Pengalaman Internship di Bank Dunia sebagai Short Term Consultant (STC)

I was excited because my spring semester was about to finish. While I was very busy studying to prepare for my final exam, I repeatedly checked the World Bank’s website to discover internship opportunities. Working in a prestigious international organization like the World Bank has been a dream since I was young. The most compelling thing is the World Bank’s programs help development in the world concerning women, children, economic development, poverty reduction, disabilities, and democracy especially in developing countries including in Indonesia. Having a desire to be involved in the World Bank’s development programs, in my spare time at school I found time to check for internship at the World Bank that correspond with my working experiences and my education background. I discovered a job vacancy as a Short Term Consultant (STC) for four months at Governance Global Practice (GGODR) working on decentralization and local government at the headquarters in Washington DC. Before I applied for the job, I spent time learning about World Bank unit that offered the job, for instance, application procedure, requirements, responsibilities, and skills needed to meet the job requirements. Then, I went to the career center at Western Michigan University (WMU) so that I could get help with compiling documents needed such as CV, cover letter, and how to fill in the online application.

I was happy because the career center staffs were helpful in the whole process.  After completed everything, I had to communicate with my advisor inMasters of International Development Administration (MIDA) and my former supervisor when I was working in Indonesia for my references. Some days after my application, I got an email from the selection committee that I am a potential candidate for the position. They advised me to prepare required documents such as passport, university support letter etc. and wait for the final decision. Finally, I got a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) as a Short Term Consultant (STC) at Governance Global Practice (GGODR) in the Latin American and Caribbean Unit, working on a decentralization and local government project in Indonesia for three months.

During my consultancy, I helped the teams in translating the World Bank’s assessment instruments that will be used to assess local government performance. The tools’ aim was to assess the local government capacity in terms of transparency, public financial management, participation, procurement, and public investment. My team and I also carried out research on the regulation of the Indonesian government regarding the issues and adjusted the instruments to make it compatible with Indonesia. The World Bank’s instruments has been implemented in Latin American countries such as Brazil, Columbia, etc. and the program and the tools will also be implemented in Indonesia. The opportunity that was given to me was very useful because it is in line  with my working experiences, my major at WMU, my program, and professional goals. Additionally, I have had the chance to participate in numerous international conferences lead by the World Bank in terms of sharing experiences with other governments such as Brazil, Guatemala, and Portugal concerning their strategies, challenges and successful stories to realize good governance especially in transparency, public procurement, poverty reduction, gender empowerment etc. in their countries.

Photo Credit: www.rappler.com and personal collection.