The Manila Bulletin’s Classifieds Job Fair opens today at the Activity Center of the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City, aiming to address rising unemployment rates and bring eager, qualified job seekers closer to their goal of securing gainful employment.
“The hope is to contribute to the employment rate among our fellow Filipinos,” said Manila Bulletin Manager for Metro Manila branches Antonino F. Alejandro.
Earlier this month, results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that the number of unemployed Filipinos in the second quarter of the year increased by is up by about 300,000.
At least 40 companies from the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Information Technology (IT), investment, banking, real estate, retail, manufacturing, sales, manpower and recruitment industries will be offering employment opportunities for qualified applicants during the two-day event.
ADVICE FROM CAREER EXPERTS
To further inspire applicants joining thejob fair, industry experts Ivy Rose Villanueva and Nancy Mendiola were invited to share tips on getting how to land a dream job and develop a career track.
Villanueva is the president and CEO of Vista Center for Professional Development while Mendiola is an organizational adviser at People Ignite, Inc. Both have been resource speakers at the Manila Bulletin job fairs before.
Mendiola discussed personality branding among job seekers in the Sta. Rosa, Laguna late last year. Villanueva, on the other hand, was one of the speakers during the July leg held in Mandaluyong City.
Villanueva said job fairs have transformed over the years.
“Job fairs have become more interesting,” she noted. In the past job fairs were confined in a small venue and are relatively ‘quiet’. “Now, especially with this Manila Bulletin initiative, you have speakers, you provide tips,” Villanueva said. “It’s different when they read it on paper or in books. It’s another when they hear these tips.”
‘BIGGER, BETTER’ JOB PORTAL
Aside from the job fairs, those who are always online can look forward to the revamped website of Classifieds Jobs (www.mbclassifiedjobs.com), rolling out anytime soon.
“Both employers and job seekers can expect an enhanced homepage,” said Manila Bulletin Classifieds Job Online Product Head Dante Mijares.
The changes will cover not just the site’s interface but also its content, security features and job-matching capabilities—all of which are expected to boost its growth.
The website’s job posting per day surged to 128 percent in the last three months while the number of companies advertising their job openings grew to 26 percent in the last two months.
“Our registered job seekers also increased six percent within a month,” Mijares added.
Together with the job advertisements published on print, the online job portal has complemented MB’s job fairs.
Such is the case of former seafarer Rommel Valenzuela, who learned about the job fair through MB’s online job portal a few hours before he went to last month’s job fair.
He was among those who were hired on the spot as a customer service representative in a BPO company.
The job fair is the fifth to be conducted this year by the nation’s leading newspaper.