Sunday, July 18, 2004 Fresh grads seeks South Korea employment By Clara Mae Hortelano
THE LACK of job opportunities in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City prompted fresh high school and college graduates to troop the local Philippine Overseas Employment Authority (POEA) for employment in South Korea.
From April to July 13, some 3,500 job seekers who were not over 40 years old went to the POEA local office to avail themselves of jobs as factory workers in South Korea, disclosed Carmen Nagum, POEA-Bacolod head.
Possible jobs are in five or four-star hotels, luxury liner vessels, and electronics, and as machine operators and technicians.
Majority of the applicants had just finished their secondary or tertiary education, said Nagum.
About 7,000 students graduated last March and most of them will not land jobs, earlier said Danilo Alcoriza, regional information officer of the Department of Labor and Employment in Western Visayas.
The job applicants for South Korea, added Nagum, will undergo screening at the POEA-Manila. The number of job openings has yet to be determined.
To be given first priority among the applicants are the five applicants who had work experiences in Korea.
"They are our first priority for the job because of their familiarity of the culture and tradition of the place," said Nagum.
Other selected applicants will undergo examination and will go through one-on-one interview. They will also undergo language training and testing.
Job openings in Korea came after the governments of the Philippines and South Korea signed a covenant extending 10,000 job opportunities for the Filipinos.
Applicants were required to submit NBI clearance, authenticated birth certificates, 2x2 pictures and high school or college diploma.
POEA-Manila already advised their local office to stop receiving applications last July 13 yet, said Lourdes Yapiso.
She added their local office has only two personnel.
"Aside from tending to the applicants for South Korea, we also have huge work backlog on our other monthly reports and other overseas employment," she stressed.
Yapiso also said at anytime, they will resume receiving applicants for employment in other foreign countries.
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