FROM ENROLLMENT TO EMPLOYMENT

FROM ENROLLMENT TO EMPLOYMENT

Dear Mr. President: I am writing you about the long journey that Filipino students must make from enrollment to employment, and how difficult it is for them to arrive at their destination, and that is a stable job, while having a good career or profession. As it is now, that journey is fragmented, and they are bound to encounter problems in every fragment, and there is no one to help them with those problems, more often than not.

According to human resources expert Ms. Deanne Hernandez, it is possible to plan the entire journey of students from the time that they are enrolled in the schools, to the time that they are assigned to temporary engagements as part of “on the job” (OJT) programs. Ms. Hernandez was quick to clarify that these should be real OJT programs with actual work to do, and not the bogus “programs” where the students are just assigned to make coffee and to photocopy documents.

When I was the Department Manager of the Information Technology Systems Department (ITSD) of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), we implemented honest-to-goodness OJT programs for graduating Information and Communications (ICT) students. As a result, they were able to learn new skills that they were not able to acquire in school, such as software programming, systems analysis, database management, hardware repair and website development.

According to Hernandez, what is important is to place these students as OJT program participants in the right prospective employers. Once they are working in these companies even as temporary “employees”, it is already up to them to show their bosses what they are capable of doing. It is up to them to impress upon them that they are really worth hiring. In this connection, I have heard of many actual cases wherein the students are immediately hired by the companies after graduation, even skipping the interview processes already.

With the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) software, it is now possible to design parameters for algorithms that would make it very easy to choose possible employers for graduating students and vice versa, to make it very easy for the possible employers to choose the right applicants. As a matter of fact, if we can get actual data about what skills and characteristics that the prospective employers are looking for, then it is possible to customize the training and the preparation of these students so that they would have better chances of getting hired.

I am very sure that all prospective employers would want this organized OJT programs, because it would be very cost-efficient for them, considering that they will be able to save a lot of money that they usually spend for help wanted ads. Add to that the high cost of attrition, as they are forced to fire employees who fail to pass their standards after their temporary employment periods.

Mr. President, it is often said that it is up to the graduating students to look for their own jobs after they get out of school. While that may be true, there are many ways that the government could help, especially with your intervention. With the right instructions coming from you, all the prospective employers will rally behind you to make it easy for graduating students to get matched to the right jobs, as soon as possible. IKE SENERES/09-22-2024

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PHILIPPINE INCLUSIVE SYSTEM FOR COLLEGE ENTRY OF STUDENTS

 PHILIPPINE INCLUSIVE SYSTEM FOR COLLEGE ENTRY OF STUDENTS My advocacy partner Mr. Roi Baluyot and I have created the Philippine Inclusive System for College Entry of Students (PISCES), for the purpose of making it easier for prospective students from the marginalized sectors to enter any of the State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) that are located all over the Philippines. Although tuition is free in these SUCs, many prospective students find it difficult to proceed, because of possible expenses that they could not afford, such as books, learning materials, snacks, board and lodging, specifically for dormitory fees if they are from out of town. This idea started when Mr. Baluyot informed me that there are some UP alumni groups in the United States who are concerned about the fact that the the majority of the students who are presently enrolled in the UP campuses right now are mostly coming from the upper classes. That reality defeats the purpose of UP becoming a "university of ...
Read more

PREPARING FOR USAID PROJECT WITHDRAWALS

PREPARING FOR USAID PROJECT WITHDRAWALS The recent foreign policy shifts under returning U.S. President Donald Trump have significantly impacted global development aid, including USAID’s programs in the Philippines. With the United States reassessing its foreign assistance policies, it is almost certain that USAID funding for the Philippines will be reduced . This could lead to the slowdown—or even the complete shutdown—of various projects that have been instrumental in supporting economic development, governance, health, education, and infrastructure in the country. A Call for Proactive Government Action The Philippine government cannot afford to wait until the last minute to respond. The potential withdrawal of USAID projects must be addressed now , not when funding officially stops. A well-planned transition strategy is necessary to prevent gaps in critical services and ensure that the country’s development momentum is not disrupted. Steps the Government Must Take Immediate...
Read more

TELEMEDICINE AT THE GRASSROOTS LEVEL

 TELEMEDICINE AT THE GRASSROOTS LEVEL Marinduque Governor Presby Velasco has a wonderful plan to make telemedicine available to all the 218 Barangay Health Units (BHUs) in his island province, and I am very happy to help him with the project as his Information and Communications Technology (ICT) consultant.  Although the technology for telemedicine is already available in the market, it appears that no province has yet implemented a province wide telemedicine project that could connect patients from the grassroots level to the doctors at the municipal halls and the provincial capitol. By doing that, Governor Velasco will be able to achieve the goal of providing universal access to healthcare to everyone in his province. Although the project might appear to be complex, it is actually designed with a simple plan that would make it easy to implement. The one part of the plan is to install internet connectivity in each of the BHUs, using satellite or fiber, depending on what is av...
Read more