the income of graduates is relatively high and adequate, as well as; suitability between fields of work with the knowledge learned [2]. This is in line with the opinion of Djojonegoro who argues that education must have the equivalent form of link and match with the needs and demands of the world of work. This means that the education held must be able to create superior Human Resources that have attitudes, behaviors, insights, abilities, competencies and skills that are relevant to the demands of the world of work [3].
However, the OECD report stated that most degree programs in Indonesia have not been able to adjust to the demands of the industry. Graduates' supply is out of sync with the needs of the emerging labor market. The ability of college graduates, many of which are unable to keep up with market demands, so that many companies have difficulty finding people who are competent, able to think critically, and able to make a smooth transition to work. This is because college graduates usually do not have sufficient work experience. The quality of graduates who are not in accordance with the demands of the world of work is one of the causes of the slowdown in the absorption of graduates in the world of work [4].
Teichler argues that there are gaps between college graduates with competency demands needed in the world of work; increased educated unemployment, both open and veiled; changing needs of employment, as well as; the rapid development of information and communication technology. This causes changes in the qualifications, competencies, and requirements needed by graduates to be able to enter the business world and the industrial world [5]. Song and Tang explained that public and private schools and colleges currently face challenges in producing graduates who can meet the demands of the world of work. [6]. Furthermore, Patacsil & Tablatin suggested that graduates the skills gap with the requirements of the world of work is the main problem of higher education [7]. Therefore, to find out the relevance of higher education with the world of work, a tracer study of alumni is needed.
Schomburg stated that the main purpose of a tracer study is to identify the quality of graduates related to their work. Meanwhile, the specific purpose of the search study is to identify the profile, competency, and skills of graduates; knowing the relevance of the study program curriculum that is applied to the needs of the business world and the industrial world; become an evaluation tool in the framework of developing study program curriculum, as well as; contribute in accreditation activities of study programs and or institutions [8]. In line with this, Wahyudin concluded that the existence of alumni as a product of higher education has a critical role in the quality and existence of the college. Therefore, a strategic effort is needed to pay attention to the existence of alumni for evacuation materials and a measure of the success of a university [9]. So it can be concluded that tracer study has an important role in order to improve the system and its management, every university should carry out traceability studies of graduates and stakeholders, to get feedback related to alumni abilities, profiles, inputs and suggestions for improving the quality of each department.
The Japan Foundation stated that in 2012 Japanese learners in West Java in all levels of education total 225,566 learners. Meanwhile, the number of Japanese language learners at the tertiary level in Indonesia is 22,076 learners. [10]. The high interest in learning Japanese is due to a large number of Japanese companies that invest in Indonesia. Therefore, there is a growing need for workers who can speak Japanese well. However, unfortunately, not all opportunities can be absorbed properly. Although the number of employment opportunities and the number of graduates should be balanced, the fact is that not all graduates are absorbed in the workforce according to their fields.
The importance of the research on tracer study of Japanese Department graduates was conducted by Cahyono who explained that tracer study is useful to determine the level of relevance and problems faced by graduates so that policymakers can find out the opportunities and challenges in the world of work in accordance with the conditions of the region and how they prepare graduates to be able to fill these opportunities [11].
The research on tracer studies of graduates of the Japanese department was conducted by Handayani's research which states that the relevance level of graduates of the Japanese Department of Universitas Bina Nusantara with the world of work related to the Japanese field is only 55%, so it can be said that it is still relatively irrelevant [12]. This is reinforced by Setiana who explained that based on the assessment of users, graduates of the Japanese department had good hard skills and soft skills. However, this research is only limited to the Japanese departments of Universitas Komputer Indonesia [13].
This study will discuss the profile of Japanese department graduates from four private universities in Bandung; STBA Yapari ABA, Universitas Kristen Maranatha, Universitas Nasional Pasim, and Universitas Komputer Indonesia includes waiting period to get the first job, type of job, type of company where alumni work; the suitability of graduate competencies with the type of work; and feedback from alumni.

