“APF had never been my goal,” said Bowo while reminiscing about his early days working at APF. After graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1997, Bowo tried his luck by joining a mining company in Sidoarjo, East Java. Not even a year passed at work, and Bowo was forced to rethink and revisit his career plan as his mother, who was residing in Yogyakarta, fell ill. Bowo had no choice but to return home to look after his mother as the eldest son. “One fine afternoon, I was told there was a vacancy (at APF). Because the distance between Kendal and Yogyakarta is not that far, I decided to apply, but I still had in my mind that this (working at APF) would only be a temporary job until my mom recovered,” recalls Bowo. He was first placed as a Supervisor at a spinning production facility, which was still a project under commissioning. He proved to be one of the brightest employees in the organization during this period. One step at a time, Bowo started building his career at APF. He earned his first promotion as Superintendent, he continued to rise to Manager in 2015, then Deputy General Manager in 2018, and recently he was promoted to General Manager. Bowo believes that what is written in the job description is the minimum requirement of job responsibilities.

“If we want to grow, we must tread the extra mile, going beyond the base,” he said. Although not all of the hard work will be noticed by others, his sincerity in working is the best consolation. “Do your best! Smartly, and sincerely, and your career will grow smoothly,” he concluded.