5 Things to Consider in Choosing and Deciding on What Career Path to Take for Graduating High School Students

 By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON

Reality speaks that only one in every college graduates actually land a job related to their course and discipline.  Majority don't and the most unlucky just join the bandwagon of the unemployed or 'tambays.'

There are actually lots of available jobs in the industry today which has remained unfilled due to existing mismatch with what the industry actually needs and our schools are producing.

Contrary to popular belief, there is MUCH money in Agriculture.

In this regard, I recalled what has transfired a couple of days ago while travelling on my way to work. I heard sitmates discussing on what course they intend their siblings to take after graduation.  One said that "I like her just take education, however, she doesnt like it that's why, may be just Hotel and Restaurant Management (gusto ko magteacher na lang sya, kaso ayaw, kaya Hotel and Restaurant Management na lang siguro). 

This could be prevented if we could learn to consider the following:

1.  The labor market trends and industry needs.  What is needed by the labor market today and two to five years from now?  The classified ads will give you a clue of what possibly is the best career will land you a job after graduation.  Dont just go with the craze or peer influence.  Remember, its about yourself and your future.

2.  Competence and passion.  Consider your competence, skills, abilities and what you like and love to do.  Your passion and interest and the areas you excel the most. The result of your NCAE (National Career Assessment Examination) will guide you what career suits you. It does mean that what you wanted may simply be unfit on what you can do and is passionate of doing. Much more what you think is the in-thing at present is absolutely not what the industry and the employers need and wanted two to five years from now. 

3.  Resources.  Apart from competence and skills is the availability of resources.  Does your family can afford the course you want to take?  If not, look for scholarships available.  There are lots of available scholarships that the government and the private sectors offer to deserving students. 

4.  Choose the right institution.  For those who will opt to enroll in college, choose credible institutions with record of quality academic standards and high board passing rates.  Don't be fooled by schools that produce Board topnotchers but have a low passing rate.  For those who opt to take courses with a much higher employability, consider TESDA or the Technical and Skills Development Authority.

5.  Consider and balance all your options. After considering your resources, you have to consider your options.  May be you could consider technical and agricultural courses.  The government agency TESDA offers lots of technical courses whose employability is very high.  Not only that you will only be trained for a short time.  There are also private and non-government run technical institutions where their students already earn while are studying!

It is a cutlural belief that being professional is the best route to success.  On the contrary it's not for there are varying route to success.  The professional world doesnt simply have the monopoly of it.  Success depends on the person. 

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Basic Guide in Choosing the Right Career for High School Graduating Students

The Dismal State of Graduate Education 

The Dismal State of Graduate Education

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes

If basic and tertiary education are describe to be sub-standard, nothing will seem to surpass Graduate Education in the country as observers in the early and late nineties until now constantly describe and affirm.

Photo courtesy of fewsimplethoughts.com

Seven years ago data on graduate enrollment reveals that 43.8% of the total enrollment was in teacher education.  The doctoral level is far higher having a share of 62.6% (Garcia 1996). Thus, it is predicted to increase further encouraging the proliferation of ‘diploma mill’ type of institutions and unqualified graduates.

From this vantage, it appears that their ability to respond to new challenges is questionable hence, “it is preposterous to think of a bureaucracy manned by full-fledged MA’s and Ph.D’s who know little about their disciplines”(Angel Alcala 1996).

Given the fact that the kind of school management being employed by our school leaders is still far fetched from what it is desired is a reflection and is in direct relation with the fact that many of this masters and doctors know little of their disciplines

In recognition for this claim, weight other than that of graduate education is given on merit and performance in the current DepEd setup although, being a full fledged MA and better Doctor, still puts somebody ahead than those who don’t regardless of how and where their degrees were taken.

Adding insult to injury is the still popular belief and thinking that majority have when it comes to graduate education not only in the area of educational administration and educational management but also in other disciplines.  “The requirement of graduate units as a prerequisite for promotion and advancement was abused and misinterpreted.  For instance, instead of aiming to become researchers and creators of knowledge, many graduate students aim for graduate units or a CAR (Complete Academic Requirements) to comply with academic requirements,”(Angel C. Alcala, EDCOM Chairman 1996).

Fr. Ranhilio Callangan Aquino in his article entitled The Woeful State of Graduate Education, said that research that typifies graduate work in other countries will hardly be found in many of our graduate institutions. Theses and dissertations are often perfunctory and dull: ?Reading Problems of Grade 6 Pupils of Barangay Maraburab?, ?Job Satisfaction of the Pumping Station at Iriga? and other inconsequential products of half an attempt at diligence are willingly accepted ?in partial fulfillment of requirements? for high-sounding degrees.

