By Immanuel Jay Avelino

In keeping with its mission of bringing the best opportunities to all Filipinos, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Job Creation, JobsDB Philippines Inc and Microsoft Philippines launched the Microsoft Career Day 2006 at the SM City Cebu Trade Hall last May 26-27, 2006.

The Microsoft Career Day 2006 caters not just to the IT professionals but also to the fresh graduates who will be joining the workforce soon. Philmarie Kay Mosanto, 20, is among the hundreds of fresh IT graduates who are still on their search for the best opportunities. “I believe that this job fair will give an opportunity to the fresh IT graduates to prove that we have the ability to compete with others in terms of knowledge and talents,” Philmarie said.

With thousands of IT job openings from more than 30 companies, the Microsoft Career Day 2006 has set itself as an IT job fair that is at par with global standards, is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, and at the same time, is jobseeker friendly.

“This job fair is special because of its online component which makes it world-class. We organized this fair here in Cebu because we want the Cebuanos to realize the benefits of JobsDB and we want them to maximize the features of our website for them to find the perfect job that will suit their skills,” Ms. Jayjay Viray, General Manager of JobsDB Philippines said.

Some of the companies took advantage of the approximately 2,000 jobseekers who attended by conducting initial interviews with the applicants. Mr. Harry Tiu of Xcomp Sales and Services Inc. conducted about 50 interviews during the two-day event and scheduled some of them for initial exams the week after. Like Mr. Tiu, Ms. Nina Kwan of Xlibris has listed hundreds of applicants for initial exams one week after the event.

JobsDB’s virtual job-hunting component played an integral part in the success of the Microsoft Career Day. Different people from all walks of life could easily apply in just a few minutes by registering, creating their resumes, surfing for jobs, and sending applications online. “Basically, the job fair is well organized. It has achieved its goal of gathering the IT professionals and graduates. The application is really quick since all the applicants are encouraged to submit their resumes online,” Ms. Jeanette Davis of TMX Phils. Inc said.

The good thing about the virtual component is that it doesn’t stop even after the event proper. Presidential Adviser on Job Creation Sec Arthur Yap was very much pleased to know that the registration would still go on even after the fair, “I remember JobsDB telling me na hindi nagtatapos yan today, ‘pag nagsarado yung job fair tuloy-tuloy pa rin yan, they can access their computers, you can continue logging in since JobsDB has 50,000 job openings in their website.”

Jobseeker Mrs. Marites Tabancura was hesitant at first when she saw hundreds of fresh graduates entering the hall. She admitted, “Mas mukhang lamang yata sila (fresh graduates) kaysa sa akin kasi mas alam nila ang latest sa IT. Pero sa job fair na ‘to nakita ko na may ability rin ako na makipagsabayan sa kanila [The fresh graduates had the advantage over me because they knew a lot more about IT. But in this job fair, I saw that I had the chance to compete with them on a level playing field].” When asked about her expectations after the job fair, the 34-year-old applicant bluntly replied that opening the right door and taking a chance was more important than expecting a guaranteed job, “I just want to grab this opportunity, baka nandito ang fortune ko[because fortune might give me a good hand].”

The Microsoft Career Day Cebu also became a one-stop shop to the companies who are in search of the most qualified applicants who will fit their requirements. “The fair is really organized and very high-tech. At first we were not expecting it to be really jam-packed. Most of the applicants, even those who are just fresh graduates, have enough competencies for us to consider their applications,” said Ms. Queenie Ribagorda of Aboitiz & Co. Inc.

Microsoft Philippines said the company wanted to bring the best job openings and trainings to the IT jobseekers of the Visayas region. “We have allotted a very considerable amount of money to provide trainings to our brothers and sisters not just in Manila but also here in Cebu to have access to technology and create job opportunities for them right after they receive their certification,” said Mr. Antonio Javier, General Manager of Microsoft Philippines.

Mr. Boy Bawal, Corporate Director of Microsoft Cebu, encouraged the attendees to never stop looking for the best opportunities even if they graduated from schools in Cebu that may be small in scale and number.  “I want you to realize how lucky you are to be in this job fair to present yourself to the different companies,” Mr. Bawal said during the Opening Ceremonies. “During my time we did not have this kind of job fair. I graduated from an unknown school in Batangas and before I became the corporate director of Microsoft Cebu, I worked as an accounting clerk for a company. With this, I want you to realize that you can compete with graduates from big schools by maximizing the opportunities that are being catered to you.”

Microsoft Career Day Cebu has created a breakthrough for jobseekers in Cebu.  Hopefully, it will be the first of many partnerships among the three organizers.  Secretary Arthur Yap, Presidential Adviser on Job Creation indicated the trend for the future, “Half a million jobs are opening up this year but it’s not in the traditional sectors anymore, yung malaking growth will be in IT and services. The President has allotted five million pesos for trainings because we can not afford to let these opportunities slip away.”