Employers now claim that aside from an applicant’s attitude or work ethic, they also place more consideration on communication skills and analytical thinking as top considerations when hiring fresh college graduates.
This inclination toward interpersonal and 21st century skills has emerged as JobStreet.com Philippines, the country’s largest online job portal, conducted a survey involving 503 employers from various parts of the country in February 2018 as part of its annual Fresh Graduate Report.
These results reflect a marked shift compared to 2015’s top determinants which are experience-based qualifications — on-the-job training, extra-curricular activities, and part-time work experience, which now see themselves in the bottom ranks.
Furthermore, when respondents were asked to rate particular qualities they observed on their fresh graduate hires, factors such as task management efficiency, leadership potential, customer empathy, and analysis of situations averaged the lowest.
These ratings further reflect the preference of employers in hiring candidates who have already developed interpersonal and 21st century proficiencies despite being new to the workforce.
Top School Preferences Maintained
But despite these marked changes, employers maintain their opinions on a topic most find traditional: the schools where the hired applicants graduated from. This year, when asked if they have reasons for sourcing employees from particular institutions, employers pointed out that they believe in the schools’ reputation of producing quality graduates and eventual employees.
The top three most preferred schools by most employers surveyed are Polytechnic University of the Philippines, University of the Philippines, and Ateneo de Manila University. The inclusion of two schools outside of Metro Manila — University of San Carlos (#8) and University of Cebu (#9) also marks the first time tertiary institutions not located in the National Capital Region make their appearance in the top ten list since 2014 .
Increased salaries, opportunities
The report also indicates that fresh college graduates can expect an abundant job market this year. In the last quarter of 2017 alone, employers were bullish with 52,149 jobs available to fresh graduates—a 10% increase from 2016’s 47,339.
The national average salary for fresh graduates remains to be attractive at nearly Php20,000. The average of Php19,785 in the last quarter of 2017 shows a slight increase from 2016’s Php19,437.
According to JobStreet.com, law graduates remain to be the best-paid among the lot, with an average monthly salary of Php27,355. This is followed by fresh graduates who take on roles in public relations/communications, with an average monthly salary of Php24,675, and those who specialize in creating content (i.e. content writer, foreign language content translator, and junior technical writer), with an average monthly salary of Php22,446. Thus, the highest paid are more aligned towards content and communication-related jobs.
“This shows that more and more employers are opening their doors to fresh graduates, presenting a significant shift in what employers need in these increasingly digital world,” concludes Philip Gioca, JobStreet.com Philippines Country Manager.
A new crop of fresh graduates: K-12
It has been five years since the K-12 program was implemented, and the first batch of graduates from this system are set to join the workforce this year. The survey revealed that 25% of employers are willing to hire, while 40% are indefinite about hiring K-12 graduates. The 40% indefinite employers said they are still evaluating or will eventually hire pending definite timelines.
For employers who are open, the survey affirms this as a number of industries have been identified as the most willing to hire K-12 graduates: BPO, manufacturing, professional services, retail, and machinery and equipment; for entry level jobs in administrative, customer service, sales and marketing.
With this non-committal attitude of employers, Mr. Gioca advises the newest entrants of the job market to be more discerning and strategic on their career planning. “There are indeed employers that are receptive to hiring them, but they have to contend with two factors: One, that not all employers are accepting of K-12 graduates as of the moment and two, they will have to compete with fresh college graduates, which employers may favor more, for the same jobs they are eyeing,” he pointed out.
In terms of salary, K-12 graduates may find themselves sufficiently paid, as 50% of respondents said that they are willing to pay their K-12 fresh graduate hires more than the minimum wage.
2018 is poised to be a good year in the Philippine job market, with both employers and talents expressing an optimistic view in relation to their hiring and job search activities, according to this year’s JobStreet.com Job Outlook Report.
The report, now on its second year, asked companies of their job market outlook in 2018. On a 7-point scale, employers averaged a 5.01 showing an increase in outlook optimism versus 2017, while candidates maintain their optimism at 4.68.
