Philippine Job Ads Analysis

Analysis of Job Advertisements

RUNNING HEAD: Analysis of Job Advertisements

Content Analysis of Job Advertisements in

Selected Newspapers and Internet Sites:

Implications to Career Counseling

Jenneth G. De Guia, Paul V. Hilario, Amy Jacinto,

Lester Luis U. Medina & Elizabeth Page

De La Salle University-Dasmariñas

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May 15, 2004

One of the major tasks of early adulthood is to obtain a job. Though its cultural

universality needs to be established, as a rite of passage, getting a job generally marks the

entrance to adulthood of a young adult in most modern societies. For Donald Super (1996) this

heralds the entry of the individual to the establishment stage. The establishment stage (ages 24

to 44) is related to the encounters within actual work experience. The young adult should make

his/her place in the organization secure by adapting to the organization and perform

satisfactorily. The middle phase of this stage involves consolidating one’s position by gaining

experience and proficiency. The third task is advancement to new levels of responsibility. This

last task is not evident and not always taken on by many workers.

Campbell and Heffernan in Drummond and Ryan (1995) similarly have identified the

steps that young adults need to follow to obtain a position in their chosen occupation. They have

proposed the following steps in the process of finding a job: knowing where to find job

opportunities, knowing how to identify the relevant information from job descriptions, and

selecting appropriate jobs based on a match between their personal attributes and the jobs they

consider and the organizational environment. Other important steps they mentioned included

developing a plan to secure employment, preparing resumes and other paper work that might be

required. Likewise, these steps include being competent in interview and negotiation behaviors,

analyzing the employment offers and their impact on life-style requirements, knowing when to

accept and reject the employment offers, and being willing to repeat the previous steps until the

right job is secured. Given these numerous tasks, graduating students and other individuals

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seeking jobs must be prepared for the physical and psychological demands posed by these job-

hunting processes.

Individuals seeking jobs usually have more success if they have a plan. The plan should

include strategies on how they intend to locate possible jobs. They need to identify employers

who offer opportunities in their field of interest. They might need to seek the help of individuals

already working in the organization or occupation. Contacts can be very valuable and can

provide leads. Job seekers need not only devise an access strategy to get in to see the employer

but also be able to present their qualifications in an attractive manner. The resume must be

attractively done with significant information provided. Job seekers have to be persistent and

must learn from previous experiences and interview (Drummond & Ryan, 1995).

The Job Hunt

The transition from college to the working world is rarely an easy one. It has been

observed that college graduates seemed to be scared and frustrated because they do not see

enough career opportunities awaiting them. Often, when the time comes to make decisions and

plans about getting a job, they seem to be more confused and unprepared. These have caused

delays and other problems in the job search process. These problems are linked to what Marcia

(1991) described as identity statuses. Marcia described college students in terms of four identity

statuses: the “foreclosed student”, the “identity diffused student”, the “ moratorium student”,

and the “achieved identity-student”. These statuses represent styles of coping with identity

developmental tasks. For example, foreclosed students are closed off from self-exploration and

limit their contacts and challenges. Identity diffused students have few commitments to the

future and are less mature that achieved-identity and moratorium students. The diverse levels of

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development among college students point out a wide range of career guidance needs among this

population.

Most graduating students tend to feel very ecstatic and delighted about making it through

four years of college — through the late night study sessions, the term papers and the balancing

of internships and school. This feeling oftentimes leads them to forget about preparing for a

more serious life after graduation. They must be reminded that the hardest part is just beginning.

If they believe that getting through college was hard, they must wait until they begin looking for

a job after graduation. However, all these job-hunting concerns can be remedied by adequate pre-

employment preparation. It is believed that with enough preparation, getting started early and

using all available resources, job search will never be a big concern and they might even have a

job before they actually try on their graduation cap and gown.

The process of looking for jobs begins with job information. Individuals in a rapidly

changing society need career and occupational information to guide them in career planning.

Career information is viewed by theorists as an important variable in the process of career

development. Yet, many people do not know where to find the information they need. The study

of Mauer and Gysber (1990) for instance highlights the lack of knowledge in occupational

information as one of the career concerns of 3600 students they surveyed. For a typical fresh

graduate job hunter, job information usually translates to newspaper job advertisements. Bolles

(1997) describes this as one of the popular but not necessarily effective methods of finding a job.

Bolles contends that serious job applicants need to consider other approaches to finding jobs.

