2008 - Marketing Educators' Association

(1) family concern and decided not to find, (2) lack of
work experience, (3) no job opportunity, and (4) did
not look for job. Communications services employed
a big percentage of our graduates, with the growing
number of call centers in the country. Distributed in
almost equal small percentages are major lines of
businesses where, however, the biggest number of
those employed came from the Marketing
Department.
Graduates of all the courses of Business
Administration considered information technology
skills as the job competency learned in college
related to their present jobs. Aggressive product
development, expanding product lines, and the
presence of hundreds of product brands, added to
the fact that in the past decade service marketing,
outsourcing and franchising have grown to a
surprising rate, the Marketing graduates were given
better chances of being employed and promoted.
As of the time this study was conducted, 89.87
percent of Marketing graduates are presently
employed, 78.63 percent for Management, 50.52
percent for Banking and Finance, 45.62 for
Accountancy, and 75 percent for Office
Administration. Data revealed that Marketing
graduates got the highest percentage of graduates
being employed while Banking and Finance got the
lowest percentage. Course description may have
been a factor because graduates limited their job
search only in companies doing business which they
feel seem to be related with their qualifications like
banks and other financial intermediaries. Marketing
graduates seem to try all companies where they
think marketing skills in product planning,
advertising, promotions, sales, public relations, food
services, hotels, restaurants, and tourism may be
needed.
Those who have their own businesses ranging from
photo studios, computer shops, and franchising of
micro-financed food stalls, said that their confidence
in meeting and talking to people, which they learned
by being ushers and usherettes during conferences,
and mingling with students from other schools and
universities, developed their self-confidence in
communicating with their customers.
VINCENTIAN CORE VALUES
Spirit of St. Vincent and Social Responsibility got the
highest percentage among the Vincentian core
values the graduates felt helped them in their
employment. These are followed by Search for
Excellence and Sustained Integral Development
which were instrumental in getting high performance
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ratings in their jobs, while teambuilding activities
learned in college developed in the graduates the
core value Solidarity.
CONCLUSIONS
Competencies learned in school were the biggest
factors which developed self-confidence among our
graduates. On-the-job training was very useful, and
actually was their stepping stones to being
discovered by future employers. Computer skills
were found by the graduates to be instrumental in
looking for their first jobs.
Courses requiring the passing of a licensure
examination still got the highest potential for
receiving high salaries. Marketing jobs, however,
receive additional compensation in the form of
commissions and bonuses for closed sales deals,
hence, the graduates found their skills in
communicating and dealing with people instrumental
in their jobs.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Curricular offerings of colleges and universities have
to be revisited for the performance of graduates
based on the competencies they will learn in college
will shape the socio-economic conditions of the
country. Problems owing to the situational factors
affecting employability and qualifications of the
graduates may be addressed through a review of
the curricular offerings of the university and improve
capability-building activities like a strengthened onthe-job
training and other academic experience and
competencies learned in college.
Colleges and universities should have an open mind
to evolving curriculum standards. Sans the
difficulties of revising the curriculum to conform to
government standards, schools can only cope with
the changing environment in the government and
industry arenas through a timely revisit of the
programs.
(It is noteworthy that Adamson University has
continuously conducted graduates tracer studies in
other colleges. New programs were offered, after a
revisit of the different existing programs, in
compliance with the mandate of the Commission on
Higher Education, particularly CHED Memorandum
Order No. 39, Series 2006, bearing on the subject:
Policies, Standards and Guidelines for Bachelor of
Science in Business Administration (BSBA)).
References Available on Request.