Career Interests Game

Everybody wonders what career fits their personality. This is most obvious for kids who are graduating from college. The immediate question then becomes what will I do after I graduate? In the Philippines a lot of kids end up unemployed. I guess this is now true for most parts of the world.

Many say it's not easy to get a job, and I agree that's true. But I also have a stand that it's really not that difficult either. It only becomes a burden when people are picky.

There are a lot of call center and BPO companies springing up in Cebu City, the options are almost limitless. The local newspaper has half their pages devoted to classified ads on weekends.

I tell you the less picky you are, the easier it is really to get a job.

Below is the career interests game by Dr. John L. Holland, the premise here is that there are 6 groups of individuals all of which have a specific quality that stands out. You may have a characteristic in common with some or all of them but if you were to join a group of radicals separated according to the characteristics below, who would you prefer first?

So the general idea is that after you choose, the choice will give you additional ways of checking out your career-related interests and getting involved in your career planning.

Realistic	Investigative	Artistic	Social	Enterprising	Conventional
People who have athletic or mechanical ability, prefer to work with objects, machines, tools, plants or animals, or to be outdoors.	People who like to observe,learn, investigate, analyze, evaluate or solve problems.	People who have artistic, innovating or intuitional abilities and like to work in unstructured situations using their imagination and creativity.	People who like to work with people to enlighten, inform, help, train, or cure them, or are skilled with words.	People who like to work with people, influencing, persuading, performing, leading or managing for organizational goals or economic gain.	People who like to work with data, have clerical or numerical ability, carry out tasks in detail or follow through on others' instructions.

This RIASEC model of occupations is the copyrighted work of Dr. John L. Holland, and his publisher, Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. (PAR). For an assessment of your career interests, contact the MU Career Center to complete a Self-Directed Search, or take it online.

Source: http://career.missouri.edu/students/explore/thecareerinterestsgame.php

Brain Drain In The Philippines

I read in a local newspaper article that many companies think the Philippines is going through some pretty major "brain drain."

And why not? Prices are high, salaries are the same. People can't be expected to stay for that. I should know I got an offer from Dubai that was pretty good. For a staff position, the salary I was offered almost matched the rate I'm getting now as management.

Now if a staff member there earns almost the same as a manager here, you'd probably notice what a big discrepancy that would be for the same position. Of course I'm not familiar with their cost of living there - it can't be much better than here I guess with the global economy acting up as it is.

There have been more than 50,000 healthcare workers (nurses, doctors and therapists) who have left the country and I don't disagree with them leaving but those of us left here are rather at a loss now aren't we?

Anyway that's not all, more and more workers are opting to take refuge abroad than be stuck here in the Philippines. I for one, would rather stay. I really like it here but sometimes it just can't be helped when you think about the opportunities out there...

We need better paying jobs. Salaries that can actually pay for rising expenses. Allowances that are non-taxable. For Filipino workers to actually stay in the Philippines, there has to be the same opportunity here than there is abroad. That is how to stop the brain drain

Filipino Job Seekers To UAE - Do Not Travel With UAE Tourist Visas

Urgent update from Abu Dhabi has asked Filipino job seekers to not travel to UAE in search for jobs on a tourist visa as these Filipino job-seekers are more vulnerable to exploitation and likely to accept anything offered to them by the prospective employers to beat their visa expiry dates.

Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Libran N. Cabactulan issued this official statement as the UAE government is going to implement stricter requirements for visit and tourist visas from August 1 this year. The Khaleej Times Online, expounds on this:

He said the UAE government is stipulating the new visit visa guidelines because it is better for both the country of origin and the UAE to have no people on visit visas if the same creates problems for workers, employers and their respective governments.

The Philippine Ambassador said of the ten Filipino job-seekers who come on visit visas, only three or even less find the right job they have ever wanted.

"Those who get jobs are also vulnerable to low salary offers and inhumane working conditions as the employers take advantage of the job-seeker's situation," he said.

