Top 5 Hottest Jobs And Industries in the Philippines

Graduation season is coming up and Kalibrr wants to help you match with exciting jobs and industries.

Here’s our rundown of the industries you should be exploring, whether you’re a fresh grad, or someone looking to take the next leap in their career.

1. BPO Call Center

Accenture, Teleperformance, SPi, Transcom – you see their billboards on taxis, their signs on buildings, and their recruiters on the street trying to recruit you. The industry needs to hire 200,000 people this year and would probably avail fresh grads this year if they could. Here’s the thing: the BPO industry is the launchpad for your career. You’ll get a great salary and learn valuable skills. 2 years at Teleperformance means your English will go from jejemon to fluent in no time. And guess what, the better your English skills, the more valuable and the more income you can earn in the Philippines and abroad. And hey, working at night is a small price to pay for becoming an excellent English speaker. Starting salaries range from 15,000 PHP to 25,000 PHP. Rather than trying to get the best salary, choose the company that gives you the best training program so you can acquire skills that make you valuable for your entire career.

2. IT 

Technology is everywhere and I bet even your lola is using technology. Companies like HP, PointWest, NCR, and RingCentral are hiring every available qualified software engineer, network support analyst, and IT help desk guy. IT is also the guy that makes the apps on your phone or the website that you’re booking your travel with. IT is everywhere. These jobs pay well with unlimited career upside in the Philippines and abroad. I like to say that there are 3 languages of the future: English, Mandarin and Code (Technology). With new technologies being created everyday, make sure you’re constantly learning even after you’ve gotten your job so your skills stay up-to-date with the next piece of tech created. IT careers have some of the highest starting fresh grad salaries at 19,000 PHP per month. Expect this to quickly rise as you get more skilled.

3. Sales

The ability to sell is one of the most valuable skills to have. Even without knowing it, you’re constantly selling yourself. When you’re interviewing, you’re selling yourself. That person at the fish market? They are selling. The President, he’s also selling you on his agenda for the country. If you’re shy and want to learn how to be outgoing, get a sales job. If you like to sell and want to become even better at it, get a sales job that requires you to do a lot of selling in English. Every business needs sales to survive and at the heart of that are talent salespeople, who eventually become business leaders within their companies. Your salary will be low, especially if you’re a fresh grad and you should expect to earn commission. For example, you might have a starting salary of 12,000 PHP and with commission, earn an additional 8,000 PHP per month.

4. Start-Ups

Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter were all start-ups at some point. They were started by a group of people, often in a garage or apartment, and they build apps that millions of people around the world now use everyday. The Philippines, especially Metro Manila is becoming a hub for start-up companies looking for IT, business development and entry-level talent. While start-ups may not have the brand recognition of many companies, you will learn a wide variety of skills that help prepare you to not only run a company, but start your own company. If you want a challenge and to be part of small, passionate teams trying to change the Philippines and the world, start-ups are where it’s at. Salaries widely vary – you can get 35,000 PHP as an engineer for a start-up but as low as 15,000 PHP if you’re starting off in an entry level sales role.

5. Tourism 

The Philippines is becoming one of the top tourist destinations in the region and our government is targeting 10 million tourists for 2015. This means people to work in the front-desk of hotels, concierges at lobbies, stewardesses for airplanes and reservation officers. Tourism is a global industry which means the English communication and customer service skills you learn here are valuable should you choose to go abroad. You’ll work for luxurious brands, which are great for your resume. Expect to earn up to 20,000 PHP as a fresh grad when you start a tourism career.