II. METHODS
This study used a descriptive evaluative method with a survey approach with the research instrument used was a questionnaire and interview. Ali explained that evaluative research is systematic research to determine the benefits of an educational program. Surveys used in studies involving humans as data sources. It is very effective and widely used to capture data from large numbers of subjects and broad coverage [14]. The questionnaire was given to graduates of the Japanese department, interviews conducted with the heads of the Japanese department. Data collection is taken from February to August 2018. The respondents in this study were 71 Japanese Departement Graduates from four private universities in Bandung; STBA Yapari ABA, Universitas Kristen Maranatha, Universitas Nasional Pasim, and Universitas Komputer Indonesia.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
From the result of the questionnaire, explains that it is known that the profile of graduates of the Japanese department is as follows : The number of respondents for each university is presented in table 1 below.  From Table 2, it can be seen that 52.1% of the respondents are male and 47.9% are female. Thus it can be assumed that the proportion of respondents by gender is spread evenly. Furthermore, the waiting period for graduates to get the first job is presented in the following table 3. Based on table 3, it can be seen that 25.4% of Japanese department graduates have a waiting period of less than 3 months, 45.1% of the waiting period of 3-6 months, 25.4% of the waiting period of 6-12 months, and 4.2% of the waiting period of more than 1 year. The data is in accordance with the results of interviews with Japanese department heads who stated that the average working period of the first alumni of Japanese literature alumni was between three to six months. This proves that graduates of the Japanese   18.3% of graduates are trainers in Japanese companies. The first type of work that is usually occupied by graduates is a communicator, after which he is promoted to become an administrator and or trainer, then increases to a higher level, namely the manager (including supervisors, assistant managers and managers). This is also in accordance with the results of interviews with the heads of Japanese literature study programs stating that usually, the initial work of the alumni is a communicator (translator/interpreter). This is also in line with the opinion of Astuti stating that the type of work as a communicator (translator, secretary, receptionist, and customer service) is the most chosen field of work for graduates of Japanese literature on their first job, then followed by the work of administrators and instructors [15].
The types of companies where Japanese department graduates work are presented in the following table 5. Based on table 5, it can be seen that 28% of Japanese department graduates currently work in the automotive industry, 20% work in the electronics industry, 13% work in chemical industries, 14% work in the tourism / hospitality industry and property, 12% work in the education industry Japanese people, 7% work in other Japanese-owned industries, and 6% work in other services belonging to Japanese people. This is in accordance with the results of interviews with the heads of Japanese departments stating that of the many Japanese companies engaged in various industrial and service sectors in Indonesia, alumni of Japanese literature study programs mostly work in the automotive and electronic industries. This is in line with Astuti's research, which explained that most graduates from the Japanese department working for Japanese companies engaged in the manufacturing industry became the main choice of graduates in employment, followed by educational institutions, and other services [15]. This is also reinforced by the opinion of Tomiyoshi which explains that around 70% of Japanese companies located in Indonesia are companies engaged in manufacturing industries, while the rest are companies engaged in services [16].
The percentage of Japanese Department graduates who have a Japanese Language Proficiency Test issued by The Japan Foundation is presented in the following table 6. The Japan Foundation argues about the Importance of Japanese Language Proficiency Test Certificates for Japanese learners; recognition as academic credit and graduation certification in school, recognition of qualifications in the community, requirements to be able to work in a Japanese company, and a requirement to be able to continue studies in Japan [17].
These results indicate the ability of graduates of the Japanese department is very good, it is seen from 88.7% of graduates who have met the minimum requirements set by the Consortium of the Department of Japanese Studies (KPSJI) in 2017, that graduates of the Japanese department are expected have special skills that are skilled in communicating in Japanese both orally and in writing in various contexts include the competence of speaking, listening, writing, and reading, by applying grammatical principles, and Japanese culture in accordance with the JLPT between N3 and N2 [18].

IV. CONCLUSION
The results of the tracer study conducted on graduates of the Japanese department show that graduates have good Japanese language skills and relevant to the demands and needs of the workforce. However, there is still a need to improve and strengthen other competencies, especially soft skills. Further and in-depth research on the soft skills competencies needed for Japanese department graduates is needed. .