Ateneo de Manila University is a Jesuit, Catholic, and Filipino university that has built a reputation for excellence and competence over the years. It continues celebrating excellence through a variety of disciplines which are at the top of both the national and global arenas. It cultivates a sense of belonging to a vibrant academic and apostolic community and brings the policies, programs, and structures in the University to bear on the universal mission of the Jesuit Society.
The Ateneo Placement Office (APO) assists graduates in finding employment appropriate to their individuality for positive contribution to self, family, and society through a comprehensive Career Development Program and Networking with the four market sectors: industries, government offices/agencies, NGOs, and schools/colleges. Juniors are placed for practicum in these market sectors.?
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Ateneo Placement Office
Ateneans Fly High: Soar to a Bright Future
By Sharlene Kirsten T. Tibi, 4 AB Communication, Ateneo de Manila University
With graduation just around the corner for batch 2015, fourth year students are now starting to look for employment opportunities after college. Third year students are also on the lookout for internships that will sharpen their knowledge in their respective fields and maximize their productivity potential during the long summer break given the implementation of the new academic calendar.
The Ateneo Office of Placement and Career Services has been organizing an annual Career Fair in the Loyola Schools since 1988. The Career Fair is a week-long affair with the main purpose of helping students jump-start their professional careers. This office, together with the student placement representatives headed by an executive committee, career councilors and the main presenter for the year, work together in making this event possible.
For this year’s career fair, the theme is Fly High: Soar to a Bright Future, where Ateneo students are able to connect with 134 participating organizations and companies that they could consider for internship or employment.
The Paperless System
The Ateneo Office of Placement and Career Services always looks for new and innovative ways to execute their projects in the best possible manner. It was only recently that they launched a paperless system for providing companies with resumes. “Instead of students giving a hardcopy of their resume, we interfaced with the Ateneo Student Information System, with the assistance of the Loyola Schools Management Information Systems Office for the students to upload resumes into the system before the Career Fair. During the event proper, the only thing the company representatives have to do is scan their IDs”, shared Carla S. Siojo, the Director of the Office of Placement and Career and Services. Once the IDs are scanned, the companies are able to download the list of students that visited their booth and the resumes that these students uploaded. The paperless system is also environment friendly since the companies did not have to bring back to their offices stacks of resumes, which they end up discarding after these have been encoded.
This system also keeps track of the latest changes in technology given that a lot of companies now accept applications online. According to Mrs. Siojo, “when companies go home at the end of the day, they could already sort out potential candidates and email the information to their bosses”. The paperless system also gives the students the opportunity to have longer conversations with the company representatives. In contrast to the manual system back then, each booth would collect 100-200 applicants. With the paperless system, they are able to accommodate 500-700 applicants per day.
From 2013 to 2014, the Career Fair had a 100% increase in the number of participating companies. From about 25 daily participants, it had increased to 50. This means that there was almost a 200% increase from 2013, with about 60 companies per day. Some companies are repeat participants. Major sponsors have 3 straight days of participation while minor sponsors get to stay for 2 days in the Career Fair.
New Directions: The Ateneo Career Fair Magazine
There is also an annual career fair magazine. All company participants and sponsors have advertisements in this publication, which all seniors and super seniors (fourth year and fifth year students) receive together with the kit sponsored by Unilever (this year’s main presenter). Contact details of all the participating companies and company indexes are found in this magazine, along with articles that could inspire Ateneo students to fly high towards a bright future.
New Project
The Office of Placement and Career Services is also looking forward to formally launch its new website by the end of the year which will be a portal where students, alumni and employers can interact. This website will act as the official job database exclusive for Ateneo users.
Soar High, Blue Eagle!
As we, graduating students, leave to embark on a new journey of life and soar into our dreams, let us not forget to fly high with the values imparted to us in the Ateneo.