Taken altogether, “these studies are as localized as they are unrelated to each other. This must be partly due to the fact that these studies were done independently and are therefore, desperate and unrelated to one another (Ochave, 1996).

Sad to say, but there are even some state colleges and universities in the provinces which are contributing to this malady, to think that there are many instances that they require their students to finish their thesis in just a semester.  To make sure that their students will finish in that short while, thesis advisers use to require their students to report to them even during week days.

There are, to be sure, graduate programs in the Philippines that compare favorably with those offered by creditable foreign institutions abroad, but with a graduate school or more in almost every province and cities of our country now, those that contribute to Philippine education reliable masters and credible doctors are indeed few.

It is limited to CHED’s center of excellence.  However, only few, dare to enroll in this institutions for even with those who have money, will just prefer institutions that will insure that they will graduate and this will be credited when they apply for promotion.

In a keynote speech delivered by then Secretary of Education Isidro Cariño in a PAGE national conference in 1991, he noted the persistent rumors (until now) about the “ghost writing” of thesis and dissertations and “trading” of finished manuscripts.  He also noted the proliferation of masters and doctoral program of dubious quality.  As long as one has the money, it is said that thesis isn’t a problem.

Dr. Josefina Cortez once said in 1994 that graduate education suffers from “diploma disease” virus.   The situation becomes even more serious if we consider that most of the products of these graduate programs end up as school leaders managing, leading, directing, and supervising our schools. Or at the outset, teaching and handling administrative positions in our colleges and universities.

Currently, DepEd has just released a new memorandum with regards to school principals who want reclassification which require them to be full-fledged MA’s plus additional units in Doctoral as they climb up the ladder.

Just recently, the Civil Service Commission has released an issuance putting MA degrees as a requirement for all Level II position appointments, thus increasing more the demand for MA and Doctoral degrees from both quality and mediocre graduate colleges in the land.

Indeed, it would be bread and butter, or a milking cow for scrupulous graduate institutions and of thesis advisers who themselves have a difficult grasp of their disciplines hence they themselves are products of mediocrity.

If our graduate institutions doesn’t merely meet standards of this globalized world, how could we expect Basic Education manned by products of these graduate institutions?  The Civil Service Commission should think about this while CHED should strengthen the regulation, accreditation and policies governing the operations of Graduate Schools in the country.

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(Mr. Gilbert M. Forbes had his Bachelors Degree and MA in Educational Management (CAR) from the Philippine Normal University.  A campus paper adviser and trainer for 13 years.  Currently, he is a school principal in one of the central schools in the Division of Quezon.) 

References:

Alcala Angel C., Excellence of Graduate Education Research, Sangguni, Vol. IX No. 1, Philippine Normal University Press, October 1997

Garcia Ester A., General Directions for Graduate Education:  The CHED Viewpoint; Sangguni, Vol. IX No. 1, October 1997

Ochave Jesus A., Towards the Development of a General Framework for Research in Teacher Education in the Philippines, Sangguni, Vol. IX No. 1, Philippine Normal University Press, October 1997

Callangan Aquino, Ranhilio C., The Woeful State of Graduate Education, Manila Standard, September 8, 2008

Garcia Ester A., General Directions for Graduate Education:  The CHED Viewpoint; Sangguni, Vol. IX No. 1, October 1997

Ochave Jesus A., Towards the Development of a General Framework for Research in Teacher Education in the Philippines, Sangguni, Vol. IX No. 1, Philippine Normal University Press, October 1997

An Example of Financial Ignorance

14 Million Pesos is a already a very big big amount of money that one can receive now a days.  Even a retiring level two management employee in government could hardly receive three million at present.

But it is just very sad that it is gone in only three months.  Should he put it in business, even it didn't succeed, at least, he has helped employed some.

It only shows how important is the knowledge of how money works and should work not only among the rich but most importantly to the common people.  Here is the complete article from the Manila Bulletin as appeared on Tuesday, March 13, 2012.

 Lotto Winner Spends P14M In Just 3 Months

MANILA, Philippines - For three months, Dionie Reyes (DR) - winner of P14,125,032 in the Lotto 6/42 draw on April 22, 2008 - lived the life of a millionaire, something he had been longing to experience.

He lived in a P4-million house in a posh subdivision, drove around in a sports utility vehicle (SUV), and gave goodwill money, ranging P1,000 to P 850,000, to relatives and friends. He also gambled daily, womanized, and went on regular drinking sprees.