This positive sentiment among employers and candidates is backed by indications of increased hiring and job-hunting activity, as 95% of Philippine companies claim to be expanding, hiring more personnel, and maintaining their hiring rate, while 88% of talents will be either monitoring the job market or applying for jobs in 2018.
Confidence among employers is also seen in the increase in job postings, which experienced a 14% increase year-on year and is driven by growth in the top three hiring industries – call center/IT-enabled services, retail, and manufacturing.
While candidates also managed to display a more positive outlook, they expressed concerns about their job-hunting journey, saying that increased competition in their fields and diversification of skills and jobs are most likely to happen, signifying that searching and applying for good job opportunities may be more challenging to them this year.
The study also revealed another cause for candidates to be more active in searching for better opportunities this year – the benefits they most prefer are not necessarily offered to them by their present employers.
Close to 80% of candidates pointed to health and medical insurance for themselves and their dependents, but only 52% claim to enjoy it. On the other hand, 86% listed family care leave as their most desired form of time-off, but only 13% enjoy this type of leave benefit. “While more candidates see themselves to be more participative in the job market this year, companies are also foreseeing robust hiring activity, which means the competition to attract and retain top talent will be more vigorous. What will make or break employers this year is how attentive and primed they are to address the emerging needs of employees,” said JobStreet.com Philippines Country Manager Philip Gioca.
About JobStreet.com
JobStreet.com is a leading online job board presently covering the employment markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. JobStreet.com currently services over 230,000 corporate hirers and over 15 million jobseekers in its database.
About SEEK Asia JobStreet.com is part of SEEK Asia, which is the leading online employment market place in Asia. SEEK Asia covers 7 countries namely Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
SEEK Asia is the extension of the Australian Securities Exchange listed company called SEEK. The company’s purpose is to help improve people’s lives through a better career. SEEK Asia’s database consist of over 500,000 corporate hirers and over 24 million candidates.
JobStreet.com, the largest job site in the country, will be holding the 3rd Philippine Engineering Students Congress on March 9, 2018. As with the two previous editions, the congress will be held in the Quezon City campus of co-host, the Technological Institute of the Philippines.
This one-day affair highlights a Congress plenary that aims to help participating engineering students to prepare and successfully apply for jobs after graduation. The program will present topics such as the job market landscape for engineering students, insights on increasing employability and tips on successfully passing the board exam.
Heading these panel discussions are leading figures in the field of engineering. The event will also feature presentation of award-winning engineering incubation projects and an inter-school quiz bee.
The congress will also feature a day-long career fair which will be participated in by 20 top companies that have the opportunity to showcase their employer brand during the event.
Participating companies include:
Hitachi Elevator Philippines Corp.
Asian Institute of Management Inc.
Sunfish Asia Energy Solutions Inc.
Schneider Electric Logistics Asia Pte. Ltd. – Philippine Br.
Living Space
Global Elite Lingua Franca
Kalinisan Chemicals Corp.
ADP (Philippines) Inc.
Global Payments Process Inc., and
AMMEX I-Support Corporation
Philip Gioca, Country Manager, JobStreet.com Philippines
“Engineering has been among the top 10 most advertised and most in-demand specializations on JobStreet.com year-on-year. In the overseas front, the Engineering specialization is also highly in-demand.” Said Philip Gioca, Country Manager, JobStreet.com Philippines.
Gioca also cites WorkAbroad.ph’s 2017 Overseas Salary Report. “Engineering-related jobs make up 22% of the total number of overseas jobs posted between January and October 2017. It is also among the highest paid specializations abroad,” he said.
“We hold this congress every year to equip and inspire future engineers as they embark on their career journey,” Gioca concluded
The congress is open to all graduating engineering students across the country. Interested students who want to attend the congress may coordinate with their college deans or office of the president as invites have been sent to their office.
They may also pre-register at www.jobstreet.com.ph/en/cms/campus, where they can sign up for an account and choose the event. Meanwhile, interested companies that want to be featured in the various activities or participate in the career fair may contact their respective JobStreet account managers.
