A total of 1,355 job seekers and newly-graduates participated in the recently-concluded Job Fair of the Philippine Board of Investments (BOI) at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City where more than 1,600 employment opportunities were offered by 42 participating BOI-registered firms in the fields of manufacturing, real estate and construction, information technology (IT), tourism, transportation and logistics, energy, and retail trade industries.

Some 3,966 applications for various clerical, technical, and managerial positions in various job families such as accounting and finance, administrative and human resources, business development, building and construction, computer and information technology, engineering, healthcare, hotel and tourism, legal and law services, media and communications, and sales and marketing were received from the pre-registered and walk-in applicants. Of these applications, 13 were hired on-the-spot, 495 considered qualified and scheduled for exam and/or interview, while 3,109 were scheduled for further interview/screening.

Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo during his remark at the Job Fair’s opening ceremony underscored the role of the various industries and sectors in creating job opportunities and fueling economic growth. “The manufacturing sector’s growth rate, for example, has steadily been increasing from 2 percent to 12 percent share of the gross domestic product over the years. This positive development has paved the way for the growth of other sectors such as services, creating more job opportunities for our countrymen,” Undersecretary Rodolfo said, urging the newly-graduates and other job seekers to avail of this opportunity to land in quality jobs.

Left photo shows Undersecretary Rodolfo engaging with an applicant during the Job Fair. Right photo shows applicants flocks at the booths of 42 participating BOI-registered firms.

As the participating BOI-registered companies were verified to be of good standing, job applicants are assured of quality employment opportunities. The participating BOI-registered firms include: A CJ O Shopping Corporation, Allegro Microsystems Phils., Inc., Amherst Laboratories, Inc., Asia Brewery, Inc., Asian Terminals Incorporated, Cantier System, Inc., Cebu Pacific Air, Century Pacific Food, Inc., Charoen Pokphand Foods Philippines Corporation, Citihomes Builders and Development, Incorporated, Cityland, Inc., Converge Information and Communication Technology Solutions, Inc., DMCI Power Corporation, Efork, Inc., Federal Land, Inc., Filinvest Land, Inc., Global Food Solutions, Inc., Hausland Development Corporation/Fiesta Communities, Inc., International Container Terminal Services, Inc., Isabela Biomass Energy Corporation, JG Summit Holdings, Inc./Universal Robina Corp., JG Summit Petrochemical/JG Summit Olefins, Manila Water Company, Inc./Boracay Island Water, Masinloc Power Partners Company, LTD., Moldex Products, Inc., Negros Island Solar Power, Inc., North Luzon Renewable Energy Corporation, Petron Corporation, Philippine Familymart CV., Inc., RCD Land Inc., Robinsons Hotels and Resorts, Robinsons Land Corporation (Real Estate), Rombe Philippines, Inc., San Carlos Clean Energy Development Corp. (AC Energy Development Company)), San Miguel Pure Foods, Inc., SM Development Corporation, United Laboratories, Inc., Vista Land and Landscape, Inc., Watsons Personal Care Store Philippines, Inc., Wee Community Developers, Inc.

Representatives from various government agencies such as the Social Security System (SSS), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Pag-IBIG Fund, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) were also present in the BOI Job Fair to assist the pre-employment requirements of the participants.

The BOI Job Fair is anchored on the administration’s Zero +10 Point Socioeconomic Agenda, the aspirations embodied in AmbisyonNatin 2040, and the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022. The initiatives includes human capital formation, development of industries, and economic inclusion that will transform the country into a high middle-income economy by 2022 with poverty incidence reduced to 14 percent from the current 21.6 percent.

The conduct of the BOI Job Fair is also in line with the agency’s 50th Founding Anniversary on September 16, 2017. Over the years, the BOI, by virtue of Executive Order No. 226 or the Omnibus Investments Code, has approved around 14,837 business activities with a total investment project value of Php6 Trillion. These investment projects are generally socially-relevant and have greatly improved the lives of the Filipino people, creating 2,085,059 in quality jobs.

Prior to the BOI Job Fair, the agency conducted two batches of seminar on “Resume Writing and How to Ace A Job Interview” to prepare participants in the event. In this seminar, the BOI, in collaboration with the Bureau of Local Employment of the DOLE, provided the attendees a crash course on the fundamentals of resume writing and tips on how to be more confident during job interviews.

In photo: The BOI Legal Compliance Service headed by its Director Marjorie O. Samaniego-Ramos (center).

The BOI Job Fair was facilitated by the agency’s Legal and Compliance Service.