MANILA, Philippines – Thousands headed to the labor department’s Independence Day job fairs across the country on Tuesday, June 12, some of them braving rainy weather to seek employment.

As of 1 pm, a total of 4,162 Filipinos went to the fairs in various areas in the Philippines. Of the figure, 1,219 applied for local jobs while 1,318 sought overseas work.

Christina Malbas, 20, was among those headed to the Rizal Park job fair in Manila despite heavy rains. Her effort paid off – she got hired on the spot as a promo specialist for retail company Fineco Management.

Malbas said she did not encounter any difficulties at the job fair, though she applied for 3 other companies before Fineco hired her.

“Okay naman po. Naasikaso naman po [at] mabilis naman (It was okay. I was attended to. It was quick),” she said.

Malbas learned about the job fair when she initially asked for job openings at Fineco’s Facebook page. She said she arrived at Rizal Park past noon, and got hired a little after 1 pm.

“May anak po ako kailangan ko po ng trabaho. Kaya kung gusto niyo mag-trabaho, puwede naman kayo mag-apply. Nasa sa inyo naman ‘yon kung willing kayo [dahil may opportunities naman],” Malbas said.

(I have a child so I need a job. If you want to work, you can apply. It’s up to you if you are willing because there are opportunities such as this.)

Malbas is among the 184 applicants hired on the spot in the nationwide job fairs.

James Mecate, 26, had yet to land a job at the fair when Rappler talked to him early Tuesday afternoon. He said he hoped to land a  job in the government uniformed  service, but was also looking for jobs with an accounting background.

“Dito, mafi-feel mo talaga kung posible ka na matanggap o hindi kasi one-day processing lang. ‘Pag direct kasi, one week malalaman mo na (Here, you can know if it’s possible for you to get hired or not because it’s only one-day processing. If [through] direct [application], you have to wait a week for the results),” he said.

Mecate is currently employed in technical support in a business process outsourcing (BPO) company, where he is on night shift. He said he wants have a day job.

“I’m confident that I will be hired here given my background. I just have to give what it takes,” he said.

Vacancies

About 125,000 job vacancies from 621 employers across the country were open for applicants at the Independence Day fairs –  jobs in construction, retail, military and police, and health care.

Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) director Dominique Tutay noted that employers value the applicants’ attitude, aside from skills.

“More than education and skills, employers also look at the attitude of the jobseeker. With the volume of work, they need someone who can work well in a stressful environment. Jobseekers’ values and attitudes are very material to employers,” she said.

She added that labor officials anticipated lower numbers at this year’s fair, because of the heavy rains due to the monsoon.

According to the labor department, 1,649 people were deemed qualified for the posts they applied for, while 2,132 people had been interviewed as of 1 pm on Tuesday.

Over 2,000 people were hired during last year’s Independence Day job fairs.

A total of 19 sites around the country have conducted job fairs, while Eastern Visayas and Caraga regions will have theirs on Friday, June 15. 

Tuesday’s figures were significantly lower than the Labor Day job fairs, which were attended by almost 35,000 applicants around the Philippines. – Rappler.com