He advised all Filipino workers to go to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) in Manila to find out whatever jobs are available in the UAE and which manpower agencies are recruiting workers to fill in these vacancies before coming to Dubai.

"If our job-seekers insist on finding jobs through the usual procedure, the employers here cannot offer them a salary much lower than what they should receive and won't have the chance to take advantage of them in any way," he added.

The UAE is now second to Saudi Arabia in hiring professional and skilled Filipino workers. Hence, there is a great opportunity for Filipinos to come here as a registered and bona fide worker through the usual employment channel instead of taking risks by coming on visit visas, the ambassador said.

Those who are already here must try their best to convert themselves into resident workers, he said. Once they get employed, they should register themselves with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) at the Philippine Overseas Labour Office in Deira to avail themselves of all benefits and rights due to a Filipino overseas worker.

Have You Tried The New GMA (Greater Modular Access) Jobs Center kiosks?

If you haven't seen the "new" GMA (Greater Modular Access) Jobs Center kiosks, you should. It's a cool touch screen kiosk that's in Robinson's Mall on Fuente. It allows people to job-hunt while in the comfort of the mall -- best of all it's FREE.

You can only access limited sites though. Mostly it's DOLE and their jobs database, which isn't so bad. This isn't the type of thing you'd like to wait in line for though because it takes a long time for people to sign up and actually start sending their resumes from this machine. It's touch screen and there is limited sensorial activity going on.

It is an advancement I think but of course, it does not support a lot of people. It can support about 1 person for an hour then another one. But at least it's an option to paid ways of trying to hunt for a job.

Apart from job-hunting, applicants can also register and post their qualifications as well as do job matching that complements their course

The online employment kiosk is in line with the priority thrust of President Gloria M. Arroyo to provide 1M jobs per year and thus, reduce incidence of poverty.

Though the machine costs about P100T, the DOLE is giving the three LGUs of Cebu free kiosks in recognition and appreciation of their support and cooperation to the programs of DOLE. Definitely over-priced (yet again - remember the lamp posts in Mandaue?), if I do say so myself. But nevertheless it's there so let's put it to good use.

How Much To Become A Nurse? What Will I Make As An Overseas Nurse?

There are a lot of questions about becoming a nurse abroad. First of all though, we'll have to start with asking the preliminary ones about becoming a nurse first. Here in Cebu, there are now so many nursing schools. Everybody thinks it's the next "get-rich, go-abroad" opportunity.

So here's the breakdown of how much it will cost you to 'become' a nurse first (from ABS-CBN News)

A nursing college education costs at least P300,000. But that’s not all. After finishing the four-year course, there are fees and other expenses for a series of qualifying exams.

Take the board exams today. Prior to taking these tests, nursing students spent around P10,000-P15,000 for review centers. Hundreds of pesos were shelled out for reviewer materials. They also paid a P900 exam fee.

Those who want to work in the United States, which is the dream destination for many nursing students, have to spend around P19,000-P25,000 to review for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), a standardized qualifying test.

But before they can take the NCLEX, they need to pass the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) and English proficiency tests, such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), to secure a CGFNS Certification Program Certificate.

Passing the CGFNS test is one of the requirements for an occupational visa in the US. Taking it means shelling out around $450 or around P19,000. In addition, the IELTS costs around P8,000.

Of course, there’s tuition to begin with, which ranges from P50,000 to P80,000 per semester.

That's a total of half a million pesos just to become a registered nurse eligible to work abroad.

But this is pretty good if you can get the job you want abroad. Nurses in the US with a one-year experience have a median salary of $50,000, or around P2 million. In Saudi Arabia, compensation for staff nurses ranges from $23,000 - $33,000, or around P1 million a year.

So after a year of working, you'll more or less make up for the cost of the entire nursing course. That is of course if you're prudent with the money you've earned. Because it also means foreign rate expenses when you work abroad.