The Internet and Job Hunting

Despite the modern society’s emphasis on information technology, researchers, such as

Lewis and Coursol (1999), have observed that there is limited information about students'

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perceptions and the use of technology, especially the newer ones, such as the Internet. In their

study, they investigated the perceptions on the role of technology in counseling and other related

professions. This includes examining attitudes towards the use of the new information

technologies among counselor education students. The study included 83 (24 men and 59

women) students who attended a university in the mid-west. Results though indicated that

students believe that technological skills are important to their professional success.

In the same vein, Peterson (2000) revealed that the advent of multimedia computer

technology has increased the potential for "high impact" career interventions. This can be

particularly effective for at-risk youth, a population with extremely low motivation to use print-

based materials. In a related study, according to Deddens, K & James, S. (1998), school

counselors are discovering a wealth of career information on the Internet. Many of the career

materials are free and easy to access. They view this list as an extremely positive career resource

for educators. However, they also feel it is necessary to provide a word of caution. Adults need

to take steps to ensure that guidance and/or other protective measures are taken to safeguard

students using Internet resources.

The Philippine context

One of the concerns of the researchers is to help graduating students maximize their

potentials in finding future employment. According the CHED statistics, the number of graduates

in higher education shows an increasing trend from AY 1994-1995 to AY 2000-2001 with an

average annual growth of three percent. Based on the number of graduates for AY 2000-2001,

Business Administration and Related leads with 104,027 graduates; next is Teacher Education

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and Training (51,395) graduates followed closely by Engineering and Technology (46,794) and

Medical and Allied programs (39,603).

Although the trend indicates growth and continuous popularity of these degree programs,

one of the questions implied by this scenario is whether the graduates produced are absorbed into

occupational fields that are related to their training. In the literature, some studies have

attempted to track the factors affecting career choices. For instance, Hilario (2001) in his study

observed that graduates of degree programs that are consistent with their measured interests

generally pursue congruent occupational fields. However, studies exploring the relationship

between specific job seeking behavior and related occupational fields are scant. Likewise,

literature and studies regarding the content of job information that job seekers relay on for guide.

In this light, this study attempts to look at two of the most prominent career decision

information gained from the reviewed newspapers and online job sites. Specifically, the

researchers sought to answer the following questions:

1. In what areas do the advertised job opportunities belong?

2. What job requirements (gender, experience, knowledge and skills) are usually

included in the job ads?

3. Do the advertised job opportunities match the supply of college graduates?

Method

Research sites

There were two major Philippine broadsheet newspapers and two online job websites

monitored. The newspapers analyzed were the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Manila Bulletin. On

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the other hand, www.jobstreet.com and www.jobsdsb.com were the online job sites visited. The

newspapers were selected due to their large readership and space allotted for job advertisements

relative to the other local newspapers. The Internet sites were selected primarily due to their

popularity in terms of membership.

Procedure

The study reviewed job advertisements in the two selected newspapers and Internet sites

on the following dates: April 4 to April 26, 2004 and June 13, 2004. The research tabulated the

frequency and percentages of job opportunities advertised in terms of: the areas that the

advertised job opportunities belong and the job requirements (age, gender, experience,

knowledge and skills) that are included in the job ads. These tabulated frequencies and

percentages were then compared with the existing statistics of college graduates from the

Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Results

The combined newspaper and Internet job advertisements reveal several characteristic of

the current job demand in the country. Table 1 describes the distribution of job ads per academic

discipline area. The area of business administration and related fields (42.03%) (Business,

accountancy and entrepreneurship etc), clearly dominate the job advertisements in terms of

demand. This is followed by the medical discipline (12.88%), (medicine, nursing, and physical

therapy) and the service trades (11.77%).

The second table describes the distribution of job ads per job type. Majority of the job ads

belongs to the business area. The top job types advertised are marketing and sales positions

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(9.66% of advertised job opportunities). This is followed by computer technology related

occupations. Closely following are job ads seeking accountancy-related occupations. The more

popular jobs like nursing and call center agents comprise 6.12% and 2.25% of the ads

respectively.

Table 3 describes the requirements that accompany the ads. Not all of the job ads include

the requirements. Of the ads with explicit requirements, 38% indicate a general preference for

applicants with work experience followed by applicants who are college graduates (37%). In

addition, 30% of these ads prefer have age limits indicated in the ad (ex. 35-40 years old).

The fourth table compares the average percentage of graduates per academic discipline

vis-à-vis with the percentage of job ads. It would be noted that there are courses that show a

mismatch between graduates produced and posted job ads (i.e. Business admin, Education, etc).