Armed with its mission of improving lives through better careers and the advocacy of a job for every Filipino, JobStreet.com, the country’s number 1 job site, takes part in Project Inclusion.
Joining the JobStreet.com contingent headed by Country Manager Philip Gioca (far left) are representatives of Unilab Foundation headed by Grant Javier (middle, in white), Project Inclusion’s Program Manager.
JobStreet.com, the no. 1 job site in the Philippines, has just released the results of its Top Companies 2017 survey. This year, there are new entrants in the top 10, changing the face of the annual list.
Utilities firms, for the first time, have broken into the list, with electric distribution company Meralco as the overall top preferred company of jobseekers and telecommunications company PLDT Inc. at number nine.
Food and beverage conglomerate San Miguel Corporation (SMC) takes second place while tech giant Google Philippines leapfrogs to third place from last year’s eighth. As for the rest of the previously unmovable top 3, wellness multinational Nestlé Philippines takes the fourth place while the foremost business process outsourcing in the country, Accenture, is in fifth.
The only Henry Sy-led company on the list this year and the lone financial institution in the top ten, BDO Unibank, is sixth this 2017. Consumer goods giant Procter and Gamble rises and is this year’s seventh and ABS-CBN Corporation, one of the Philippines’ leading media and entertainment company, is eighth this year.
Rounding up the top companies most of the Filipino workforce prefer to work is consumer goods multinational Unilever, which was last seen in the 2015 list now takes the tenth place this year.
Recognition expands to other strong employer brands
The Top Companies Report, now on its fourth edition, is expanding to give out special awards to category and regional winners. These companies, are bring recognized for their strong performance in their respective categories and areas.
Part of Jobstreet.com’s survey on which companies they aspire to be a part of is the question why they want to work in these firms.
Last year’s survey showed that a competitive basic salary is the primary reason when choosing a firm to work for whereas the candidates asked this year indicated that job security is the foremost reason for their consideration.
These choices indicate that professional Filipinos are more interested in the long-term gains, as factors that directly affect their professional lives such as career growth offerings and promotion, and career-enhancing training and development opportunities.
A strong leadership team that can mentor them in their professional trajectory are now more preferred, making it in the top 5 attributes of an aspirational company.
A total of 3,658 respondents participated in this year’s series of surveys that were sent out in May 2017. The respondents came from different position levels (predominantly junior executives and fresh graduates) and represented various specializations.
About JobStreet.com
JobStreet.com is a leading online job board presently covering the employment markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. JobStreet.com currently services over 230,000 corporate hirers and over 15 million jobseekers in its database.
About SEEK Asia
JobStreet.com is part of SEEK Asia, which is the leading online employment market place in Asia. SEEK Asia covers 7 countries namely Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
SEEK Asia is the extension of the Australian Securities Exchange listed company called SEEK. The company’s purpose is to help improve people’s lives through a better career. SEEK Asia’s database consist of over 500,000 corporate hirers and over 24 million candidates.
For more information about this article, or to schedule an interview with JobStreet.com Philippines, please contact: Mark Nichol Turija, Content Marketing Specialist at ma********@jo*******.com or give him a call at 286-6222.
Employers now claim that aside from an applicant’s attitude or work ethic, they also place more consideration on communication skills and analytical thinking as top considerations when hiring fresh college graduates.
JobStreet.com is a leading online job board presently covering the employment markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. JobStreet.com currently services over 230,000 corporate hirers and over 15 million jobseekers in its database.
This one-day affair highlights a Congress plenary that aims to help participating engineering students to prepare and successfully apply for jobs after graduation. The program will present topics such as the job market landscape for engineering students, insights on increasing employability and tips on successfully passing the board exam.
The congress will also feature a day-long career fair which will be participated in by 20 top companies that have the opportunity to showcase their employer brand during the event.
The congress is open to all graduating engineering students across the country. Interested students who want to attend the congress may coordinate with their college deans or office of the president as invites have been sent to their office.
Utilities firms, for the first time, have broken into the list, with electric distribution company 
Part of Jobstreet.com’s survey on which companies they aspire to be a part of is the question why they want to work in these firms.
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