Guiding aspirations. Mrs. Carla S. Siojo, Ateneo Placement Office’s new director, shares her proposals on making the office’s presence become more felt in the Ateneo community. Photo by Sarah N. Aquino

TO HELP ease Batch 2012 out into the working world, newly-installed Ateneo Placement Office (APO) Director Carla Siojo emphasized the need for collaborating with students and gathering feedback on what the students want from the office.

“It’s a challenge to be of service to the Loyola Schools and the community, especially the students,” Siojo said. “[But] I look forward to [serve] the students, alumni, and our employer partners of the organizations as well.”

On March 30, Siojo replaced former APO director Chit Concepcion after the latter reached the retirement age.

Before her appointment as APO Director, Siojo served as the Assistant to the Vice President since 1997, a position in which she has done “a very good job,” according to Loyola Schools Vice President John Paul Vergara.

Vergara said that out of the candidates considered to replace the former APO director, Siojo emerged as the best choice, partly due to her academic preparation in psychology.

“More importantly, as Assistant to the Vice President, she [has been] very experienced with interfacing with external counterparts and companies, which is what the placement office will do,” Vergara added.

Collaboration and communication

Over the summer, Siojo met with Sanggunian President Drew Copuyoc and Council of Organizations of the Ateneo (COA) President Kenneth Abante to discuss the year’s activities, to further promote awareness among the juniors and seniors.

“With the assistance of the COA head and [the] placement [representatives], we’ve clustered the different featured industries based on the org clusters also, so [they] can help us invite the [org] members to attend the [sessions] which would be of interest to them,” Siojo said.

She also revealed a plan to revamp the existing APO web portal.

“[In] the past it was used for uploading the resumes of the students, but I want it to be more dynamic and interactive for the students,” she said. “I envision it to be a converging point [which] our students, faculty, alumni and our partner organizations can join and obtain information relevant for them [to] make decisions on their career.”

The APO conducts various researches on the year’s graduating batch and their employment statistics. The office determines where students go after graduation, industries with the highest concentration of Atenean alumni, and employment rates and opportunities.

Aside from this, the office looks into Ateneans’ work performance. This will have a bearing not only on the APO’s activities, but on the university as well. “It can help them improve the curriculum,” Siojo noted. “Are we doing the right thing? Are the courses we’re teaching still relevant? [This] can be used as a tool to help the administrators plan.”

Addressing SOM-centric Job Fairs

Every year, the APO’s job fairs draw criticism for allegedly catering only to students from the School of Management. Siojo stressed that knowing the students’ needs will help the office plan better while also catering to more students from the other Loyola Schools.

But while the office may try to address the SOM-centric job fairs, she pointed out that job availability is also a big factor in the presence or absence of non-management related job opportunities during the fair.

“I guess one reason for the perception of it being ‘SOM-centric’ is also because the companies that call are really interested in business majors,” she said. “There are no openings [in the other industries], or they’re not looking for students who come from our schools probably. But I’m very happy to know that there are a lot of students who are interested in the other job sectors like social development sector, entertainment, [and the] media.”

What to expect

Siojo said she plans to continue the same events and activities that her predecessor started, such as the main job fair which will take place in January.

She is open, however, to recommendations for further improvement.

“I really would like student participation and to improve the communication process on how to get students to know about the different events, because the success also of our events is dependent also on the participation of the students,” she said.