MANILA – Engineering graduates have plenty of job opportunities in the country which they can find online, JobStreet.com Philippines said.
Speaking at the 1st Philippine Engineering Student Congress held at the Technological Institute of the Philippines on Tuesday, Seek Asia regional marketing manager Yolanda Buyco said there are 55,000 jobs listed on JobStreet.com for those with engineering specializations.
This figure is a 76 percent increase from the number of engineering job postings on the site in 2014.
“This year was a phenomenal year for us. We grew jobs in JobStreet by a total of 23 percent and I think a lot of it is driven by engineering,” Buyco told ABS-CBN News at the sidelines of the Engineering Student Congress.
However, Buyco noted that engineering graduates also face a competitive market as recent data from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) show that the number of graduates with engineering degrees rose by 10 percent to 72,000.
"This means you have to work harder in order to get your first job. In a competitive market, you need to know what your opportunities are, and the jobs available in your specific field of specialization, so you can stand out and captivate your employer," Buyco told engineering students present at the event.
Seek Asia regional marketing manager Yolanda Buyco speaks at the 1st Philippine Engineering Student Congress held at the Technological Institute of the Philippines.
She said that while the competition is strong in the industry, engineering fresh graduates are "well paid," with an average starting pay of about P19,000 per month.
This is higher than the average monthly salaries of fresh graduates of non-technical courses of about P15,000. She also said salaries in engineering fresh graduates can go as high as P30,000, slightly lower than those in the information technology (IT) sector, which can go as high as P40,000.
For junior executives with a specialization in engineering, monthly salaries are an average of P21,000; P33,000 for supervisor; and P54,000 for managerial positions.
Engineering students from across the country were invited by JobStreet.com and TIP Career Center to explore different career prospects available in local and regional industries.
"We want to bridge the employers and the students through this initiative. We want them to get to know each other so they’ll be able to get a pool of talent,” said Buyco.
TIP president Dr. Elizabeth Quirino-Lahoz, meanwhile, said the engineering congress is the school's way in helping provide "qualified and talented young engineers to established and emerging industries locally and abroad."
"For the students, this is our way of helping them start their careers on the right track," she added.