Grads' chances if from the US, Europe?

[anguissette]

If the companies here give preferential treatment to the Big 4 colleges, I was wondering what the chances were of U.S. and European fresh grads who return to Manila to try their luck, and what industries might prefer them. Am going to be graduating from a science major in the US. Thanks.

[rabbaddal]

What industries are you targeting? In a way, grads from the large Philippine universities have a foot in the door since Philippine companies send their representatives to job fairs and on-campus recruiting activities. This is no different from on-campus recruitment by US companies in US colleges. Other than that, you should do pretty well depending on your academic standing. Some things you can do are:

1. Apply online. Multinational companies w/ Philippine offices like P&G, McKinsey, Unilever, and Accenture have online resume collection facilities. Just create a profile and your biodata will be circulated in case there are any openings. Include your Philippine contact details.

2. Go back to the Philippines and keep yourself available in case they have to call you for interviews. For some companies, you may have to send in your resume physically.

3. Network. Get to know who the hiring managers are in the companies you're targeting. Some useful contacts can be found in this forum if you browse through.

Good luck.

[anguissette]

Pharmaceuticals actually.. thanks for the information.

[rabbaddal]

Originally posted by anguissette
Pharmaceuticals actually.. thanks for the information.

Large pharmas like Pfizer, Novartis, and BMS have offices in Manila as well.

[anguissette]

Know what they'd be looking for? I'm still planning to take postgrad, of course, but would like to get an idea of what might help...

[rabbaddal]

Originally posted by anguissette
Know what they'd be looking for? I'm still planning to take postgrad, of course, but would like to get an idea of what might help...

Depends on the field that you're interested in. All pharmas hire medical representatives (medrep) - agents who sell the products to doctors and hospitals. I'm not sure if that's what you're looking at getting into.

Then there's product/brand management or marketing. This is the typical preferred entry point for many college graduates who want to pursue careers in marketing or general management. These people are responsible for building strategies for their assigned products to win market share usually through a combination of the following - competive analysis, target marketing, channel management, packaging, pricing, campaigns & promotion, etc. I'm not sure how it is today but before, most pharmas hired people w/ 1 to 3 years marketing experience for this job. However, some of them like United Laboratories (Unilab) and Metrolab hired fresh graduates.

If you're looking at R&D, it's usually the local companies like Unilab and Metrolab that have research operations in the Philippines. I'm not sure about the foreign companies.

[KuyaDanny]

You might run into some organizational resistance if the people handling your application are narrowminded enough to assume that you will ask for US-equivalent pay just because you graduated from the US. In many cases your application won't even be considered.

One good way to overcome this initial stumbling block is to apply with the US offices of firms with Philippine operations. That way, you also can get a head start on the interviewing.

[tr|n|ty]

Originally posted by KuyaDanny
You might run into some organizational resistance if the people handling your application are narrowminded enough to assume that you will ask for US-equivalent pay just because you graduated from the US. In many cases your application won't even be considered.

ahhhhhhhhhhh sounds familiar! ;)

[rabbaddal]

Originally posted by KuyaDanny
You might run into some organizational resistance if the people handling your application are narrowminded enough to assume that you will ask for US-equivalent pay just because you graduated from the US. In many cases your application won't even be considered.

One good way to overcome this initial stumbling block is to apply with the US offices of firms with Philippine operations. That way, you also can get a head start on the interviewing.

In most application forms, there is a blank for expected salary. The foreign-educated applicant can just fill up the blank with a local salary band.

As for applying w/ US firms that have Philippine operations, it depends on the kind of position applied for. Many multinational pharmas have openings for fresh grads in their US and European offices, but do not make these positions available in their Philippine/ASEAN offices. Companies w/ Philippine offices like Sanofi and Zuellig, for example, required brand/marketing applicants to have 1 to 3 years experience before they can be considered. I remember Warner Lambert and J&J (contractual) take in a few fresh grads for their marketing group. Add to that, some multinational pharmas like Pfizer, BMS, and J&J are starting to take in MBAs w/ 4 years consumer marketing experience for their entry-level brand positions. It's mainly Unilab, the Filipino pharma company, that hires fresh grads for marketing.

I'm not sure about the market for R&D, though. anguissette said she was a science grad.

[KuyaDanny]

I think somebody wants to invite someone else for coffee, and that someone else needs to buy footwear sometime soon...

[victory]

Originally posted by tr|n|ty
ahhhhhhhhhhh sounds familiar! ;)

Off-topic:

tr|n|ty! Kumusta na? We live in NYC now. Midtown, west side, three avenues from Times Square. Drop by sometime and coffee is on me.

[KuyaDanny]

Off-topic:

It might take a while. She's in Manila. ;)

[tr|n|ty]

off topic

why is somebody answering for me? ;)

yes, victory i am back in the beauty of the third world mega-tropolis we all fondly call metro manila. maybe next year when i go for my annual manolo blahnik 50% sale shopping trip to NYC, we'll have coffee. and yes, the coffee is still on you. :)