Surabaya, August 7, 2025 — Universitas Terbuka (UT) has once again demonstrated its commitment to addressing global workforce challenges by holding a Career Fair 2025. Titled “You Have a Dream, We Bring the Opportunity!”, the event was held in a hybrid format from August 7–8, 2025, at the Universitas Terbuka Surabaya campus on Jalan Dr. Ir. H. Soekarno, MERR Rungkut, as well as online via the klob.id/careerfairut2025 page.
This event served as a strategic platform to connect students, alumni, and the general public with over 40 companies from various industries, all free of charge. The Career Fair provided a direct meeting point between higher education and the real needs of the industry, addressing the need for competent and dynamic talent across sectors.
The event was attended by the Head of the Surabaya City Department of Industry and Manpower, Agus Hebi Djuaniantoro, S.T., M.T., and was opened by UT leaders, including Prof. Rahmat Budiman, S.S., M.Hum., Ph.D. (Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and Acting Vice Rector for Research, Innovation, Partnership, and Business), Prof. Dra. Dewi Artati Padmo Putri, M.A., Ph.D. (Head of UT’s LPPM), Dr. Suparti, M.Pd. (Director of UT Surabaya), and Dr. Heriani, S.IP., M.A. (Head of UT’s Center for Community Service).
The Head of the Surabaya City Department of Industry and Manpower (Disperinaker), Hebi Djuaniantoro, S.T., M.T., appreciated the collaboration between UT and the Surabaya City Government in reducing unemployment. “This is a great collaboration between the City Government and an educational institution. We hope that all educational institutions will hold Career Fairs to reduce open unemployment,” Hebi said.
Hebi also acknowledged UT’s unique strengths, stating that UT’s education is flexible and affordable, allowing anyone to study there at any time. “The cost is very low compared to others. This can encourage Surabaya residents who want to attend university, aligning with the Surabaya City Government’s vision to increase the Human Development Index (IPM) and make one scholar per family a reality,” he added.
Hebi mentioned that his office continues to work to lower unemployment in Surabaya. He noted that open unemployment was 4.91% last year, and they are using a combination of education, training, and job placement to address it. “We are still calculating the number of people who continued their studies, who got jobs, and who received training. We are preparing for this and coordinating with other vocational training centers to accommodate those who do not pursue further education,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Prof. Rahmat Budiman, S.S., M.Hum., Ph.D., emphasized that UT is not only an open and distance higher education institution but also an active facilitator that prepares its graduates to enter the job market with excellent competencies, global competitiveness, and adaptive character. “The Career Fair at UT Surabaya is our responsibility as a university to create a ‘link and match’ between the world of education and the world of industry,” he said.
Prof. Rahmat also added that UT has a distinct advantage over other universities. “UT is different from other universities. We now have 672,000 students, and 87% of them are already working. So they enroll at UT to advance their careers and improve their competencies. The remaining 13% are unemployed or fresh graduates,” he explained.
The Director of Universitas Terbuka Surabaya, Dr. Suparti, M.Pd., hopes that the UT Career Fair 2025 will help UT graduates find and improve their employment. “Our hope with this job fair is that UT graduates will have no complaints about not finding a job,” Dr. Suparti stated.
Interestingly, the event also encouraged UT students with micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (UMKM) to use the Career Fair as a platform to develop their businesses. The UT Career Fair 2025 was divided into four sessions over two days. On Thursday (8/7), session 1 had 472 participants and session 2 had 268. On Friday (8/8), session 3 had 223 participants and session 4 had 153. In total, 1,117 participants attended the four sessions over two days. “The enthusiasm from job seekers was extraordinary. There have been many layoffs. This career/job fair is expected to help people in their job search,” said the Director of UT Surabaya.
The high level of enthusiasm from visitors showed a great need for credible job information and direct access to well-known companies. In addition to opening job vacancies, many participating companies also offered walk-in interviews, speeding up the recruitment process. The participating companies came from diverse sectors such as banking, logistics, manufacturing, technology, cosmetics, education, and property.
Beyond recruitment, UT also enriched the Career Fair with four inspiring career seminars that provided participants with crucial insights on how to pass HR selections, build personal branding, and explore international career opportunities. Eight selected companies also had the chance to introduce their business profiles, work culture, and strategic positions.
Aligning with SDGs
The UT Career Fair 2025 was not just a job-seeking event but also a learning space to understand the evolving dynamics of the workforce. UT’s values of inclusivity, flexibility, and leveraging technology were once again demonstrated at this event as part of its real contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
This UT Career Fair 2025 is concrete proof that education at Universitas Terbuka does not stop at graduation but continues with empowering graduates by strengthening their connection with the business and industrial world. UT will continue to provide programs that are responsive to future needs, while also being an active partner in producing a young Indonesian generation that is ready to compete, be productive, and have a wide-ranging impact on society.
