Certification is the part of a GRC career with the clearest path. There is a syllabus, an exam date, and a pass mark. What comes before it (should I start, and in which direction?) and what comes after it (now what?) is far less clear, and most people work that out alone.
That gap is why I’m building the ISACA Indonesia Chapter’s first mentorship program, as part of the Certification Office.
Why an ISACA Indonesia Mentorship Program, and Why Now
A chapter that only runs events and exam prep serves members at the moment of the exam. A mentorship program serves them across the longer stretch around it. It helps newcomers choose a direction, helps certified members use what they earned, and gives experienced practitioners a structured way to give back. For the chapter, that means stronger member engagement and a clearer path from interested candidate to certified member to active contributor.
I’m grateful that the Certification Office Director and the Chapter President backed the idea from the start.
What the Pilot Looks Like: ISACA Indonesia Mentorship Program
The first cohort is a three-month pilot with three tracks running side by side:
- Track A: one-on-one mentoring. A longitudinal pairing between a mentor and a mentee, built around a conversation that continues over the full three months rather than a single session.
- Track B: group sharing for university students. Students are early in the pipeline and need exposure to the field more than a deep pairing, so this track runs as group sessions.
Different people need different things at different stages, and a single format would fit none of them well.
Why a Pilot, and What We’ll Measure: ISACA Indonesia Mentorship Program
Three months is too short to claim long-term outcomes such as promotions or exams passed, so we won’t. The pilot measures activation: whether participants took a concrete next step because of the program, such as starting a certification path, changing their approach to a career decision, or building a connection they would not otherwise have made. If those signals are real, they justify extending and scaling the program. If they aren’t, a pilot is the cheapest place to learn that.
I’ll share what we learn from the pilot here, including what doesn’t work.
About Me
William Chandra is an IT GRC and data protection professional with years across Big 4 assurance, hypergrowth e-commerce, and OJK-licensed financial services. He holds CISA, CISM, CRISC, and ISO 27001:2022 Lead Auditor certifications and serves on the executive team of ISACA Indonesia’s Certification Office.
Connect with me on Linkedin or read more about IT GRC here.
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