In an exclusive interview, DR told the Manila Bulletin that he did not regret throwing all the money away, because it was his, he enjoyed it to the hilt, and he did not take it from anybody else.

"I won it from a lotto game of PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office)," DR said. "It was my money. I spent my P14 million in three months," he admits.  But in the end, he felt sorry for his unbridled spending spree.

From being an instant millionaire, DR now owes some people about P500,000.

And to underscore his current state of living, DR underwent a heart surgery at the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) last September without any cash on hand. And he had to thank the PCSO management for helping him pay for the cost of operation of about P500,000, more or less.

Nearly four years after his lucky streak, the married native of Las Piñas, now 47, with an 11-years-old adopted son, said he wants to tell his story so others who may strike gold, or already did, with the lotto games may learn a lesson or two from his experience.

When this pen pusher, rather Blackberry user, told him his name will not be mentioned to shield him from any uninvited or unintended consequences of his coming out in public, he won't have it that way.

"If you are not going to mention my name, then there is no use telling my story. Readers may not believe your article. You may even use my photograph," he insists.

"After all, I have nothing to fear. That was about four years ago already. I had spent all my winnings. Nothing is left, except my house and the things I gave my relatives, office mates, friends, and acquaintances," he says.

DR recalled that before his mother Paz died at 71 in 2004, she used to tell him that she had been praying for him to win in the lotto play.

"Anak, ipinagdarasal ko na manalo ka na ng lotto para makatikim naman tayo ng ginhawa (Son, I have been praying that you win in the lotto so we can have a better life)," DR recalls his mother telling him.

DR proudly said that being the youngest of his six siblings made him the favorite of his mother. He has five sisters and a brother.

About four years after his mother's demise, DR finally hit the jackpot, using a Lucky Pick, System 7 bet worth P70. A System 7 bet has seven combinations.

"It was a Tuesday when I hit the jackpot. My boss announced that a lotto machine gave out the winning numbers for 6/42, Lucky Pick, and System 7," relates DR.

"I had all the three categories. So, I silently hoped that I am the winner," says DR. He did not check his ticket yet.
Wednesday evening, after work, like in many other days before, DR went on another drinking session.

He still did not check his lotto ticket in his wallet, which by then was already drenched with his own urine because of too much drinking.

Friday, at lunch time, while eating with an office mate, DR took out his smelly wallet and got the 6/42 ticket. He had memorized the winning combination, 09-15-18-23-28-40, which had at stake P14,125,032.

"Uy, I got three... four... five numbers," DR exclaims, as excitement overwhelmed him. He said he no longer mentioned he got all the six drawn numbers. He just nudged his officemate, who got the message.

"At 1 p.m., accompanied by my boss, I had my winning ticket validated at the PCSO's Internal Audit Department. The lotto machine did not accept it at first because of urine smudge. So, the validation was done manually, entering into the lotto machine the security numbers in the ticket," recounts DR.

The PCSO validation machine confirmed DR won the more than P14-million jackpot.

"After about an hour, I got the check and I went to the bank, still with my boss," he said.
"Lahat tayo may pangarap. Gusto ko talaga magkaroon ng kotse, magandang bahay, at makahawak ng malaking pera. Kaya sinabi ko sa bangko bigyan ako ng isang milyon na cash at tulungan ako makabili ng Toyota Fortuner na usong-uson noon," he recalls with fondness.

He said he was adamant he wanted to go home driving his new car, and a million-peso cash with him. The bank made sure he got them. It was already evening when he got his shiny Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV).

Later, DR also bought a P4-million house and lot at BF Homes in Las Piñas.

Out of his winnings, he gave his six siblings P50,000 each; another P500,000 to one of his nephews for a three-door apartment he wanted to build; and from R1,000 to R30,000 to some of his office mates; and R100,000 to his boss.

He gifted a nephew of his wife with a car worth P850,000, a Mitsubishi Fuzion. DR now hitches a ride with him every time he goes to work.

For a month, he did not go home to Cavite where he lived at the time he won. He stayed with a sister-in-law in Parañaque City.

When he finally showed up in Cavite, he gave away from P5,000 to P50,000 to some friends and neighbors.

DR estimated he gave away about P2 million or more for "balato" to relatives, friends, neighbors, and office mates, not counting people he did not know who came to him to borrow money.

"I just gave them and told them not to pay me back," he says.

Just over a year later, he sold his car and then his house at BF Homes. He bought another house also in Las Piñas worth P1.7 million. He now wants to sell the house to pay off debts.

