INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 01, JANUARY 2020 ISSN 2277-8616 443 IJSTR©2020 www.ijstr.org Measuring The Effectiveness Of Online Personal Branding Program For Job Seekers To Improve The Intention Of Developing Digital Reputation Abdul Haris Fitri Anto, Sugiyarta Stanislaus, Sugiariyanti, Amri Hana Muhammad, Chamila Ahda Soraya Rahma Abstract: Today employment providers consider the digital reputation of job applicants as one aspect in evaluating the suitability of applicants with the position for which they are applying. Therefore, it is important for every job applicant to develop a digital reputation. The purpose of this study is to measure the effectiveness of online personal branding (OPB) training in increasing the intention to develop a digital reputation among job applicants. This research was conducted with the pretest-posttest experimental design method without a control group. By involving 21 experiments from job seekers, the OPB training focused on aspects of the person, paper, and internet. The online personal branding intention questionnaire (KIOPB) consisting of aspects of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control was used as an instrument to collect pretest-posttest data. Overall, paired t-test results indicate that the intention of job applicants has increased significantly. This means that OPB training has succ eeded in increasing the intention of job seekers to build a digital reputation for the success of applying for a job. The findings and limitations of the study are further discussed in the article. Index Trems: Job seekers, online personal branding, digital reputation, millenials ———————————————————— 1. INTRODUCTION The labor market in Indonesia has recently experienced an interesting dynamic. Not only concerning the number of job seekers, but also concerning new methods used to present themselves and convince job providers. Nationally, every year, the number of job seekers in Indonesia is higher than the number of job vacancies and job seekers engaged in the world of work. Data collected by Kurniawan [7] states, in 2016 there were 1.4 million more job seekers in Indonesia and only 742 thousand were occupied in employment. Previously, in 2013, there were one million job seekers in Indonesia and only absorbed 409 thousand jobs. This means that there is a relatively tight competition between job seekers to get the coveted job. These competitions are generally responded by preparing themselves well in applying for a job. The application letter and curriculum vitae are displayed in such a way as to be considered by agencies providing job vacancies. However, as time has changed, a job application letter and several pages of curriculum vitae are not quite interesting to get the job providers’ attention. Today, job applicants, as well as job vacancies, involve internet support to gain work or find workers. It is undeniable, the 4.0 industrial revolution driven by the presence of the Internet has changed many ways of thinking and acting in society. Included in the dynamics of the labor market, the internet is the basis for the emergence of new standards. The quality of the internet to store and provide big data for job seekers and job providers has changed the behavior of the labor market. Job seekers, on one side, the internet provides quick access to find out which jobs are matched with their qualifications. Job providers, on the other side, the internet is a quick tool to socialize job openings. So inevitably, due to its rapid nature and transcending geographical and territorial boundaries, the internet has become a strategic place for meeting the demand and supply of the labor market. Beyond its strategic function in the labor market, the internet with the quality of big data stores such as vast information, including personal information of job applicants (recruitee). Especially over the past decade, social media such as Facebook, blog networks, and messengers have become a global phenomenon as well as increasingly personal – particularly for millennials who were born and grew as the internet evolved. It is almost certain that information about them is available on the Internet. So it is not surprising that today the recruitment providers are trying to get the recruitment information not only from people and curriculum vitae but also based on their digital footprint scattered on the internet [8]. Brooks and Anumudu [2] state that today, to convince recruiters, recruitees not only require personal branding on 1) people and 2) paper, but also 3) the internet. That is, to convince recruiters, job seekers are no longer sufficient to rely on their attributes or life history, but they need to manage their digital reputation too. At present, the third point has become a trend among job providers. Ideally, from the perspective of job seekers, they can use the internet to upload information or content that will increase the interest of job providers. But the motivation of each person to move in cyberspace cannot be limited by one goal. Likely, job seekers do not associate their uploads on social media with their interests in finding work. Our preliminary survey data shows that 56% (n: 366, of psychology alumni in Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES) who are looking for work) do not know that job providers employ social media such as Facebook and Twitter to figure out information about recruitees and investigate their personalities. It is surprising considering the characteristics of these respondents are millennials who are familiar with gadgets and the internet. Furthermore, respondents who were aware of the contribution of the internet and social media, 78% had no intention of managing their digital reputation and tended to upload information of their own volition. This behavior is contrary to the results of our preliminary interviews with four UNNES psychology alumni who work as recruitments. According to them, in addition to examining the personal attributes and curriculum vitae of recruitees, they also sought information about recruitees in ————————————————  Abdul Haris Fitri Anto is a lecturer in the Psychology Department of Education Faculty of Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES), Indonesia who concern about identity and group relationship issues. E-mail: abdul.haris@mail.unnes.ac.id / abdul.haris.psi@gmail.com