T.I.P. career center helps graduates find the right jobs

MANILA, Philippines – A survey conducted by leading online job site Jobstreet.com Philippines reveals that employers place importance on internship experience as well as behavioral and functional skills in considering a fresh graduate applicant for employment. The study, deployed among 450 companies in the country, showed that initiative, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, and willingness to learn are some of the behavioral skills that hirers look for in job applicants. Communication skills, trainability and competence, on the other hand, are some of the functional skills that employers consider. At the Technological Institute of the Philippines (T.I.P.), career centers provide student services and career support programs that enable students to gain valuable work experience in the fields of engineering and computing as well as resources to hone their behavioral and functional skills.   The T.I.P. career centers are modeled after those found in United States universities. They were designed with the help of Stanford University Career Center executive director Farouk Dey and University of California Berkeley Career Center director Thomas Devlin and were developed through the technical assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Science, Technology, Research and Innovation for Development (STRIDE) program.   “At T.I.P., we don’t just equip our students with the latest technical knowledge and skills for the demands of the workplace. Our career centers also develop their soft skills and internship experience aligned to the needs of the industry, to help them land their first real jobs to start their professional career,” said Dr. Elizabeth Quirino-Lahoz, T.I.P. president.   Career centers inside the T.I.P. Manila and Quezon City campuses provide career counselling and testing as well as student career assessments to help students recognize their interests, strengths, skills and abilities. Skills enhancement programs are also identified and implemented to further improve these qualities.   Internship and job placement programs with T.I.P. business linkages partners also provide graduating students with opportunities to acquaint themselves with industry-desired values and gain experience and skills in the actual workplace. These are supported by year-round career fairs and expos, on-campus recruitment and career destination studies conducted by the T.I.P. career centers. ADVT