TESDA jobs bridging program kicks off in QC

11 March 2013

Jobs came looking for technical vocational graduates at the launch of the Jobs Bridging Program of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in Quezon City on Monday.

The event, dubbed "Hanap Buhay Para sa TESDA Specialista," was the opening salvo of a series of jobs bridging activities to help graduates find employment after finishing their respective courses.

"We want tech-voc students to finish their respective courses with optimism because the opportunity for employment is here," Secretary Joel Villanueva, TESDA director general, said.

Around 120 companies brought their personnel to assess the credentials of the applicants for local and overseas jobs.

After Quezon City, other TESDA districts in the National Capital Region will hold their respective jobs bridging program on the following schedules and venues:

*March 18 at SM Tunasan (MuntiParLasTaPat)
*March 20 at Victory Mall-Monumento (CaMaNaVa)
*March 21 at SM San Lazaro (Manila)
*March 22 at Cuneta Astrodome (Pasay-Makati)
*March 25 at Pasig City Sports Center (PaMaMariSan)

More jobs bridging events are also lined up not only in the National Capital Region but in the other regions as well.

Villanueva then advised the jobseekers to come prepared with documents such as curriculum vitae, birth certificate, and relevant school records.

"Most importantly, with the skills they have acquired in training institutions, they should be able to sell themselves to the employers," he said.

Villanueva also said graduates should abandon stereotypes about certain jobs, and get into something where they can apply their skills.

"For example, it is best to throw out those outdated and distorted notion that jobs for tech-voc graduates are dirty and low-paying.  These days, these types of jobs largely define the country's economic landscape," he added.

The program is organized in cooperation with local government units, Department of Labor and Employment, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Association of Technical-Vocational Schools in NCR, and private firms such as Smart Phils. and PALSCON.