DR narrated that the rest of his money, about P10 million, was gone in only three months.
"I spent all my money through daily gambling, especially cockfighting, drinking sprees nightly, and womanizing. Almost every day, I lost a minimum of P100,000 in cockfighting. It was very quick, I had an especial ATM (automated teller machine) card issued by my bank," DR says.

"Every time I came home, my wife just cried and cried. She asked me many times to stop. I did not listen. My siblings also asked me to change ways and have a new life," he recalls.
"I did not listen to any of them. It was my money, anyway. I won it fairly not at the expense of others," DR maintains.

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Spending Instance 

Financial Literacy 

Value of Personal Finance as Advocates Promote Validated by Orman's Visit, A Wake Up Call to Skeptics

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes 
DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON

Photo from www. siliconangle.com

Personal awakening on the value of managing finances well came to time when I was almost broke seven years ago.  The toll of financial mismanagement is great because until now, instead of being on a savings stage and creating passive income, I am still struggling on getting out of debt the fast as I can.

Slow as it may, but we are doing well.  From having debt to seven major creditors, we are now trying our best to get out of the remaining three of which the house and lot where we reside is included.  From having a negative net worth, we are now experiencing a positive net worth for three years and it is continuously increasing. 
 
With the difficulties our family has to pass, since, experiencing for the first time having a positive net worth three years ago, I was inspired to include financial literacy in the work place as one of my personal advocacy.  It later included this medium.

However, fellow workers acceptance of the concept is still weak.  I could still remember one time that a fellow worker said in defense of her colleague that I should understand that we have different set of values when it comes to finance.  That we should just leave it that way.
 
The problem however, is due to being enslave to credit, as a result of complicated lifestyle their productivity in the work place have been affected tremendously.  Some have to do business in the work place even when it is greatly against the work place policy and ethical standards. Their lukewarm attitude towards the value of simple living and managing finances only proved them wrong upon the visit of Internationally Acclaimed Personal Finance Expert, Suze Orman who warned Pinoys of their spending habits which is patterned after the Americans.  
 
“ Filipino consumers should avoid going the way of the US, which had allowed its economy to grow on credit (card) and lending to people who could not afford homes and have been grappling with more people “on a highway to poverty.” “Build this country on cash (meaning save more and more) so that it could never collapse, then you can change your lives,” said Orman, who was raised in an unruly Chicago neighborhood and who used to wait on tables and sleep in her car before transcending poverty as a broker at American investment house Merrill Lynch.

The American personal finance guru spoke strongly against incurring debt to purchase non-essential things, noting she had watched her own country fall apart because of this.  She said consumers must distinguish between good and bad debt, good debt being amortizing to one day own a home.
I could say however is cautioned must be undertaken when applying for a house and lot.  Be sure that your budget and ability to pay is considered or else, home amortization would also led you into trouble.  Investing in real state is better if it will generate income enough to pay for itself or you are renting a home and the rent is more than enough for rent to own financing.  If not, its better to invest in agricultural lands which could be must cheaper particularly in rural areas.

Orman also advised OFW’s to consider whether sending money to adult brothers or relatives would only be encouraging dependence. “Is it possible that it’s hurting them rather than helping them?,” she said, adding that some people may not reach their potential or may not be driven into making contingency plans because they have remittances to fall back on.

But she stressed that for parents, it’s a whole different light, as she herself would want to take care of her mother. For young people, they should realize that their best commodity is time and that by starting to regularly save a portion of their earnings regularly, they will accumulate more wealth with the help of compounding, which means earnings from an initial investment are reinvested over and over, according to Orman.

With the help of compounding, she said a person who would set aside $100 (or Php100) a month starting the age of 20 would end up with $1 million (or Php1 million) upon reaching 60.  But if one waits until age 30 to start setting aside, the same person will end up with only $300,000 at age 60. This 10-year delay in starting an investment plan has thus cost the person $700,000, she noted.

“Every single person in this world has the ability to be more and have more and it’s the choices that we make about ourselves that become our net worth,” she concluded. I am just sad that I am already 20 years or more late because until now, I am still settling for the eradication of my debt.  I wish, I could have learned all of these when still new in the service and fresh from college and from the success of having between ends meet.

If it would have been, we are already millionaire and could have been helping more and the nation instead of being still in-debt.  Thanks to the strong will that God has provided us through the years.  His guidance and presence gave us enough wisdom to delay gratification though at times we still had some buying sprees.

Reference:  Dumlao Doris C., Philippines to shine in global community soon, says finance guru Suze Orman, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Feb. 28, 2012.

