Can you be

HIRED?

Bumhoou is out of the question foi these upbeat young Pinoys
who aie paving theii caieei paths with positivity anu piiue
uespite unemployment iates iising

Twenty-four year old Phidelle took up four
years of nursing at the University of Santo
Tomas, recognized by the Commission on
Higher Education as a center of excellence and
among the top nursing schools in the country
for decades now. A product of batch 2009, he
hasnt had the chance to work as an income-
generating nurse up to now. He did, however,
receive professional training right after
graduation, but only because he bought this
particular opportunity for a price.
Today, while having a hard time getting the
right chance to become a full-time nurse,
Phidelle easily found an opportunity to work as
a call center agent. Like him, there are many
more young Filipinos waiting on the sidelines
who remain patient and optimistic, knowing
fully well that theyll fulfill their career dreams
someday, if not soon.
Others, like 21-year-old Nicole, try their luck
abroad. The fresh graduate from De La Salle
University who took up a double major in
Applied Economics and Business Management
currently enjoys traveling while looking for
internship opportunities in the United States. I
want to gain more experience before I start
looking for a job in the Philippines, she says. I
want to have a job that I really like. I would also
want it to be related to my course since I dont
want to be underemployed. Im not expecting
to be paid high since Im a fresh graduate.
Luckily for Nicole, she has received a handful of
calls from possible local employers through the
assistance of her university. It also helps that
she has a course thats well in demand. The only
problem she has now is that the companies
need her services as soon as possible.
The Department of Labor and Employment
Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz shared to
incoming college students in one of their
events: Hundreds of thousands of Filipino
students will enroll the year and my advice to
them is to decide on a course or study that will
land them the jobs after graduation. They
should go for careers that the labor market
needs and not because the career is in vogue or
popular.
For those who are less lucky, they opt to search
greener pastures in developed counties. In a
survey done by global research-based
consultancy group Gallup.com, responses of
young people ages 15-29 on where they would
like to migrate were tracked. Among the top
countries the youth would flock to aside from
US are other developed nations such as Canada,
Australia and Singapore. The Southeast Asian
country, with its population of five million,
remains to be a haven even for young and
educated Filipinos who dont want to be too far
away from home.
Twenty-two year old Angelyn who took up
Journalism and graduated with honors from
UST also thought about taking chances abroad
by sending her resume to different publications
via online recruitment. Luckily, 2 months after
graduating last year, she scored a promising job
in the public relations industry within the
metro. At present, she has been enjoying her
work for almost one year in the country. Her tip
to the unemployed? Maximize online leads.
I sent my resumes online. Its good if you
already have a specific job that you want to
apply for because it will make your job hunting
easier and it wont consume much time,
Angelyn stressed.
Based on recent information shared by the
National Statistics office, the youth sector
(Filipinos who are 15-24 years old), account for
almost half of the countrys unemployed; 3 out
of every 5 were male. The National Capital
Region remains to have the lowest employment
rate.
With every new administration and every new
year that come along, the government
continues to struggle with generating enough
jobs and improving domestic employment
conditions. However, jobs sites like jobsDB.com
offers 11,900 unique jobs daily, encouraging the
tech-savvy youth to use their penchant for
online networking to find the right fit of a job
based on result matches offered by the site.
Despite issues on overpopulation, slow
employment growth and the rise of
unemployment cases, young Filipinos remain
upbeat. When asked whether reports on low
employment rates affect her, 21-year-old
Joanne who is a fresh graduate from the
University of the Philippines Baguio with a
Degree in Social Sciences replies with so much
positivity: Perseverance beast low
employment rates! She advices fellow newbies
and others who remain unemployed to keep
their faith as she adds, Always put your best
foot forward. Sent out as many applications as
you can. Any work is better than no work at all.
Whether through job sites, company websites,
mail or actual resume submissions and walk-in
applications, determined young Filipinos will
find what their looking with enough will power,
skill and most important of all, optimism. Good
vibs have always led to greater things especially
for the young dreamers who follow their hearts
desire and who keep their goals in life insight,
which make them easier to reach.