Plug-and-play: What employers look for in fresh graduates

Jessica Fenol, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/news/03/24/grad1.jpg"/><figcaption>Vivian, a young woman graduating this year poses for her boyfriend as he takes pictures of her with the cityscape in the background as seen from Antipolo City, March 19, 2019. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA – Job vacancies are growing but so is the number of job seekers. Fresh graduates don&#x27;t need to get left out if they know what employers are looking for, according to the head of an online recruitment platform.</p><p>&quot;The volume of vacancies remains to be growing but not enough to accommodate the entire population. It becomes tougher for jobseekers to actually land a job because there are many more competitors looking for the same jobs,&quot; said Jobstreet.com Philippines country manager Philip Gioca.</p><p>&quot;You have to prove that you’re the person for that job because there are more people now competing for the same job,&quot; Gioca told ABS-CBN News.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/news/03/24/grad2.jpg"/><figcaption>Jobstreet.com Philippines country manager Philip Gioca. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Jobstreet currently has about 150,000 job ads, some of which have more than one vacancy per ad, and nearly 9 million candidates on the platform. </p><p>Recruitment portal Jobstreet.com Philippines shared the top skills employers are looking for when hiring fresh college graduates: </p><div><strong>GOOD ATTITUDE AND WORK ETHIC</strong></div><p>Individuals with a &quot;good outlook&quot; are more appealing to recruiters because they usually turn out to be more productive in the workplace, Gioca said.</p><p>Candidates with a good attitude are usually team players who help drive productivity and efficiency in the workplace, he said. </p><div><strong>GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS</strong></div><p>Employers prefer candidates with good oral and written communication skills. Graduates who can articulate and simplify the message they want to convey are more likely to get hired, Gioca said.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s really being able to communicate what you want to do in English,&quot; he said. </p><div><strong>ANALYTICAL THINKING</strong></div><p>Employers are also likely to hire graduates who are able to &quot;synthesize&quot; and process data since this aids in decision-making, Gioca said. </p><div><strong>AGILITY</strong></div><p>Employers prefer graduates who are flexible, agile, energetic and confident, Gioca said. </p><p>&quot;You have to have that energy, hindi yung pagpasok mo pa lang pagod ka na,&quot; he said.</p><p>(You can&#x27;t be tired already at the start of the work day.)</p><div><strong>EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES</strong></div><p>In the absence of experience, companies &quot;gauge&quot; experience through extracurricular activities, Gioca said. </p><div><strong>STANDOUT RESUME</strong></div><p>A resume has to stand out in a formal but creative way. It serves as the &quot;first touch point&quot; between the recruiter and the candidate, Gioca said. </p><p>Aside from presenting the applicant&#x27;s personal and educational background, it should communicate where the candidate is good at, he said. </p><p>&quot;You need to prove in the resume and in the interview that you are a self starter or what we call plug-and-play, you don’t need so much training before you can be really good,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>Recruitment portal Jobstreet.com Philippines shared the top skills employers are looking for when hiring fresh college graduates.</p>

Recruitment portal Jobstreet.com Philippines shared the top skills employers are looking for when hiring fresh college graduates.

Plug-and-play: What employers look for in fresh graduates

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Plug-and-play: What employers look for in fresh graduates

Jessica Fenol,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 25, 2019 06:44 AM PHT

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Updated Mar 25, 2019 09:02 AM PHT

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