By Raymart Escopel
JOB seekers who were hired on-the-spot were thankful to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and to its partners for coming up with the “Kalayaan Job Fair” on June 12 in line with the 116th Philippine Independence Day celebration.
Twenty-five year-old Mark Paul Duran was hired on-the-spot at the job fair held at Robinsons Place Bacolod. He expressed his happiness for landing an instant job as oiler. He admitted of not expecting to be immediately hired after the interview. He considers his experience as an oiler for one year in Cebu as an advantage for being hired on-the-spot.
With that, he extends his gratitude to DOLE for conducting the job fair as he is now one step closer in fulfilling his dream of helping his family through his new job.
Meanwhile, Lara Mae Santos, a twenty year-old fresh graduate of Central Philippine University was also hired on-the-spot during the Kalayaan Job Fair held at Marymart Mall in Iloilo City.
She was encouraged to participate in the Kalayaan Job Fair as they were urged back in college to increase the chances of landing a job.
Santos noted how effective job fairs are in aiding jobseekers find employment easily without the hassle of going from one place to another.
She added that her experiences as a facilitator of school-related activities in college made her stand-out during the interview.
Santos was hired as a recruitment specialist of an Iloilo-based company.
Duran and Santos are only two of the 382 jobseekers who were hired on-the-spot during the Kalayaan Job Fair. Of the said number, 226 were hired for local employment, while 156 got overseas jobs.
Around 34,000 jobs were offered during the job fair. A total of 4,000 jobseekers registered, while 2,616 were qualified for an interview.
This year’s Kalayaan Job Fair was simultaneously held in Iloilo and Negros Occidental bearing the theme, “Pagsunod sa Yapak ng mga Dakilang Pilipino, Tungo sa Malawakan at Permanenteng Pagbabago.” (With reports from DOLE-6/PN)
