Job-seekers scramble for opportunities at exhibition<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Lely, 27, was standing in a line for nearly two hours together
\nwith thousands of other job-seekers before she finally managed to
\nenter the job expo venue inside the Peninsula Hotel in Slipi,
\nWest Jakarta on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Lely, a holder of a bachelor's degree in agriculture from a
\nprivate university in Yogyakarta, then joined hundreds of job-
\nseekers, most of whom were recent college graduates to browse the
\njobs offered inside by 36 companies taking part in the fair.<\/p>\n
\"It is my fourth visit to such a job fair. In each fair, I've
\nsubmitted around five to 10 applications, but none of companies
\ninvited me for an interview,\" Lely, who graduated in late 2002,
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Soon after her graduation, she left her hometown in Yogyakarta
\nto live with her brother in Cawang subdistrict, East Jakarta with
\nhopes of finding a job.<\/p>\n
Like other people coming from outside Jakarta, Lely thought
\nthat she could find a job more easily here. But she has begun to
\nrealize that finding a job was not so easy, even though she has
\nbeen looking for more than two years here.<\/p>\n
Lely was not alone. According to the head of the Jakarta
\nmanpower agency Ali Zubeir, nearly one million people in the
\ncapital were unemployed last year.<\/p>\n
Over 2.5 million job-seekers, according to the Center for
\nLabor and Development Studies, are produced each year nationally,
\nwhile the country can absorb some 1.1 million jobs per annum,
\nleaving at least 1.4 million new job-seekers in the lurch.<\/p>\n
The data is backed up by the huge crowds that throng to such
\njob expos.<\/p>\n
In the on-going expo, which will wind up on Wednesday, job-
\nseekers can submit as many application forms as possible after
\nthey buy a Rp 30,000 entry ticket. There, they can fill out forms
\nprepared by companies or submit complete applications, prepared
\nbefore they enter the venue.<\/p>\n
Aan, 25, an information technology (IT) graduate from Gadjah
\nMada University, also in Yogyakarta, for example, submitted 15
\napplications to different companies at the job fair organized by
\nthe JobsDB.com.<\/p>\n
\"I hope I will be invited for an interview by some of those
\ncompanies,\" said Aan, who graduated late last June.<\/p>\n
Like Lely and hundreds of other applicants, Aan, however,
\nrealized that he should not expect much because he would be
\ncompeting with literally millions of rivals.<\/p>\n
There are still many job-seekers with a lot of work
\nexperience, who have been laid off due to the economic crisis.<\/p>\n
He will also be competing against people who are seeking a
\nbetter job, like Ami, 27, a holder of a secretarial certificate,
\nwho has been working for a small company in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Ami, a resident of Kebon Jeruk in West Jakarta, said she had
\ntwice visited such a job expo. In Tuesday's fair, she submitted
\n10 applications.<\/p>\n
\"In the previous fair in Senayan, (Central Jakarta), I
\nsubmitted five applications. I got no responses. With these
\napplications I submitted today, I hope that I will be invited for
\nan interview,\" said Ami, who was seeking a better job because she
\nwas currently paid only Rp 500,000 per month -- lower than the Rp
\n711,848 provincial minimum wage.<\/p>\n
Hendra, a employee with JObsDB.com, however, stressed that
\nthere was no guarantee that companies taking part in the fair
\nwould invite applicants for interviews.<\/p>\n
\"We just facilitate the meeting. It is up to each company to
\ninvite the applicants or not,\" he told the Post.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/job-seekers-scramble-for-opportunities-at-exhibition-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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