TO AVOID being scammed, both the region’s labor department and the city’s employment office have urged job seekers to verify any employment opportunity, especially those posted on the internet.
The warning from the Department of Labor and Employment-Northern Mindanao (Dole-10) and the Public Employment Service Office (Peso) came after an applicant, Deisi Jean Vale, was duped into a job hiring post she saw last week on a website believing it was reliable.
Vale, from Barangay Carmen, answered an online job posting which led her to meet the suspect Jaysone Delfin Fabre, who claimed he was connected with the company that posted the hiring.
Vale did not get the job. Instead, her search for employment brought her to the world of online scamming.
After seeking the help of the Anti-Cybercrime Group-10 (ACG-10), authorities arrested Fabre in a meet-up in a restaurant on Tuesday.
Discerning
Vale is just one of the unemployed who used the internet in the hopes of landing a decent job. But Dole-10 assistant regional director Rodrigo Deloso cautioned applicants to be discerning when applying for work.
“They (job hunters) have to be very careful,” Deloso said in a phone interview with this paper Wednesday morning.
He said individuals must refer to concerned government agencies first to verify the authenticity of a job advertisement.
Aside from Dole, Deloso said applicants must also check with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and Peso since these agencies have a list of accredited agencies, he added.
Job seekers could also visit www.phil-jobnet.dole.gov.ph if they’re looking for work outside the country.
Placement
For his part, Rey Tagotongan, head of Peso’s Job Placement Bureau in the city, said that their office had instituted a system that would eliminate the possibility of employment-related fraud.
Tagotongan said that today Peso has gone beyond the usual practice of referral and has been focusing on placement.
With the introduction of the National Skills Registry System (NSRS), a partnership between the labor department and the city government, both applicants and employers would find it convenient to seek out each other minus the time-consuming hassles and uncertainties.
NSRS, Tagotongan said, aims to reach out to the job seekers by having them fill out a form to provide their personal details, skills, expertise and educational background. The NSRS details become the bases of employers in looking for potential employees.
Applicants who had filled out the NSRS form will be entered into the Peso’s database, making it easier for employers to look for qualified workers.
Also, Peso had connected with the employers and even established a linkage with the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) and the Association of International Recruitment Agencies (Aira) in the region, Tagotongan said.
Because of this, Peso and agencies made an agreement that would require employers to conduct their examination and interview with applicants inside Peso.
For the applicant, they will be spared from the hassles with going from one establishment to another just to apply since Peso has provided them with a list of employment opportunities.
Tagotongan said that every time an employer is hiring, Peso will get in touch with the applicants who are on their database.
With Peso acting as the “middle man,” Tagotongan said this arrangement is very convenient for both the job hunters and companies.
Through this setup, the chances of job hunters getting scammed will be minimized since applicants will now be provided by Peso with more legitimate job options.
“It is very important to establish the trust of applicants and employers,” he added.
Kathleen Kate Sorilla, Peso manager-designate, said most of the jobs on demand in the city are in the trade industry, specifically in malls.
Among the top job hiring are for cashiers, service crew, sales clerks, sales ladies, baggers, customer assistance personnel.
On a monthly average, Peso assists in the processing of about 500 to 700 “placed” or employed individuals, including those who got jobs overseas.
As of August 2014, Peso has already recorded around 10,000 registered applicants who are on its database, Sorilla said.