What do we say to more than half a million Filipino college students who are graduating?
The real picture of our employment situation is harsh.
As of January 2014, the Philippine’s unemployment rate stands at 7.5 percent.
In spite of President Benigno Aquino III’s promise at the start of his term to convert migration for work from a need into a choice, the number of Filipinos leaving for overseas employment continues to rise.
There is some light in the darkness.
A GMA network report states that the fields always open to fresh graduates are business process outsourcing (BPO) and information-technology enabled services, and retail and merchandise.
Fresh graduates are also always welcome in manufacturing and production, food and beverage, catering and restaurant services, and property and real estate.
The catch is that many new diploma holders may need to endure for some time being underemployed, that is, taking jobs that do not necessarily match the degree they completed.
Graduation must be celebrated as the prize for four or five years of hard work that it is, but soon-to-be graduates must prepare themselves for the job hunt by updating their resumes and sharpening their interview skills.
Another option that graduates can take is going into business for themselves.
Institutes like the Technology in Business Incubator of the University of the Philippines nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of the young.
All practical matters considered, one message must resonate in the hearts of our graduates:
The country needs you.
So whether you enter civil service, work in a private company, run a business, stay here or go overseas, serve a cause far greater than self.
Take steps to help your motherland so that years from now you will see her in a better shape than she was when you graduated.
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