DOLE Batangas debuts its Online Career Coaching program

To respond to the career coaching needs of job seekers, DOLE-Batangas launched its online career coaching (OCC) program in partnership with Batangas-based psychology professionals as volunteer career coaches.

In its social media post last October 12, DOLE-Batangas assured job seekers that the Department is ready to help them in their career struggles which are often characterzied by the questions: Bakit kaya hindi ako matanggap?; Ano ba talaga ang sakto na trabaho para sa akin?; Paano kaya ako mapopromote? To book a session, job seekers just have to register at www.tinyurl.com/OnlineCareerCoaching.

"This pandemic has immensely affected the employment landscape. Based sa recent studies, tumaas ang depression rate. One of the factors is unemployment. Now, with OCC kung saan katuwang natin ay mga professionals talaga, we will try to alleviate their burden. When they need someone to talk to, we are here. When they need advice pagdating sa trabaho, andito kami," Dir. Predelma M. Tan said.

"Ang nakakatuwa pa dito sa OCC, it promotes volunteerism. It moves members of the community to help fellow members of the community," she added.

The Volunteer Career Coaches

The pioneer batch of volunteer career coaches are four: Mr. Carl Reman Maranan, RPm, MAEd GC; Mr. Marc D. Tesico, RPm, RPsy; Mr. Adrian P. Magahis, MA Psych, and; Ms. Giselle Ann E. Manansala, RPm.

"Noong nakausap ko sila, tuwang tuwa sila sa konsepto. At walang hesitancy, they said 'yes' right away. They know the need; they felt it. And they know na they are morally obliged to help," Dr. Karl Joseph D. Sanmocte, lead program implementer, narrated.

Ms. Manansala confirmed this. She added, "This is a very nice initiative. Sa mga primary work namin, alam namin yung situation. So to see that DOLE is adapting to the situation, nakakatuwa siya. There is hope."

Last October 14, Dr. Sanmocte deepened the volunteer career coaches appreciation of the online program. In their meeting held at 8:00 pm, that is, after the daytime working hours of the volunteers, they were re-oriented on the process flow of the service which can be availed through Facebook messenger, Zoom, Google Meet or phone calls. Basic re-enactments were also done to situate the coaches to the actual scenario. They also revisited the guide questions because they are important for the coaches' preparations.

As of this writing, 20 individuals have tried OCC which is part of DOLE-Batangas' earlier project: Employment E-Services.