Source: Smarter Pinoy Abroad Book / Authors: Miriam M. Tanedo-Carino, bernardita Catalla, Fernando Dela Cruz, Raffy David, Lucita Lazo and Chona Siene-Yap

Here are some tips to go about applying for work abroad:

1. Make sure that you have assessed your own qualifications – your strengths and weaknesses as a person. Turn to the “jobs finder” or classified ads section in any newspaper. The best copy is the Sunday newspaper which has a volume of ads for local and overseas jobs. While listening to the radio, be quick to take down notes about jobs.
2. Visit the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) website http://www.poea.gov.ph for the updated list of job vacancies by position, by country and by recruitment agency.
3. Check with the POEA if the recruitment agency of your choice is licensed. If not in the list of accredited agencies, call the POEA’s Licensing Division to check if the agency is recently registered. This is to ensure that you do not fall victim to illegal recruitment.

                                                No jobs in Samoa

In March 2005, the founder and chair of the Alliance of Tribal Minorities Philippines, Inc. sent 12 Filipinos to Samoa, a country near New Zealand. These Pinoys are from Benguet in the Cordillera Administrative Region. They were assured of the jobs in the island.

Samoan immigration authorities allowed the Pinoys to stay temporarily. But Ms. Elita Garin-Aloaina, a community leader in Samao, expressed strong doubts the 12 Pinoys could find Samoan employers in time to sponsor them.

To protect Pinoy job hunters, the Department of Foreign Affairs warned prospective OFWs not to entertain advertisements or job offers for Samoa. There certainly are no jobs available for foreign workers in the Pacific island state.

                             No jobs in Cambodia

The Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh has denied reports that there are teaching jobs for Pinoys in Cambodia.

Charge d’Affaires Dinno M. Oblena Attributed the perceived demand for Pinoy English teachers to a featured report in a Philippine TV program.

CDA Oblena corrected the misperception, saying that even Pinoys who have been in Cambadia for a long time have difficulty looking for jobs. Pinoy teachers who have come to Cambodia have now become disillusioned after months of unemployment, or of receiving poor salaries and benefits.

How to avoid illegal recruitment:

1. Get a copy of the list of licensed recruitment agencies. You can get this through the POEA website or from POEA regional offices, public employment service office (PESO), and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and its regional and provincial offices.
2. Check with POEA if the agency has the job order being advertised.
3. Do not pay if the agency will not issue an official receipt. Pay only the equivalent of one month salary as placement fee, and only upon signing of the employment contract.
4. Do not accept a tourist visa. You need a working visa.
5. Avoid fixers. Transact business only with authorized representatives of the POEA.