The demand for business graduates particularly sales personnel is a high 42% while they

comprise only 30% of the graduates produced annually. Graduates of college courses like

architecture, home economics, humanities and others would generally be saddened by the lack

of ads looking for their expertise. The service trade generally shows demand (11.26%) but lack

supply (.67%).

Discussion and Implications

The analysis of newspaper and Internet job advertisements reveals the following findings

and implications to career counseling:

First, the analysis of the ads reveals some reasons for the proliferation of the popular

college courses in business and health related specializations. The demands for graduates of

these courses are manifested in the published job advertisements. Majority of the job ads is

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looking for business related, medical/ health related and service trade related expertise. These

areas of discipline are frequently advertised as having more work opportunities relative to the

other courses. Generally, the ads are looking for sales, managerial, clerical and accountancy

personnel. These ads are also looking for medical professionals and service trade personnel.

It would be noted that despite the large number of graduates in the business related

courses (i.e. business administration), the majority of the ads are not seeking managerial

positions. Instead, a bulk of the ads requiring business degrees is actually looking for employees

in the staff level or clerical position. This implies a looming condition for underemployment.

Employers appear to demand more qualifications from applicants than what is actually required

by the job. It also manifest the possible role of the value ascribed by the Filipino culture in

“white-collar jobs” relative to other jobs. Everyone seems to dream of become a manager loathed

to be a mere employee or worker. One implication of this finding points to the direction of how

we educate and reinforce our children to venture into different career possibilities. The current

proliferation and persistent high enrolment rates among “popular” college courses (i.e. business

administration) suggests a lack of knowledge or even information among our student on the

different “needed’’ college courses (i.e. agriculture, engineering) for economic development. The

role of adequate career counseling would focus on encouraging and/ or even promoting among

students various career alternatives that would match their interests, capabilities and the needs of

the nation.

Second, the analysis also suggests the possible limitations of printed or even Internet

advertisement in revealing the true state of employment demands. Given that not all employers

can afford the cost of advertisement, there is a great discrepancy in between the actual job

demand and that revealed by the advertisements explored. Thus, there may be occupations that

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are in great demand but are not published in newspapers or even the Internet. For instance, the

great demand for nurses is not reflected in the actual frequencies of job advertisements. One

possibility could be the mode of recruitment used in the field (i.e. agencies). For college

counselors, this means that the usual career development training that they provide graduating

students should not only provide strategies that involved using newspaper classified ads.

Graduating students can benefit from the knowledge of alternative job seeking methods (i.e.

personal referrals) instead of just relying on traditional job seeking techniques.

Third, the results indicate that there are employers who show preference in their selection

for applicants with work experience, college graduates and those below the age of 40. Although

these ads do not comprise the majority of the advertisements studied, it is noteworthy that in the

age of “political correctness” and equal opportunity, some employers have yet to adopt a policy

of manifesting this in their advertisements. On a positive side, most of the ads reviewed appear to

have concentrated on showcasing the job specific requirements and benefits of joining their

organization. Prominent among these are the ads found on the Internet websites.

For career counseling, this manifest the generally changing trends in the job market as

well as the corporate culture in relation to human resource. These indicators would suggest that

career development programs catering to graduating students should consider the dynamic

employee requisites expected by employers. Apparently, it is not enough that counselors or even

school placement officers prepare their graduates by teaching them how to prepare their resume

or appear for an interview. There is a probable advantage for job applicants who belong to

institutions that constantly read the job market climate and fittingly train their student clients.

Finally, the analysis echoes the general observation that there is a mismatched between

the graduates that are produced and the actual job demand. Although the study provides a very

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rough estimate of the mismatch, there are indicators that are consistent with the trend. The

percentage of graduates produced annually is higher than the advertised demand for expertise in

architecture, home economics, humanities and others. The percentage of graduates produced

annually is lower than the advertised demand for expertise in business admin, medical, service

trades and education. These indicators would already suggest the need for policy makers

particularly those involved in the tertiary education level to align their course offerings not only

with the job market trend but also with the needs of the nation.

For career counselors, the implication manifests itself in every client who desires to

pursue a college course leading to a have a high paying job (i.e. nursing). Should a counselor

discourage or direct a client from making this choice even if the counselor is knows that this is

inappropriate to their abilities and interest? Admittedly, there are dilemmas faced by counselors

that would probably be not easy to resolve. Given the country’s economic condition and the

emphasis on financial freedom versus career growth, career counseling becomes a very

challenging endeavor. There is a limitation to what counselors can do to help clients decide on

important life choices. The analysis on the newspaper job ads suggests that there are possible

differences between what we think is the condition of the job market and its actual state. It is also

implying that there is a possible mismatch between what we are preparing our students and what

is demanded by the workplace. Given these factors, counselors may sometimes have to be

prepared to deal with the complications to counseling clients relative to these issues. Being in the

helping profession, counselors need to be prepared to meet these challenges and likewise ready

to handle the frustrations that go with it.

