When one leaves the hallowed halls of De La Salle, what comes next? Of all the possible answers, the most common one would be to look for work. Work, compared to college, is a different story. There is no term-by-term interval that usually lets students have a certain feeling of a “fresh start”; from the get-go, you have to do well. Even for those like Kenneth Dy, who works for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
“BSP is an employee-centered organization,” he says. “Apart from its reasonably competitive employee package, BSP offers many opportunities for career growth and continuing education which augments the already strong academic foundations I received from DLSU.”
Graduating from DLSU in 2009, Kenneth took Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics and Bachelor of Science in Accounting (considered by many as a top-tier combination that takes blood, sweat, and tears to pass; consider too that Kenneth graduated with Honorable Mention). After DLSU, he went on to work with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas where he serves as one of their data analysts.
“Our department is mainly in charge of collecting and processing data from banks,” Kenneth adds. “Our output is primarily used by the other departments for their respective functions.”
Yes, the data you see plastered all over the BSP website is theirs. The commodity and inflation data you use from their website for your LBYECON classes? That’s theirs too. But composing website data isn’t their only job. They take care of the data their partners, from stakeholders to other banks, since these partners will use the data to make their own decisions.
“It is our job to ensure that these stakeholders are able to make decisions based on timely, complete, and accurate information,” he adds. “This task would include safeguarding the integrity and confidentiality of data.”
To an outsider, this whole process of data gathering should be easy. But given that jobs and crucial decisions are on the line, the stakes just get higher. The weight on Kenneth and their rest of his colleagues’ shoulders may not entirely be Atlas-like but it definitely is still heavy. He added, “A miscalculation by a small basis point could impact a lot on the decisions of BSP and private corporations.”
In basketball, an inch or two of miscalculation could result to the change of possession. In chemistry, the difference between a stable and unstable solution lies in the milliliters. But for those in the BSP, a slight miscalculation could result into different results that have their own consequences. A slight decimal change in inflation or some other figure in some other index could change the price of a commodity that matters most to the Filipinos. And with this change results in either the advancing their struggles or letting them breathe a sigh of relief.
“At first I thought the work we do is only a small bolt in the BSP machinery,” he said, “but after working for more than a year, I realized how much every decision depends on the information we provide.
Yes, even the “little guys” matter. In a mechanical watch, the gears are the ones that keep the watch winding. Tiny screws, nails, nuts, and bolts hold much bigger structures together, and yet we don’t see them.
The people in banks that we often know of are those that go to work in crisp suits and barongs, drive the most luxurious cars, and compose the “1%”. But then there are those that work behind the scenes and work not for themselves, but for others. There are those that strive to keep the information they disseminate accurate and at the same time honest. With the outlook of the economy on the line, there are those that put the nation’s interest ahead of their personal interests.
In choosing one’s workplace, pay and prestige play a part, but what matters the most should be the environment that is fostered within the company. Each person must be treated with respect, with the company understanding his limitations and appreciating his efforts. Kenneth adds, “Unlike other companies which tire you out like a horse,” he said, “BSP is a family-friendly institution.”
Family does not necessarily mean mother, father, and child. Family refers to how one treats his fellow man. Forget the line “It’s nothing personal, it’s just business.” Family means to appreciate someone for who he is and when it comes to work, relationship goes beyond the cubicles. Everyone knows everyone, even to the point that they’ve been to each other’s weddings and children’s baptisms.
As of now, our economy is described by many as either “one of the fastest growing in Asia” or “Asia’s bright spot”. We hear of recession and the European credit crisis left and right but here in the Philippines, we hear economic growth, lower inflation, and a lot of appeal for foreign investors. There’s nowhere to go but up. But the economy should not be the only one that’s growing; the people behind it should grow as well.
“Apart from the academic development,” Kenneth adds, “it is the training in diligence and communication which I got from DLSU that helps me do my work well in the office.”
Indeed, one must not forget his roots. Once we move on from La Salle, we don’t go to our chosen profession as a tabula rasa. We carry not only the principles we grew up with but also our La Sallian principles as well. These are all molded into our guiding philosophy, one that will help us in making our decisions and will definitely set us apart from the others.
For the future economists and accountants of the Philippines, Kenneth suggests that they work hard. Because in the end, it isn’t necessarily the most talented workers that companies like; it’s those that put the most effort into their work. He adds, “Math is not really the most necessary skill; one must be keen in analysis. They must have a strong bearing in order to move on despite failures. Those who remain are not so much the intelligent ones but those who know how to keep on learning. And this attitude is what will sustain them in any work environment they should choose to be in.”
