DESPITE THE perception that the annual job fairs favor School of Manegement (SOM) students more, Ateneo Placement Office (APO) Director Chit Concepcion brushed it off and claimed that this school year’s job fair is the best so far.
“The complaints of the companies with their experience from previous job fairs were addressed, and the overall setup of the job fair has been convenient for the students,” said Concepcion in a mix of English and Filipino.
The Job Fair is an annual event organized by APO to give an opportunity for Loyola Schools (LS) students to boost their career opportunities, either as on-the-job trainees or employees, for job openings offered by the invited companies.
Titled “New Directions: The Job and Practicum Fair 2011,” the job fair was held last January 17-21 at the Red Brick Road.
Not SOM-centric
Even while still in school, some students already feel the competitive nature of the whole job application process, and believe that SOM students have the upper hand in landing jobs from the job fair as the invited companies are seemingly “management-related.”
“If you take a look at the list of companies in attendance, their background and the kind of work they offer are management-related,” said Communication major Martin Eulalio Diaz.
Other students believe however, that branding the job fair “SOM-centric” is harsh and unfair to APO.
“It’s not right to say that the job fair is SOM-centric because there are a lot of jobs available [for] everyone. I’m sure [APO] thinks about the needs and expectations of all students,” said Economics major Aaron Paul Marasigan.
Asked why some students have the impression that the job fair favors SOM students, Concepcion willingly explained the process behind the selection of the companies invited every school year.
According to Concepcion, APO sends out invitations to companies and organizations from four different backgrounds including the government, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), the academe and industries as early as October of every school year. Not all companies however, accept the invitations.
She said that oftentimes, only a handful groups from the government and the academe, as well as NGOs, respond to the invitations because of the lack of job openings in the companies.
She added that this resulted in industrial companies outnumbering those from the three other backgrounds in the previous job fairs. Concepcion emphasized though, that companies don’t primarily select their employees based on the student’s course.
“The trend now is position availability and students have to remember that most jobs are skill-specific. Companies can and will hire people regardless of their course. As long as you have the necessary skills for a position, then you can get the job,” she said.
Open to experimentation
In the previous job fairs, the invited companies complained about the heat in the venue, dust exposure and muddy surfaces when it rained.
As a result, some students got discouraged from exploring the job fairs and weren’t able to optimize the opportunities presented by the APO-organized event.
This school year, APO made sure the invited companies would not experience the inconveniences in the past. This likewise benefited the students, according to Concepcion.
As an added response to the SOM-centric issue, she said that APO is also open to experimentation, and holding job fairs for different schools in the LS is a possibility.
“It’s just a question of availability [of the companies] because you’re going to have to organize job fairs four times in one school year,” Concepcion said.
For some students, however, experimentation could be set aside, at the moment. “I think what [APO] did with this school year’s job fair was great. The job fair looked very welcoming to the students, and it had a professional atmosphere. [APO] has to be congratulated for this,” said Management major Paulo Rabanal.
