The Office of Counseling and Career Services (OCCS), together with partner companies and government agencies, held the DLSU Job Expo 2019 last February 4 and February 6 to 9 at the Cory Aquino Democratic Space.
With the theme Go Boldly Into The Future, the week-long event showcased career opportunities to senior high school, undergraduate, graduate students; and DLSU alumni. In an interview with The LaSallian, OCCS Job Placement Coordinator Marissa Pascual gave a closer look into the event.
Bigger, better, bolder
“We [normally] think of job expos as just [for] jobs, so it seems like it is relevant only for graduating students or alumni,” Pascual narrated. This year’s job expo went far beyond employment, as it integrated a student’s entire career roadmap. Pascual mentioned that OCCS “wants everyone to be aware of their career landscape and what’s being offered so that [they] can have a career roadmap on different levels.”
Aside from job offers, internship opportunities were also found in the fair. Pascual clarified that internships are not included in the scope of OCCS. However, the office recognized the importance of practicum to a student’s career development and later decided to welcome such programs.
Chloe Caceres (Grade 12, STEM) said that she registered in the event because she wanted to explore job opportunities available to her as early as senior high school. Meanwhile, Kristen Gaurino (Grade 12, HUMMS) also articulated that she is “looking for opportunities that can expose her to the college degree program” she would eventually apply into.
Over 182 companies participated in this year’s job expo, according to Pascual. She revealed that the previous fair held last February 2018 only had approximately 172 partner companies. “We gathered the most [this year], as far as history is concerned,” Pascual pointed out.
Further, there were also talks held during the five-day job expo. Pascual said that particularly for their diamond and gold partners, time was allotted for companies to host talks and introduce students to their respective organizations.
The companies talked about their values, mission and vision, and services. She added that there were also events where companies challenged students with case studies. Companies like JP Morgan Chase & Co., Land Bank of the Philippines, and MSCI “gave scenarios and asked Lasallians to use their critical thinking, problem-solving, and presentation skills,” Pascual cited.
Preparing for employment
Pascual emphasized that during the job expo, students had face-to-face conversations with the company representatives. “It’s not just purely dropping resumes and nothing happens. I saw that there were a lot of conversations going on,” she added.
Students were free to register and visit different booths around the Cory Aquino Democratic Space. Company representatives introduced their organizations and handed out brochures or presented their company videos.
Alex Simeon (AB-CAM, ‘18) shared, “It was an interesting experience to be able to get a feel of what happens at job expos in general. It is also helpful that we get to talk to the representatives of the companies face-to-face so we could understand more what they’re looking for and discuss the job details specifically, instead of just sending inquiries for the positions online.”
There were also on-campus interviews and exams that happened simultaneously. Pascual pointed out that OCCS had actual recruitment occur on campus to increase the chances of students being employed if they passed all the requirements.
Moreover, government booths were also present during the duration of the job expo. Services such as registration for SSS, Pag-IBIG, and Philippine Postal ID were provided to aid in the potential employment of a student.
Before the job expo, OCCS also held cover letter and resume writing workshops with Uniqlo as their partner. According to Pascual, Lasallians clamored that the DLSU resume is no longer effective. She, however, believed that there is nothing wrong with the current template; instead, she argued that it is the way students fill out the template that needs improvement.
In addition, she noticed that “Lasallians are not aware that [they] should have a cover letter with [their] resume. So there is too much attention given to [the] resume and not to the cover letter. In reality, we need to have a very good cover letter so that companies will take a look at your resume.”
“Future-ready”
Since job expos by OCCS are held biannually, students who missed the February edition can attend the next fair this coming July. “Our gold partners, diamond partners, and as well as our discounted regular partners, will be coming back in July. We will [also] add some more [companies],” she revealed.
OCCS also plans to reinforce their career development programs by ensuring holistic growth from senior high school students to graduating college students. “As early as freshmen year, we want to expose all Lasallians to the different industries,” Pascual said. She also added that this will be done through talks with invited companies and expected to commence next year.
Along with the job expos, they will also continue their resume and cover letter writing workshops with partner companies. Moreover, Pascual said that OCCS plans to develop programs that tackle corporate dressing and ethics, as well as mock interviews by colleges or industries to ensure that students are, as Pascual put it, “prepared and future-ready.”
