NEWS

The Counseling and Career Center (CCC) partnered with the Office of Alumni Relations (OAR) for the Career Symposium with the theme "Thomasians Bridging the Gap between Graduation and Career Success" last March 28, 2025 at the George S.K. Ty Function Halls, Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. (BGPOP) Building, UST Manila.

The activity was designed to equip graduating students and alumni with the tools needed to thrive in today's dynamic job market. Three resource speakers were invited to talk about their areas of expertise.

Atty. Rodriguez during her talk about labor education.

The first topic was labor education, which was delivered by Atty. Lila Rodriguez. Her discussion focused on the fundamental rights of employees, highlighting their right to security of tenure, to fair compensation, to safe and healthy working conditions, and to social security. Atty. Rodriguez also addressed issues that graduating students would encounter when they enter the workforce, such as the rules on working hours and rest periods, leaves, hiring & termination, and labor unions & collective bargaining.

Mr. Ching during his discussion about job market navigation.

Another concern that graduating students and alumni would face when they enter the world of work is looking for career opportunities. John Rafael Ching, an HR Generalist, and a UST Human Resource Development Management alumnus, gave some tips on how graduates can manage expectations and identified nine actionable steps when they navigate the job market. He discussed how self-assessment and understanding the job market landscape will help them align their career goals and values which can highly increase their opportunities and competitive edge. Ching also gave the participants a review on improving and making their resumè and cover letter stand out during the company's recruitment process.

Mr. Quezada during his discussion about career growth and workplace adaptability.

For the third topic, Training and Development professional and a UST Education alumnus, James Vincent Quezada, LPT, talked about adapting to workplace culture and thriving in someone's chosen career path through a gaming context. He emphasized the importance of knowing one's strengths, establishing a good working relationship for better connections, and having a good leader as a mentor who will shape one's career path. Quezada also opened the discussion about the realities of being an employee who naturally faces the challenges of maintaining and sustaining the grind of professional life. To address this possibility, he encouraged the participants to set clear personal and professional goals to help them keep track.

Resource speakers during the Question and Answer segment.

After the discussion, the participants were given the floor to interact with the resource speakers and asked questions about the topics for clarification.

Then, OAR launched the Thomasian Alumni Virtual Mentorship Program and introduced the first batch of mentors who will conduct workshop sessions to successful student applicants for the next academic year.

The UST Career Symposium is a part of the annual UST Career Fair organized by the CCC-the fair aims to guide graduating students toward impactful careers.