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DepEd Sec. Armin Luistro's Messages to 2012 Graduates

DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro

To our dear graduates, parents, school administrators, faculty and staff of (name of school); my warmest and sincerest greetings on this momentous occasion.

 I am privileged to celebrate with you today's commencement exercises which marks the  culmination of years of hard work and study, planning and preparation, and investment in time and resources.  This day is truly significant milestone for every graduate, parent, administrator, faculty and staff, as it is for us in the Department of Education.

 And while we know that it does not end here-- for most of you, this is only the beginning- it is only right that we take this opportunity to pause, take account of what we have accomplished, and issue a deep sigh of satisfaction and relief as we congratulate one another, before moving on the to the next chapter of our lives.

This year's theme, "Your Gift of Learning, Our Tool for Nation Building," extends an appropriate invitation to each one of us.  The gift of learning is a universal one offered to every stakeholder in the education sector.

To our dear graduates, remember that your newly harnessed values, knowledge and skills comprise the building blocks of our society.  The choices you make, the relationships you cultivate, the attitudes you bring to school and work, these erect the pillars and walls of our rising nation.  How beautiful and strong you desire this building to be depends a lot on you.

To our rightfully proud parents, administrators, faculty and staff, your own gifts to support and reform education are making it possible for us to hope for a better future.  Yet, let us also remember that our actions and examples, more than our words, leave firmer imprints in the minds of the young.  The integrity we bring into our homes and classrooms become the foundation of our own future.  The justice, peace and prosperity we yearn for strongly depend on the truth and faithfulness we invest today.

We all architects, engineers and builders working together in this colossal project we call our country, the Philippines.  I hope and pray that over and above, each personal dreams for ourselves comes the larger dream of a united, fulfilled and prosperous Filipino people, a dream that not only benefits a few, but one that benefits all.

Congratulations on your achievement!  Celebrate it, cherish it, and let it inspire you to make your own contribution to the development of our nation.

Mabuhay kayong lahat!

Source:   www.deped.gov.ph/uploads/sissuances

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The Myth of Multi-tasking

If you think, multi-tasking is a boon, you have to think twice for research says that productivity actually drops by as much as 40 percent when people try to do two or more things at once according to researchers from the University of Michigan.

If you think multitasking is good, think twice. (firehow.com photo)

According to an article published in Entrepreneur Magazine, as workers' attention spans are whipsawed by interruptions, something insidious happens in the brain:  Interruptions erode an area called effortful control and with it the ability to regulate attention.  In other words, the more you checnk the messages in your email or cellphones, the more you feel to check them.

"Technology is an addiction," says Gayle Porter, a professor of Management at Rutgers University who has studied e-compulsion.  "If someone can't turn their cellphones off particularly the high end BlackBerry, there's a problem.

The cult of multitasing would have use believe that compulsive message-checking is the behavior of an always-on, hyper-productive worker.  But it's not.  It's the sign of a distracted employee who misguidedly believe he can do multiple tasks at one time.

Science disagrees.  People may be able to chew gum and walk at the same time, but they can't do two or more thinking tasks simultaneously.Say, a teacher who is writing test items while reading and checking messages from her phone.  Those are both language tasks (reading and writing) that have to go through the same cognitive channel.

Trying to do both forces, her brain to switch back and forth which results in "switching cost," forcing her to slow down.  The switching exacts other costs too-- mistakes and burnout. One of the study's authors, David Meyer, asserts bluntly that quality work and multitasking are incompatible.

Brian Bailey and Joseph Konstan of the University of Minnesota discovered that sleeve-tagging peripheral tasks triggered twice the number of errors and jacked up levels of annoyance to anywhere between 31 percent and 106 percent.  Their interrupted test workers also took 3 percent to 27 percent more time to complete the reading, counting or math problems.

In fact, the harder the interrupted task, the harder it was to get back on track.  A Microsoft study suggests it takes 15 minutes for a worker to refocus after an interruption

The damaging effects spread well beyond the office cubicle.  Kate LeVan, a communication consultant in Evanston, Illinois, coaches executives whose brains are so scrambled by electronic interruptions that they stumble during key face-to-face interactions: board meetings, investors pitches, sales presentations.

"They can't have an extended conversation for more than a few minutes.," LeVan says.  "That's the impact of having all these data going back and forth. They have problems in conversation because they can't focus."

If this problem exists among professionals, what more on ordinary young students who used to multi-tasked?

Source:  Entrrepreneur Magazine, June 2010 Issue, Philippines