The Manila Bulletin is holding the third leg of its Classifieds Job Fair today, Jan. 31, in SM City Trade Hall, Cebu City, with more than 15 companies expected to hire qualified applicants for various employment posts.
Merchandise company International Specialty Concepts leads the list of employers on the look out for new employees. The firm is the exclusive franchisee of a high-end Spanish brand here in the country. Aside from retail, job seekers can try out their luck in industries such as BPO/KPO, insurance, corporate foundation and sales.
Earlier this month the Manila Bulletin held successful job fairs in Baguio City and Quezon City. The first MB job fair in Baguio City had 13 companies participating and at least 73 applicants hired on the spot. Last year, six job fairs were held in Metro Manila and two in Pampanga and Laguna. This is the second time the MB Job Fair is being held in the “Queen City of the South.” The first was in 2013.
Manila Bulletin Vice President for Classified Ads Department Lyne Abanilla said: “The success of the job fairs last year really inspired us to do more this year,” she said. “We want our readers, job seekers, partners and employers to look forward to our activities.”
She also hopes to hear more stories of those “gainfully employed” through MB’s job fairs. Almost 16,000 job hunters went to the different job fairs last year. “More than 1,600 were hired,” she said.
This year MB will have 13 job fairs—10 of which will be in Metro Manila and the rest in select provinces.
ONLINE PRESENCE
Like in the previous legs, job seekers who can present the Express Pass from the issue of the Manila Bulletin newspaper will be given priority to enter the Trade Hall of SM City. At the same time, those who registered via the online job portal www.mbclassifiedjobs.com, can bring a printed copy of their confirmation letter and use it as a pass.
An added platform for the classified ad clients of MB, the online job portal seeks to provide precise job-matching capabilities. Registrants now have access to the site 24/7.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has partnered with MB for its online information campaign. Just recently MB and DOLE signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to allow the users of mbclassifiedjobs.com, Manila Bulletin online, and its social media platforms to access DOLE’s Labor and Employment Education Services (LEES).
SOFT SKILLS
Meanwhile, at the recently-concluded MB Job Fair held in SM North EDSA Skydome in Quezon City, image and etiquette consultant Ana Roces said more companies now recognize the importance of soft skills in hiring and retaining employees.
“Companies realize that aside from the technical skills, employees also need to represent their companies…in how they dress themselves, behave, how they communicate…,” the actress said, adding that this is the reason why the image consultancy industry “is growing”. Soft skills refer the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that characterize relationships with other people.
To achieve all these, she said it is important for job seekers to prepare, especially when it comes to communicating oneself.
“I get feedback from sourcing officers who said the number one problem that job applicants face is communicating in English. People are not pronouncing the words well, they are not confident, they stutter—it is obvious that they are nervous,” she added. She said these “nuances” hinder jobseekers from getting the job. “It’s not even the credentials.”
Roces put up Image Matters Consultancy after completing a course on Image Mastery under Karen Brunger, a certified Image Professional of The International Image Institute in Ontario, Canada. A member of The Association of Image Consultants International (AICI), Roces holds a certification to teach Corporate Etiquette from The Etiquette School of New York.