Festival Jobs Fair generates employment for Tacurongnons

After five months of job-hunting, twenty-year old Fritchel Jane Makilan of Barangay San Emmanuel has finally found an employer.

                Makilan was one of the eighty-five applicants who trooped to the city hall compound to register for the Jobs Fair conducted by the city government on September 13, 2013.

Makilan said that she started applying for work right after graduation from college in March and that she had submitted applications to more than five employers but none responded positively. “I’m happy I was finally given a chance to be employed through this Jobs Fair,” she said.

Hired by KCC Mall of Marbel as warehouse staff, Makilan was also one of the lucky nineteen applicants who were hired on the spot in the said Jobs Fair.

Aside from those who were hired on the spot, 51 other applicants qualified in the initial screening of eleven agencies and were advised to be interviewed and undergo the rest of the screening process.

The participating agencies for overseas employment were Nonstop Overseas Employment Services and D.A. Rodrigo International, while the local employers included KCC Mall, Kimsan Plaza, Tacurong Fit Mart, MUTI Group of Companies, Credit Basics & Innovations Corporation, Yakult Lactobacillus Corporation, Edjin Pension House, Talakudong Foods Corporation (Jollibee), and Mang Gorio Bahay-Kainan.

                There were 124 job vacancies posted in the said jobs fair. Of said vacancies, 81 job orders for skilled workers were solicited for overseas employment, and 54 for local employment.

                The city government, through the Public Employment Service Office, partnered with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Sultan Kudarat Field Office in holding the Jobs Fair, which was also the second time to be conducted this year.

City Councilor Benjamin Fajardo, who sits as chairperson of Sangguniang Panlungsod Labor and Employment Committee, said that the city government will try to hold frequent jobs fairs to give easier access to jobseekers.

                “I appreciate jobs fairs because jobs are being offered cafeteria-style and applicants are free to choose jobs that suit their qualifications,” Fajardo said. (Allan Freno, LGU Tacurong City)