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Analysis of Job Advertisements 12


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Table 1 Frequency distribution of job ads per academic discipline area

Academic discipline area f %Business Admin. And related fields 261 42.03Medical and Allied 80 12.88Service Trades 73 11.76Mathematics and Computer Science 41 6.60Engineering and Technology 39 6.28Fine and Applied Arts 29 4.67Education and Teacher Training 26 4.19Trade, Craft and Industrial 20 3.22Social and Behavioral Science 19 3.06General 14 2.25Law and Jurisprudence 7 1.13Agricultural, Forestry, Fisheries, Vet Med. 6 0.97Other Disciplines 4 0.64Natural Science 2 0.32Grand total 621 100.00

Table 2 Frequency distribution of job ads per job type

Job type PercentMarketing and Sales 9.66%Secretarial, Office Support, Clerical 9.18%Managerial 6.76%Computers and Technology related 6.60%Accounting Assistants 6.44%Engineering and Architecture 6.28%Accountancy 6.12%Nurses 6.12%Artist, Graphics 4.67%Academia and Education 4.19%Transportation, Vehicle operation 4.03%Auditor 3.86%Human Resource 3.06%

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DevelopmentMedicine, 3.06%Services, Maintenance 2.74%Hotel and Restaurant Mgt 2.58%Construction Laborer 2.42%Callcenter agents 2.25%Machinist, Welder 1.93%Med. Tech, Lab Tech 1.61%Midwife 1.45%Automotive Mechanic 1.13%Agriculture , Veterinarian 0.97%Law and Law Enforcement 0.81%Care giving 0.48%Aviation Services 0.32%Military, Security 0.32%Sciences, Research 0.32%Entertainer etc, Mass Media 0.16%Manufacturing 0.16%Physical Therapy 0.16%Seaman, etc 0.16%Grand total 100.00%

Table 3 Frequency distribution of advertised job requirement

Job requirement f %With Experience Requirement 167 38%College Graduate, Post Grad 160 37%With Age requirement 129 30%Applicant can be of any gender 76 17%With Licensure Requirements 53 12%Specifies Applicant to be Female 49 11%Specifies Applicant to be Male 40 9%High School Diploma ,College Undergraduate 15 3%

Table 4 comparison of average percentage of total graduates with percentage of job ads

Discipline groupAve % of total graduates for

SY 1999-2001% of Job ads

Business Admin. and Related 29.99% 42.03%

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Education and Teacher Training 16.66% 4.19%Engineering and Technology 12.71% 6.28%Medical and Allied 9.37% 12.88%Mathematics and Computer Science 9.06% 6.60%Other Disciplines 7.10% 0.64%Agricultural, Forestry, Fisheries, Vet Med. 3.38% 0.97%Social and Behavioral Science 3.36% 3.06%General 1.73% 2.25%Mass Communication and Documentation 1.28% Natural Science 1.26% 0.32%Humanities 1.13% Service Trades 0.67% 11.76%Architectural and Town Planning 0.65% Law and Jurisprudence 0.57% 1.13%Fine and Applied Arts 0.38% 4.67%Religion and Theology 0.33% Home Economics 0.25% Trade, Craft and Industrial 0.11% 3.22%

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ABSTRACT

This research attempted to compare the congruence of advertised job opportunities and

the supply of trained manpower as illustrated by the graduates and enrolment statistics of

tertiary educational institutions. Two prominent broad sheet newspapers and two career

websites were reviewed from April 4 to April 26, 2004 and June 13, 20 & 27, 2004. The

researchers analyzed the content of these newspaper and online job searches on the basis

of advertised job opportunities. Advertised requirements of the different job opportunities

(i.e. age, gender, educational qualifications, etc.) were also identified. Implications on

human resource development and national educational policies were discussed.

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All in all, the paper has promise and may be a good edition tothe PJP IO edition. However, there is much work to be done to improve thepaper.

1) The abstract needs to be rewritten so that it presents majorfindings.

2) The introduction focuses too much on the job search process. However, that is peripheral to your research problem which is reallyabout describing the job openings and the match between demands and supply. Youwill need to provide more background on this in the introduction. Your lit ongraduation rates on higher education also seems off-tanget to your problem.You can perhaps go to reports by the Bureau of Labor and EmploymentStatistics. PMAP's people manager in October 4 had an article on the labormismatch and hiring in the new economy. Please re-examine your introductionand make sure it focuses more on your research problem.

