Typhoon survivors among those who flocked to Star, FREEMAN jobs fair

CEBU, Philippines - Typhoon victims  based in Leyte who fled to Cebu to look for jobs were among those who flocked to the first ever job fair organized by the Philippine Star and The FREEMAN at the SM City Cebu Trade Hall last Saturday.

Ruth Advincua, 31 years old, was one of the hopeful applicants during the job fair. She arrived in Cebu a week ago together with her siblings and cousin.

She was seeking for a clerical position related to her previous work as a marketing assistant in Tacloban City.   Advincua is a graduate of Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication in a university in Leyte.

"Nanghinaot ko nga makakita og trabaho diri sa Cebu kay lisod pa kaayo sa Tacloban sa pagkakaron. Maayo gani kay nag-organize sila og job fair," she said, adding that it will take them time to recover from the tragedy.

The 17-year old Carl Patrick  Enfermo, meanwhile, left his hometown in Tacloban City last November 18 to apply as a receptionist in any of the establishments in Cebu City.

Dedicated to finish his studies, the second-year college student plans to work for now so he can save money to pay for his tuition.

Aimie Camino from Palo, Leyte shared in an interview that typhoon victims like her cannot just rely on the relief goods alone. She said that they have to help themselves get back on their feet or else nothing would happen.

The 28-year-old jobseeker was previously hired as a sales coordinator in Leyte but was notified by her employer to wait for the company's recovery.

Camino said it was a good thing that she saw the advertisement in Mynimo.com regarding the job fair of the Star and The FREEMAN.  Already has a child, she has been staying in Cebu since November 14 to look for a job. She cited that her first pay would be allotted to the reconstruction of their house damaged by the storm.

Camino shared that she arrived at the venue two hours early, optimistic to be hired for a position related to office work, sales and collection. 

She lauded the efforts of the print companies and encouraged them to continue helping those who are in need especially those who are unemployed.

"This job fair is an answer to my prayer. Thank you," she stated.

Philippine Star sales and marketing head Bimbo Andrade cited that most of the employers were from the business process outsourcing companies given the industry's aggressive expansion and continuous growth.

He said that it has been the advocacy of the national counterpart of The FREEMAN to serve as an avenue for employment generation, providing quality jobs to unemployed Filipinos.

For six years, the Philippine Star has been holding around eight to ten job fairs a year. The job fair in Cebu that was conducted last Saturday was the first outside Metro Manila.

"We do this to help locals get jobs and make it easier for them to look for a job since we bring these applicants closer to prospective employers," he said.

Due to a positive turn-out, he revealed that they will be organizing another job fair in Cebu early next year.

"We will, for sure, come back to Cebu next year with more companies and more job openings," Andrade assured.

Last Saturday, there were about close to a thousand jobseekers who lined up during the whole-day job fair that was participated by 13 companies.

Among the local and overseas companies that participated included Sykes Asia, Simon Group, Federal Land Inc. Mynimo.com, Firstsource Solutions, Ltd. The Results Companies, Stream Global Services, Teleperformance, Alorica Philippines, Inc., Teletech, La Mesa Grill, Benby Enterprises, Inc. and Philippine Prudential.

This was in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment, Public Employment Service Office, and Philippine Overseas Employment  Administration.

Job vacancies that were made available during the job fair included the positions of customer service representatives, technical support professionals, team leaders, marketing officers, sales managers, among others. /JMD (FREEMAN)