3) Methodology - you need to state how many advertisements wereexamined and from what source.

4) Your results section is too short and the treatment of thedata is a bit shallow. For example, you can analyze the nature of openings byjob level. You can do crosstabulations on job type and level. You can alsoprovide more information on Table 3 results - for example, what positionsspecifically require females, males etc.

5) Your discussion section can also be deepened. How do theresults compare to that of other countries or across time? You will also needto go beyond the implications to career counseling - What are the implications of yourresults on government policy or regulation? What are the implications ofyour results for employers? You can also view your results from the lenseof discrimination and equal opportunity. What do your results suggest withregards to this?

6) On page 10, you note that there is a large number of graduates in business mgmt but majority of ads are not seeking managerial positions. I wonder if it is a fair assumption that all BM graduates seek management positions. That does not seem realistic even in developingcountries.

7) Also on page 10, you say Filipinos value white collar jobs relative toother jobs - what is your reference to back this up? You also say everyone seems to dream of becoming a manager - quite a sweeping statement that needs to be backed up by research.

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8) You have two paragraphs both talking about implications on careercounseling (page 10 and 11). These can be integrated.

9) You will need to include a discussion on limitations of your study andimplications for future research. If you were to do this over again - howwould you improve on your methodology? What are the other research questions you failed to answer but seem to important based on your results?

10) There are a number of lapses in grammar, spelling and style in thearticle. For example, Your title - Implications ON rather than TO careercounseling

P. 7 last sentence of first paragraph 'likewise literature and studiesregarding the content of job information the job seekers RELAY on forguide.

p. 12. first sentence of 2nd paragraph ' For careercounselors, the implication manifests itself in every client who desires topursue a college course leading to a have a high paying job' (?)

11) Be careful that the tone of your paper remains technical andresearch based. For example, on page5, 1st paragraph, "they must be reminded that thehardest part is just beginning" -- these kind of statements are more appropriate for literary articles rather than scientific articles.

12) There is no need to have a separate section for job hunting and internetjob hunting.

13) Number your research questions after the colon.

14) Your references are not cited in conformance to APAstandards. Please check APA Manual for Publications as to the correct manner ofciting them. Also, please double check your citation for Bolles. Your citation for Brownis also incomplete.

Choosing a CareerChoosing a career is one of the most important decisions one has to take early in one’s life. Many people do not like their jobs and considering that one will spend more waking hours at work than at any other activity, this phenomenon is very disturbing. People end up in the ‘wrong’ jobs, because they are not

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true to themselves and follow a career path bydoing what friends or family tell them. They accept the first thing that comes along, or they look at a series of occupations and guess which one would suit them best. Today, more than ever, knowing one’s own strengths, weaknesses, preferences, skills, interests, values and personality type is critical in taking control of one’s career. The career path of the successful IT worker is currently very topical and seems to be different from five years ago. In the past the typical career path of an ICT professional was linear - from programmer to systems analyst to project manager to ICT manager. In a sense the lower level ICT jobs are rapidly dis-appearing and the requirements for ICT professionals are becoming more demanding in multiple dimen-sions, particularly in the areas of business functional knowledge, interpersonal– and management skills. It is crucial for learners to be informed about the different career options in the ICT field and that they base their career choice upon this information.The Role of Higher EducationHigher Education, in terms of both quantity and quality of skills at all levels, is the “prime determinant of a country’s level of industrial productivity and hence competitiveness” (Harvey, 1998). For South Africa to play a role in the world of technology and computing, it would therefore be essential that aca-demic institutions produce technologically literate young people - with the necessary business, social and communicative skills - and provide the capable workforce that the country needs. In the climate of change, graduates in South Africa have to be aware of the changing nature of jobs and the required pro-file of employees in the different fields of ICT. According to Hillman (1999) the total quality management (TQM) philosophy is spreading to higher education institutions. The fundamental purpose of TQM is to serve the clients better and “academic institutions serve several clients, including learners, employers, parents, alumni, lecturers, taxpayers, supporters, governing boards, administrators, staff, research users and society as a whole”. Some of our most important customers are the firms that hire the institution’s graduates. We must therefore have the resources and be flexible enough to serve the various needs of our clients. Within the TQM framework,

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our academic managers and lecturers should aim to understand the needs of the industry and the learner after graduation and “transform” it into improved training programs.Page 4 Informing Clients in Education about Instructional Offer

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Philippine Job Ads Analysis